In today's highly competitive job market, retailers are looking to attract the best and brightest talent to help them innovate and succeed well into the future.
It was with this goal in mind that RILA established the (R)Tech Talent Pipeline and Collegiate Network designed to help retailers engage young talent at the collegiate level and expose them to the career opportunities within retail. In November, RILA hosted two events to support this initiative: the Global Retail Challenge and InfernoHack.
RILA and the Bensadoun School of Retail Management at McGill University celebrated the finals weekend of the first inaugural Global Retail Challenge in Montreal, Canada, sponsored by Canadian Tire and VF Corporation. The competition tackled the pressing issues surrounding retail and the challenges facing our societies through an innovative retail case competition.
The Global Retail Challenge uniquely mixed 25 undergraduate and graduate level student teams who were mentored each week by retail experts from Aldo, IKEA, Oxford Properties, Closed Loop Partners, Canadian Tire, and Cirkla Modo.
This event was created to help expose students to one of the grand challenges impacting retail: sustainability and the circular economy. Its design thinking curriculum equipped teams to find solutions in innovative and forward-looking perspectives for the future of retail.
The top 12 teams from around the world came together for one weekend on November 15-17, 2018. Students participated in morning workshops before presenting their final presentations in front of judging panels.
