In response to a growing relationship between marketing and technology, the School of Information Studies and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management collaborated to create a new concentration for students.

The Digital Retail Strategies concentration will require 18 credits and offer a set of six undergraduate courses on topics such as social media, website design, electronic retailing, retail buying and retail planning.

“The uniqueness of the concentration is that it gives retail students easy access to information technology classes and vice versa for students in the iSchool,” said Amanda Nicholson, the Whitman coordinator of the Digital Retail Strategies concentration. “As a result, students from both schools can expand their knowledge and collaborate with other disciplines.”

The program was set up to explore the way online marketing skills might benefit both iSchool and Whitman students in terms of education and career opportunities, said Nicholson, who is also a professor of retail practice at Whitman. She said a pilot for the program began in the fall of 2012, and students from both schools are currently involved in the concentration.

“If you look around, you’ll realize everything is becoming digital,” said Heather Pyle, a junior in the iSchool. “As a result, it’s become almost essential for students to learn these technologies. With this program, I’ll definitely have an advantage.”

Nicholson said the concentration was also inspired by the recent growth of social media and online retail businesses’ roles in marketing directly to consumers.

Whitman and the iSchool showcased this trend last fall with the Retail Road Trip, in which students from both schools visited L’Oreal, Macy’s and Gilt Groupe in New York City to explore their advances in technology and commerce.

“On the trip, we saw that stores like Macy’s are using RFID tagging, which allows stores to take inventory faster and cut down on stock loss,” Pyle said. “It was a terrific example of how retail and technology work together and really made the Digital Retail Studies program that much more relevant.”

Pyle said the Digital Retail Studies concentration will improve students’ ability to leverage themselves above other potential job candidates, given that they’ll have a unique background in technology and retail.

Recently, retail companies have accumulated a greater presence on smartphones, tablets and laptops, Pyle said. A focus in technology is especially important for retailers because it can help develop business, build customer relations and improve customer experience, she said.

“I decided to get involved in the program because I had a natural ability with technology, but always had a passion for retail,” Pyle said. “My dream job would be to work for Bloomingdale’s in their technology department, which would mesh those two interests.”

Understanding code and knowing how the Internet functions are some of the many important skills underlining technology’s crucial role in any business, said Natasha Olejar, a junior retail management and marketing management major. The program will play upon this idea by allowing students to branch out into social media, e-commerce and other information technologies, she said.

Olejar said she hopes the program will be available to all Whitman students, not just those in the retail department. She said entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises students, as well as marketing students, could benefit from taking classes in the Digital Retail Strategies concentration.

Published on April 17, 2013 at 1:14 am

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu