Retail is being reinvented—algorithm by algorithm, app by app, store by store. Yet as retail becomes increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, automation and platform-based models, a fundamental question re-emerges: Are we still seeing the people behind the process?
This special issue, Marketing Myopia Reloaded: Re-Centring the Human in Retailing, invites contributions that critically examine the role of technology as an enabler rather than an end in itself. Revisiting Levitt’s concept of marketing myopia in a contemporary retail context, the issue seeks research that re-centres enduring retail principles such as trust, experience, proximity, emotion and social interaction within increasingly digitised consumption environments.
The special issue welcomes conceptual and empirical contributions addressing the transformation of retailing, distribution and consumer ecosystems in physical, digital and hybrid contexts. Particular attention is given to research exploring the intersection of human-centred retailing, AI, automation, service innovation and societal value creation.
Submissions should demonstrate strong theoretical grounding and provide contributions that extend beyond narrowly defined local, organisational or single-case contexts. Empirical studies are expected to offer broader conceptual, managerial and/or market-level implications relevant to international retail and distribution scholarship. Purely descriptive or highly context-specific studies without wider theoretical or practical relevance are unlikely to be considered suitable for the special issue.
All submissions should clearly articulate their practical relevance for retailers, service providers, policymakers and related stakeholders. Methodological rigor, originality and conceptual contribution are essential evaluation criteria.
While the use of AI-assisted tools in the research and writing process is not excluded, manuscripts must demonstrate substantial intellectual originality, critical reflection and scholarly depth. Papers displaying excessive reliance on generative AI-produced content without sufficient academic contribution will not be considered suitable for review.
Papers presented and discussed at the CERR2026 conference will receive priority consideration during the editorial screening process.
The special issue welcomes methodological diversity, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method and experimental approaches, and aims to provide forward-looking insights into the future role of retail within society, communities and consumer life.
List of Topic Areas
- Human-centred retailing and service systems
- AI and automation in retail environments
- Customer experience and experiential retailing
- Trust, authenticity and social interaction in retail
- Retail employee wellbeing and frontline dynamics
- Platformisation and digital retail ecosystems
- Ethical implications of retail technologies
- Smart retailing and human–technology interaction
- Consumer behaviour in digitally mediated environments
- Retail spaces as community and social infrastructure
- Sustainable and responsible retail innovation
- Omnichannel and hybrid retail experiences
- Emotional engagement and customer deviance
- Retail resilience and adaptive business models
- Future retail scenarios and societal transformation
Submissions Information
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijrdm
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: https://www.emerald.com/ijrdm
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Journal Information: Scopus Journal Q1, H-Index 113
Key Deadlines
Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 07/09/2026
Closing date for manuscripts submission: 30/11/2026
For more details refer here
