Retail Council of Canada is dedicated to providing relevant and timely information on trends and issues important to retailers of all sectors and sizes. Working with industry partners, RCC provides members with research reports, industry studies, and whitepapers, information guides, and more. Please consider the following information when looking for research opportunities specifically:

Past Publications Include:

• The State of the Industry Report
• The New Face of Retail (Preliminary Report)
• A Retailer's Guide to Privacy Risk Management
• A Retailer's Guide to JavaPOS^TM Standard
• A Retailer's Guide to Electronic Catalogues
• Canadian Retail Technology Survey

Definition of Research For the purposes of data collection, the essential characteristic of the research activity is that it leads to industry verifiable outcomes that are open to appraisal. The work undertaken must be done on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge within the retail industry.

Owner of Research Retail Council of Canada and the sponsoring organization will be co-owners of the research product.

Data Collection & Analysis Retail Council of Canada will work with the sponsoring organization to determine a relevant and timely issue of research. If research is not the core business of the organization and there is no in-house research capabilities, the organization must agree to pay a third party to conduct and analyze the research. RCC will help source a third-party consultant if necessary. RCC will work with the sponsor organization and/or the third party to develop the research criteria and analyze the information. RCC must approve the final research findings before the publication is produced.

Key Characteristics of Research Publications Retail Council of Canada characterizes a "research publication" as including: substantial supporting evidence; content originality; and veracity through a validation process or by satisfying review by Retail Council of Canada.

Research Validation An acceptable review process is one that involves assessment of the publication: in its entirety — not merely an abstract or extract; before publication; and by appropriately independent, qualified experts.

To explore the possibility of producing and/or distributing a document in conjunction with RCC, please contact Bill Yetman, Executive Vice-President, at (416) 922-0553, ext. 249; e-mail: byetman@retailcouncil.org.