Call for participation
Shape the Future of Retail: Join Our Ideation Contest!
Apply by Sunday, April 12, 2026
The Retail Innovation Lab (RIL) at McGill University’s Bensadoun School of Retail Management, in partnership with Alimentation Couche-Tard, is organizing an ideation contest for the Winter 2026 semester.
Prize
The winning team will receive a $1,000 cash prize and up to two runners-up will receive a $500 cash prize each.
How to participate
- Any undergraduate or master’s student currently enrolled at McGill University is welcome to participate.
- Each student (or a team of up to three) can submit up to one (1) idea as an essay under the topic “Retail Innovation in the age of AI (or GenAI)”
- The essay can be no longer than two pages, including tables, figures, appendices, and references, if applicable.
- The document must be printable on 8.5 x 11-inch paper, must use 11-point Times New Roman font with one-inch margins on all four sides, and must be single-spaced.
- Entries must be submitted as a single document in PDF format by 23:59 on Sunday, April 12th 2026 to
bsrmril-comp.mgmt [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Ideation%20Contest)
Evaluation criteria
The submission will be evaluated primarily based on the novelty of the idea and the feasibility to execute it, as well as on the potential ROI.
Important dates
- Submission due date: 12 April 2026
- Winner announcement: 30 April 2026
In partnership with
Past winners
2025
Discover the winners and a snapshot of their ideas
We challenged McGill students and faculty to reimagine the future of retail through two competition streams – an ideation contest and a call for research proposals. From cutting-edge tech to behavioural insights, these winning ideas stood out for their creativity, feasibility, and impact. A huge congratulations to all our winners and a special thank you to our partner Alimentation Couche-Tard for their invaluable support in helping us make these opportunities possible.
RIL Research Proposal Contest
McGill PhD students & faculty members
The winner received a $1,000 cash prize and each of two runners-up received a $500 cash prize each. The winner and runners-up may also have an opportunity to collaborate with RIL-affiliated professors to implement their research proposals.
RIL Ideation Contest
McGill Undergrad & Master Students
The winning team received a $1,000 cash prize and each of two runners-up received a $500 cash prize.
Winner: Jae Choi
A study on how in-store subscription programs affect customer engagement and loyalty.
Runner-up: Ferris Belkhiria
Research exploring how healthy-eating nudges influence habitual shopping patterns.
Runner-up: Hamidreza Moshrefi
Investigating the link between customer eye-tracking behaviour and purchasing decisions.
Winner: Ruping Xu
A gamified rewards system that promotes sustainable, healthy, and loyal customer behaviour. (Photo: Ruping Xu with Charles de Brabant)
Runner-up: Ruihong Li
An AI-powered, tablet-enabled platform that instantly creates and deploys branded digital signage in stores.
Runners-up: Selina Ved & William Bernasconi
A smart locker system for bundled food pre-orders and easy pickup.
In partnership with
