Future of Retail
Is your consumer products company struggling to adapt post-COVID-19?
As the pandemic upends lives worldwide, it’s accelerating digital adoption in retail, and impacting the future of retail. From e-commerce expansion to frictionless shopping, curb side pickup, and direct to consumer channels, “the pandemic has accelerated the shift away from physical stores to digital shopping by roughly five years” (IBM’s U.S. Retail Index)
Our consumer product clients must adapt to changing consumer demands. We help them solve challenges that include how to:
- respond to the shift in consumer behavior because of COVID-19.
- remain connected to consumers, and differentiate themselves from new e-commerce competitors.
- understand, anticipate and prepare for how consumers will respond to frictionless shopping, augmented reality, and other touchless options.
- identify technologies and partners that help them move into the future of retail.
Impact Stories
Does your organization need to understand trends that are impacting your industry, creating opportunities and presenting threats? Through technology monitoring, we make sure clients are clear on developments, potential partners, and competition in touchless technology.
What does your organization need to do today to prepare for the future? Do you know how and what consumers of the future will purchase and what will influence their buying? Using foresight, we help consumer product and food companies anticipate consumer behavior, and answer these and other questions.
Do you want to understand how connected devices add value, provide opportunities to expand or rewrite business models, and lead to growth? Learn about our work with consumer products companies to help them understand the opportunities of connected devices.
Given the heightened awareness of disease transmission through surfaces, does your organization want to understand the fundamentals of surface disinfection and sanitation? Learn how we curated enabling technologies and partners to enhance ease of cleaning, and identified technologies that led to products that signal cleanliness.
Our Experts
Jeff Cope
Jeff Cope leads innovation work focused on technology landscaping and partnership development activities among our Fortune 500 clients. He helps optimize the efficiency of technology transfer practices and economic development activities for universities, and works with different regions and states to help identify innovation assets and build targeted economic development strategies. Jeff enjoys sharing his insights related to open innovation, technology scouting, and commercialization. Jeff received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S.M. in Business Management from North Carolina State University.
Cary Strickland
Cary Strickland brings to our clients experience helping product development teams find the right partners, assess technology options, or evaluate their competition for developed and emerging markets. He has expertise in technology scouting, landscaping and evaluation, market opportunity analysis, and technology-inspired ideation and human-centered design. He has managed projects in infrastructure and construction, industrial coatings and chemicals, food, and packaging; his international experience includes Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines. Cary has an M.E.M. in Engineering Management from Duke University, a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, and a B.S. in Paper Science Engineering from North Carolina State University.
Alison Sykes, Ph.D.
Alison Sykes, Ph.D. assesses technologies for commercial potential, performs market research, and creates commercialization strategies for high-potential technologies, and has experience in technology areas including antimicrobials/pesticides, controlled-release technologies, new and emerging coatings and materials. Her background includes organometallic chemistry from her work as a research associate while completing her Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry and water disinfection from her postdoctoral associate position, both from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has a B.S. in Chemistry from Washington and Lee University.
Adam Klich
Adam Klich focuses on technology commercialization and business model strategy, and has worked in sectors that range from energy to wearables, software, optics, manufacturing, medical, and consumer goods. A certified Human-Centered Design Practitioner and a certified New Product Development Professional, previously, he co-founded a start-up with technology licensed from the Air Force Research Laboratory. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Adam received an M.S. in Technology Commercialization and Entrepreneurship and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.