Future of Retail hub launched at Sharjah Innovation Park

Sharjah - The Retail R&D Experience Studio will accelerate the development of existing projects and create others from scratch to align discourse and share best practices in the industry

The Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park (SRTI Park) and PLM, a global design and technology company, recently launched the Retail R&D Experience Studio, a partnership for innovation in retail, aimed at bringing together the best in the industry.

“The future of retail will feature a high level of digital competition. Suppliers will boost direct-to-consumer relationships while traditional retailers need to cope with the market transformation to better serve their customers. Technology will continue to grow and shape business transactions as well as consumer behaviour. Those who are able to differentiate themselves will continue to survive and thrive,” said Hussain Al Mahmoudi, CEO of SRTI Park at the launch.

Al Mahmoudi also invited business leaders and retail industry stakeholders to visit the Retail R&D Experience Studio located inside SRTI Park for an interactive study on how the industry responds to the ever-changing wants and needs of consumers.

“The prevalence of technology will continue to grow and shape business. We are glad to launch the Retail R&D Experience Studio with PLM to bring together the best in the segment,” he said.

Al Mahmoudi noted that the Retail R&D Experience Studio is a big addition to SRTI Park’s thriving ecosystem. “The center will be a main driver in thought leadership of retail innovation in our region. It will be a platform to engage retail sectors, academia and the government to co-innovate and leverage regional retail opportunities and challenges.”

Pedro Rodrigues, CEO of PLM, added: “We are extremely proud and pleased to partner with SRTI Park with the launch of the retail innovation center at SRTIP. As design and technologies disruptors, we focus on exceeding our customer’s expectations, with our fully integrated range of solutions. Nowadays, business boundaries have become blurred because of technology and global integration.”

Retail R&D Experience Studio promotes the quintuple helix of innovation – public, private, academe, ecology and society. Public involves the government in developing opportunities while the private sector pertains to the industry, companies and the economic system. The academe is also involved to bring schools and university to the centre of the debate and ensure involvement of future professionals. Ecology is also vital to adopt sustainable forms of development for everyone and the planet while society is about developing strategies not only from a financial aspect bur also contributing to people’s quality of life.

rohma@khaleejtimes.com