The Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) and Alibaba Cloud held Retail Expert Public Talk at the institute’s iRetail Lab on April 1 – The New Retail Era and the Next Level of E-Commerce: How to Use Cloud Technology to Develop a New Business Model of 3P Concept with “People, Products and Place”. Mr. Victor Mak, speaker of the talk, Lead Solutions Architect of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence International Macau, has worked in IT industry for more than 10 years, focusing on virtualisation, containerisation, and cloud computing. He is also a promoter of how these can be applied to various industries in Macao. During the talk, Victor Mak elaborated on how cloud computing could be incorporated in the new business model of “People, Products and Place” that would result in improved efficiency in managing retail stores, warehouses and business operations. He also shared his experience and successful cases of cooperation between Alibaba Cloud and local businesses.
The expert public talk was held both online and offline and it attracted approximately 50 participants who are tourism and retail business executives, scholars and students of higher education from the Greater Bay Area. During the Q&A session, participants raised questions and shared their obstacles that they faced while operating their retail business. In response to participants’ questions, the speaker provided constructive and effective suggestions. Mr. Chan, a fashion retail executive, said that through the Retail Expert Talk, he has gained insights and learned the importance of artificial intelligence and big data in retail businesses. He would consider to adopt related technology in his company’s future development in order to enhance its market competitiveness.
IFTM and Alibaba Cloud kicked off the Alibaba Cloud Academic Empowerment Program in November last year. The programme initiates cooperation in different areas including designing study programmes of cloud computing and big data, professional accreditations, and nurturing talents. It aims to promote the integration of tourism education and information technology and serves the purpose of developing Macao as the World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. Dr. Zhao WeiBing, Acting Director of the School of Tourism Management, pointed out that the iRetail Lab is a new learning platform for the students of Bachelor of Science in Tourism Retail and Marketing Management Programme. The design concept of iRetail Lab allows students not only to simulate a retail business learning environment but also to practice actual business operations in both online and offline sales promotion channels. Through a series of Retail Expert Public Talk, IFTM attempts to showcase the most recent trends in retail business to students and enterprises in Macao. It puts forth the “modernisation of higher education” that promotes innovative and entrepreneurial thinking in young people and creates achievements to give back to the society.
The Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) has launched the Bachelor of Science in Tourism Retail and Marketing management programme in 2009. It aims to nurture retail talents with comprehensive professional knowledge and managerial skills. Many graduates of the bachelor degree programme have taken up management positions in marketing and promotion department among international brands and integrated resorts. They are taking leading roles in the diversely developed retail market in Macao.