Vaudreuil-Soulanges entrepreneurs connect with BSRM researchers to learn retail best practices
About sixty entrepreneurs from Vaudreuil-Soulanges region joined Desautels faculty and staff for a conference on best practices in retail.

Maxime Cohen and Saibal Ray named Top Retail Influencers for 2023
Two faculty members of the Bensadoun School of Retail Management were named to Rethink Retail’s Top Retail Influencers list for 2023. Professors Maxime Cohen and Saibal Ray were both recognized with this distinction, alongside some of the world’s t

Excess inventory encourages steeper discounts in Black Friday sales
2021 was an anti-climactic year for Black Friday sales. Global supply chains had been disrupted, inventory was very low, and demand was very high. So, retailers had little incentive to sell items at discounted prices. 2022 has been a little different, said Prof Maxime Cohen in an interview with CTV News.

Delve: Where Artificial Intelligence Meets Management Insights and Solutions
How can Artificial Intelligence augment and even improve management of and within organizations? In the interdisciplinary arena of management, AI is being applied to big-picture issues of organizational strategy and supply chain operations, as well as the ethical details of human resources and the many moving parts of the retail industry.

Health data analytics can help improve access to health care
Health questionnaires are time-consuming – for doctors and patients alike. “The digitalization of all of those questions would allow patients to do lot of work before visiting a physician,” says Maxime Cohen, a Professor of Retail and Operations Management at Desautels and the Chief AI officer for ELNA Medical, Canada’s largest network of clinics.

McGill’s Retail Innovation Lab is the first frictionless store in Canada
At a glance, the Couche-Tard in the Bronfman Building looks much like any other. But it is actually an innovative research facility that uses technology to improve our understanding consumer behaviour. Known as the Retail Innovation Lab, a partnership between McGill’s Bensadoun School of Retail Management and Alimentation Couche-Tard, it is the first frictionless store in Canada.

Delve: How Predictive Data Analysis Illuminates the Future of Retail, with Maxime Cohen
Artificial Intelligence innovation thrives in an environment where business arenas, fundamental research, and thought leadership overlap.

Professor Maxime Cohen makes Poets&Quants 2022 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors list
Poets&Quants has named Professor Maxime Cohen to its annual Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors of 2022 list. The influential business school news site annually recognizes professors under the age of 40 who are masters in the classroom, influence business and policy, are prolific researchers and have demonstrated meaningful impact on their fields.

Executives should understand what data tells them about the present – and the future
Data can tell you a lot about the current state of business, and what the future holds. That’s information that companies can use to make strategic decisions, and it is multiplying quickly. Up to 90 per cent of all data was created in the past two years alone. To leverage, Prof.

High margin impulse buys can help retailers boost profits
The check-out counter is the last place paying customers visit before they leave the store – and it is a retailer’s last chance to make a sale. The counter and the aisles that lead up to it are called a cash wrap, and can be arranged to entice customers to made additional purchases. A good cash wrap should incentivize impulse buys without being pushy, according to Prof.

Tech companies are doing more international hiring – and paying engineers top dollar
Technology has long had the capability to enable work from anywhere that has a solid internet connection – but many companies haven’t been willing to use it that way. Even tech companies that create the tools for remote work have tended to concentrate their workforce in major tech hubs like Silicon Valley and Seattle.

In-store shopping technologies can replicate the ease of online shopping
Standing in a check-out line is the least pleasant part of the shopping experience – and it could become a thing of the past. New technology is allowing shoppers to make in-store purchases with their phones, and a variety of self-checkout pilot projects are already underway at stores in Montreal. Some are as simple as scanning a QR code, and confirming your credit card information.

Prof. Maxime Cohen lands new role
Canada’s largest integrated network of medical clinics is using technological innovation to improve the patient-physician experience, and Bensadoun School of Retail Management Prof. Maxime Cohen will help them do it. ELNA Medical recently announced that Cohen will be their first Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer.

Prof. Maxime Cohen to develop AI systems in healthcare
Congratulations to Professor Maxime Cohen, Desautels’ Scale AI Chair in Data Science for Retail, on his recent appointment as ELNA Medical’s inaugural Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer. In his new role, Cohen will leverage AI methodologies to improve health access and outcomes at primary and specialty care clinics across Canada.

Professor Maxime Cohen Launches New Book
Professor Maxime Cohen’s new book, Demand Prediction in Retail – A Practical Guide to Leverage Data and Predictive Analytics, co-authored with Arthur Pentecoste, Paul-Emile Gras and Dr. Renyu Zhang, demystifies how predictive analytics can be used in a retail context.
