As a result of the significant disruption that is being caused by the COVID-19 pandemic we are very aware that many researchers will have difficulty in meeting the timelines associated with our peer review process during normal times.  Please do let us know if you need additional time. Our systems will continue to remind you of the original timelines but we intend to be highly flexible at this time.

As the competitive intensity for retail and service organizations continues to increase, some observers have suggested that a retail apocalypse could be on the horizon (Danziger 2017); however, the changing retail and service landscape can also be seen as an opportunity to better serve and delight customers in new and innovative ways with AI and AI-driven robotics. 

Marketing strategists need academic marketing and consumer research-based insights to display thought leadership to learn how they can transform these challenges into strategic opportunities for competitive advantage and how technological innovations (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Robotics, Blockchain) can be embraced to create customer, firm, and social value, across industries and cultures. We welcome papers that address these issues from all theoretical domains, methodological approaches, and diverse data sources.

This special issue aims to investigate the independent and interdependent interplay of firm, consumers, and society within and stemming from scarcity contexts.