The Service and Retailing Research Group

The Retail Research Group

The Service and Retailing Research Group is a multidisciplinary group that brings together researchers with an interest in phenomena such as digitalisation, transformative service research, and circular business models.

The aim and goals of the group

The research concerns e.g. questions about the role and practice of frontline employees, opportunities and barriers of digitalisation, circular business models, and customers' experiences and behaviors in both private and public activities. The studies are conducted in industries such as retail, public transport, the hospitality industry, healthcare, and B2B (e.g. the textile industry). The group's vision is to be a leading actor in Sweden in high quality service and retailing research. The purpose is to contribute with description, explanation and understanding of service and retailing-related phenomena of benefit to both theory and practice. This means that the research intends to contribute to both theory development and practical knowledge of relevance to academia, business development / innovation, and human well-being. The research work can also support a longer-term profitability perspective, help companies plan strategically, make better decisions and become more data-driven, as well as contribute to sustainable consumption. The goals of the group's activities are:

To conduct and publish research with high scientific quality at international level: to publish at least 3-4 scientific articles yearly on a high level (2-4 on AJG's ranking scale);
To actively work with research funding, both nationally and internationally: to receive funding for at least 1-2 larger projects (3-4 million SEK) per year;
To constitute a central platform for researchers at the University of Borås and at other universities who are interested in retail-related problems;
To develop and conduct teaching with a clear connection to the retail area, and in co-operation with INSiDR (Industrial Graduate School in Digital Retailing) at the University of Borås.

Research areas

Examples of research areas within The Service and Retailing Research Group are transformative services, circular business models, value co-creation/co-destruction, digitization, customer misbehavior, data-driven innovation, and consumer vulnerability. The theoretical fields that the research group mainly develops have their foundation in social sciences, especially business administration (marketing and organisation/management) and informatics, but also computer science. It concerns, among other things, theories about decision making, consumer behavior, relationships, resources, interaction/communication, innovation, service logic, and service orientation.