Dr Jiyao Xun is an academic researcher with a distinctive professional foundation. His early career included Tesco’s International Graduate Programme, an experience that provided him a unique cultural and strategic vantage point from within the UK's largest retailer as it expanded into China. This perspective continues to inform his cross-cultural research on retail digitalisation/internationalisation.

He holds a PhD and an MA from the University of Nottingham and an MSc from the University of Oxford. His research has appeared in leading international journals including International Marketing Review, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, The Service Industries Journal, International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, Internet Research, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Behaviour and Information Technology, Business Strategy and the Environment, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, and EuroMed Journal of Business. In the field of education, his work has been published in Distance Education, European Journal of Education, and Asia Pacific Journal of Education. His work has been recognised with awards including the 2024 Best Paper Prize from the Chinese Academy of Management. He serves as Associate Editor for The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research and reviews for several SSCI-indexed journals. He also authors industry white papers and policy reports, with his insights featured in publications for major business and financial institutions.

Dr Xun has secured competitive research funding for projects on retail digitalisation and metaverse consumer behaviour, including grants from provincial and national sources. He teaches business courses and previously served as Programme Director for the BSc Supply Chain Management at XJTLU from 2020 to 2022. In this role, he led the programme through a key academic quality enhancement process i.e. DAP. He also contributes to curriculum development through his membership on university-level curriculum governance committees. He actively supervises PhD candidates in areas such as metaverse retailing and social media consumer behaviour, guiding them toward careers in academia and industry.

Primary Supervisor for:

• Qingyun Lyu (2026–In Progress): “Metaverse in retailing: Customers’ experience and value co-creation (Implementation)”
• Cheng Ma (2024–In Progress): “Understanding the impact of the metaverse on retail consumer behavior”
• Weihan Liang (2024–In Progress): “The relationship between the adoption of metaverse technology and consumer intent based on physical shopping malls”
• Xiaowei Fan (Graduated): “Immersive Retail in the Metaverse: Understanding Consumer Behaviour Through Meta-Analysis and Experiments” (Jimei University)
• Dongyuan Yang (Graduated): “Business Intelligence Adoption for Chinese Banks: The Impact on Firm Performance” (Bank of Communications)

Co-Supervisor for:

• Hanlihui Ma (2023–In Progress): “Investigating the effectiveness of work-based learning in terms of learner motivation, engagement, and self-regulation”

荀继尧博士是一位聚焦产教融合的研究者与实践者。他的早期职业生涯包括参与英国最大零售商Tesco的国际管培生项目，这段经历使其在英国零售商开拓中国市场期间，获得了独特的文化与战略视角。这一视角持续影响着他关于零售国际化和数字化的研究。

他的研究聚焦于零售科技（特别是元宇宙应用）与数字营销。他拥有诺丁汉大学商业与管理学博士学位及市场营销学硕士学位，以及牛津大学赛德商学院理学硕士学位。其研究成果发表于多个国际权威期刊，包括 International Marketing Review, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, The Service Industries Journal, International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, Internet Research, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Behaviour and Information Technology, Business Strategy and the Environment, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, EuroMed Journal of Business，以及 Distance Education、Asia Pacific Journal of Education、European Journal of Education 等教育学领域高质量期刊。其研究工作曾荣获中国管理学年会2024年度优秀论文奖等学术荣誉。他目前担任 The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research 期刊的副主编，并为多家SSCI索引期刊担任评审专家。此外，他还撰写行业白皮书与政策研究报告，其学术观点被多家主流商业与金融机构的出版物广泛引用。

荀博士主持并参与多项竞争性科研项目，涵盖零售数字化与元宇宙消费行为等方向，获省部级及国家自然科学基金资助。他讲授商科核心课程，并于2020至2022年担任供应链管理本科专业主任，期间推动了该专业通过了DAP学术质量评估。他通过在校级课程委员会的任职，积极参与课程体系建设。他致力于博士生培养，主要指导元宇宙零售、社交媒体消费者行为等研究方向，为学生提供从学术到职业发展的全面支持。他获得西浦基础教育发展特别贡献奖，西浦学习超市荣誉讲师杰出贡献奖。

• Retailing and technology (electronic/mobile-commerce & metaverse)
• Social media marketing
• Retail and entrepreneurship
• AI and Education (https://connect.xjtlu.edu.cn/group/aied/research)

• Associate Professor, XEC-XJTLU (2020- now)
• Associate MBA Programmes Director (Asia), Alliance MBS (2014–20)
• Earlier academic career: Associate Professor and Assistant Professor at various universities (before 2014)

• ENT203TC – Leadership & Communication
• ENT111TC – AI Ideation and Strategy
• ENT301TC – Capstone Project
• ENT302TC – Cutting-edge Practice in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• INF101TC – Syntegrative Education in Deep Practice / Coaching Sessions
• ENT413TC – Technology Transfer: Theory and Practice (TTM Pathway) – Co-teacher
• Final Year Projects, EEH Summer School, ILEAD, AoFE, LM Open Programmes, PhD Programmes

• Supervised PhD student Weihan Liang received the Excellent Paper Award (Organization and Marketing Sub-forum, Master & PhD Group) at the 2nd Wensi International Youth Forum, Renmin University of China, Beijing (10 May 2026).
  
