Center for Retailing Studies partners with GameStop and IBM to found the GameStop Technology Institute

The Center for Retailing Studies (CRS) at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School has united with GameStop and IBM to found the GameStop Technology Institute (GTI), a consortium of leading technology corporations and academic institutions focused on discovering and delivering business innovation and technology solutions to better address the needs of today’s empowered consumer.

The CRS brings to GTI a specific focus on retail research, consumer technology and the evolving consumer experience at the intersection of the two. It has a 30-year history of serving retailers, and is one of the only retail education institutions housed in a business school.

Through research, consulting projects and classroom case studies, Texas A&M students and faculty will yield important consumer insights with GTI that improve the customer experience.

“Retailers recognize Texas A&M as an outstanding pipeline for talent,” said Kelli Hollinger, director of the CRS. “The partnership with GameStop and GTI goes far beyond hiring, and demonstrates the multi-dimensional ways that academic institutions can serve corporations and customers.”

GameStop plans on leveraging GTI to explore and build best-in-class research and development processes to create and deliver to the retail industry the next generation of new, innovative business applications.

“Now more than ever, the delivery of unique and sophisticated technologies are needed to help accelerate growth in the retail space and meet the increasing demands of customers,” said Paul Raines, chief executive officer for GameStop.

Executives from every retail sector are trying to anticipate what next innovative technology, mobile app, or virtual store experience will win over today’s empowered consumer. The GTI R&D portfolio will include a focus on enhancing consumer interaction technologies and developing business solutions that help drive traffic to all retail channels.

“As we begin our partnership with IBM and Texas A&M University, GTI’s initial focus will be on the digitization of the physical retail space which would allow customers to interact with the brick-n-mortar store environment in ways that mimic interaction with digital platforms,” said GameStop’s chief information officer and senior vice president of GTI Jeff Donaldson.

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.