Media tip sheet: CSU offers experts on holiday shopping season

Note to reporters: With the official start of the holiday shopping season beginning Friday, Nov. 26, Colorado State University offers a variety of experts who can discuss topics from supply chain issues to the future of retail to cybersecurity.

For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Jennifer Dimas at 970-988-4265 or Jennifer.Dimas@colostate.edu.

Supply chain

Susan Golicic, chair of the Department of Management and professor of Supply Chain Management, can discuss delays surrounding the movement of goods, how slowly goods are moving and whether consumer goods will be available for holiday shopping.

John Macdonald, associate professor of Supply Chain Management & Logistics, can discuss supply chain disruptions, logistics, global supply chains, human behavior and supply chains and social sustainability and supply chains.

Zac Rogers, assistant professor Supply Chain Management & Logistics, is the lead author of the monthly Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI) which tracks movements in key inventory, warehousing and transportation metrics across multiple industries. The broad base of respondents to the LMI provides insight into both upstream and downstream supply chains, allowing for some inferences about future economic activity. Rogers says we’re already overtaxing our capacity and that’s likely to increase through Q4. He says we’ll also see an echo of this in Jan. 2022, as we’re likely to have our biggest post-holiday returns season of all time, topping last year’s $110 billion in returns.

Food supply chain

Becca Jablonski, associate professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, can discuss food supply chain issues including consumer trends, changes in food prices and how food businesses are responding.

Dawn Thilmany, professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, can discuss food supply chain issues including consumer trends, changes in food prices and how food businesses are responding.

Consumer behavior and the future of retail

Jonathan Zhang, associate professor of Marketing, can talk about consumer behavior in the evolving marketplace and the future of retail. More broadly, his overall expertise sits at the intersection of business, technology and organization, where he explores how consumers, companies and society can benefit from the effective and responsible deployment of novel technologies and business models.

Cybersecurity

Stephen Hayne, director of CSU’s Cybersecurity Center and professor of Computer Information Systems, can discuss how to keep your personal information safe when shopping online as well as other cyber topics.