  
• Supervised PhD student Weihan Liang, winner of the Best Oral Presentation Award (top 5%) and the Excellent Presentation Award (top 10%) at the 2026 XJTLU Postgraduate Research Symposium (19–20 March 2026).
  
  
• Distinguished Lecturer Award at XJTLU Learning Mall (Jan 2026)
  
  
• Outstanding Contribution to XJTLU Basic Education Development (December, 2025)

• Supervised PhD student Cheng Ma, winner of the Best Doctoral Dissertation Award at the 2025 Logistics Research Network (LRN) China Conference (in association with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport UK), (November, 2025).

• Designated as an Expert and included in the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education's Expert Database (June 2025).

• Nominated Financial Consumption Expert for Suzhou Municipal Education Bureau (March 2025).

• Supervised PhD student Cheng Ma, awarded Best Oral Presentation Award (Top 10%) at the First XJTLU-UoL-XJTU Postgraduate Research Joint Conference & 2025 XJTLU Postgraduate Research Symposium (21 March 2025).

• Supervised PhD student Xiaowei Fan, awarded Excellent Poster Presentation Award (Top 20%) and Excellent Oral Presentation Award (Top 20%) at the First XJTLU-UoL-XJTU Postgraduate Research Joint Conference & 2025 XJTLU Postgraduate Research Symposium (21 March 2025).

• Supervised PhD student Weihan Liang’s research “Enhancing Virtual Reality Experience: Cognitive Fulfilment’s Impact on Customer Attitude” awarded Sugarbomb Best Paper Award at the 2024 International Conference on Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Social Sciences (4–5 December 2024, Kuala Lumpur).

• Supervised PhD student Xiaowei Fan’s research “Shaping Consumer Behaviour in Metaverse Retailing: The Role of Spatial Presence, Immersion, and Interactivity” awarded People’s Choice for Poster Presentation at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China 8th Postgraduate Research Conference (22–23 November 2024, Ningbo).

• Outstanding Paper Award (Marketing Management Track) at the 19th Chinese Academy of Management Annual Meeting (26 October 2024, Taicang, China).

• Supervised PhD student Xiaowei Fan’s research awarded Best Poster Presentation Award (Top 10%) at the First Wisdom Lake Postgraduate Researcher Development Conference & 2023 XJTLU Postgraduate Research Symposium (13–15 December 2023, Suzhou Industrial Park [SIP]).

• Supervised student project “Bosch Warehouse Heavy Goods (Battery) Picking Process Optimization Project” awarded Second Prize at the 2023 XJTLU Student Research-led Learning Symposium, Learning Institute for Future Excellence (November 2023).

• ILEAD/AoFE Open Programmes Training Instructor/Speaker on Syntegrative Education, Teaching Management, and Research-led Pedagogical Reform (Academic Years 2020–2021, 2021–2022, 2022–2023).

• Trainer for XJTLU Affiliated School New Faculty Summer Training Camp, Taicang (2023).

• TV Interview on the Opening Ceremony of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese XJTLU Taicang Campus (April 2023).

• Round Table Panel Discussant at the Suzhou Software Industry Association Special Committee of Meta-verse Ecology Conference (April 2023).

• TV Interview on the Grand Opening Ceremony of XJTLU Taicang Campus (5 September 2022).

• Forum Speaker on “Complementary Resources and SME Firm Performance” at Shanghai Maritime University (2022).

• Supervised student project “Supply Chain Management in Organic Agriculture in the Post COVID-19 Era” awarded First Prize at the 7th Annual Global Issues Conference (April 2022).

• Speaker on “Supply Chain Talent Development: The Syntegrative Approach at EC Taicang” at the Shanghai Forum on Supply Chain Management Construction and Development (22–25 April 2021, Lingang, Shanghai).

• Speaker at the 2021 Digital Economy Development and Digitalised Talent Development Conference, organized by the Shanghai Yangpu Industry Internet and Blockchain Application Innovation Centre (January 2021, Shanghai).

• Keynote Speaker on “Analytical Tools in Management Science” at Beihai Senior High School of Guangxi Province (December 2020).

• Guest Speaker for Undergraduate Social Sciences at NYU Shanghai (2019).

• Representative of Alliance MBS at the Association of MBAs (AMBA) Asia Pacific Deans and Directors Conference (January 2018, Harbin).

• Delegate of Alliance MBS at the GMAC APAC Conference (November 2017, Hong Kong SAR China).

• Representative of Alliance MBS at the Russell Group-China Collaborative Conference (June 2015, