Adam P. Vrechopoulos – författare

The dominant role of Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) practices in the retail industry today has created a strong need for collaboration between business and research communities for the development of robust theoretical frameworks and intelligent technological solutions towards providing direct managerial implications to the retail industry players. To this end, this book aims to highlight the emerging trends, challenges and opportunities in the retail industry, under the perspective of the changing consumer and business behavioural patterns, the reconfiguration of intra- and inter-organizational relationships and the evolving technological capabilities. Elaborating on the core ECR concepts, the book emphasizes the role of consumer behaviour research as the driving force for the configuration of the retail value chain processes. Along these lines, the application of the latest technological inventions to enthuse consumers through accurate targeting along with the identification of the potential of the new technologies, processes and strategies for transforming the supply chain constitute the main pillars of the book.Specifically, the book focuses on the emerging techniques and technologies for supply chain management and collaboration as well as on the emerging relationships and the electronic transformations governing multichannel retailing. It aims at supporting retailers, consumer goods manufacturers and third parties applying the latest technological inventions to transform the value chain. It also attempts to guide practitioners to effectively proceed in employing new technologies to ignite consumer enthusiasm. Similarly, the objective of this book is to help companies target more accurately consumer and shopper wishes with focused investments, in shorter time, and with more success. Finally, the book underlines the great potentials for new technologies and processes from a supply and demand side perspective.

In September 2003, Athens University of Economics & Business hosted the third in a series of international research symposia held under the a- pices of the ECR Europe Academic Partnership and ECR Journal: Inter- tional Commerce Review. Held first in Cambridge in 2001 and then at WHU Koblenz in 2002, the Symposia have become important, unique - casions in the international calendar of business research. No other event brings together in a university environment distinguished academics, bu- ness practitioners and consultants to explore the development of the c- sumer goods industry through collaborative management. The papers c- lected here, first presented in Athens, represent an important contribution to the research literature of modern business. The wide-scale institutional development of collaborative practices in the European consumer goods business began in 1994 with the creation of ECR (“Efficient Consumer Response”) Europe, a joint initiative of ma- facturers and retailers working together to improve the quality and p- formance of the value chain. At the heart of ECR was a business envir- ment characterised by dramatic advances in information technology, shifts in consumer demand, and the increasing movements of goods across int- national borders. This new reality required a fundamental reconsideration of the most effective way of delivering the right products to consumers at the right price.