Trade and consumption play an essential role in many people’s lives. They stand for both identity and self-realisation, but also lay the foundation for many people’s livelihood. This research theme studies how consumers and trade deal with the challenges posed by a constantly changing environment.

To understand the role of retail in society – and give it the opportunity to grow in a sustainable way – requires an understanding of how consumption shapes the individual and vice versa. What will future customers demand? How, for example, do mobile shopping and payment solutions change our behaviour when we buy goods and services? And how is trade affected by the shift towards a digitised and fossil-free society?

Green consumption, digital consumption culture and the role of physical stores for the consumers of tomorrow are some examples of the research areas at the Department of Service Studies. Here, there is collaboration between researchers from a variety of disciplines such as business administration, ethnology and cultural geography. In the research, sustainability issues are a common thread and the flow of goods, services and new technologies are the starting point.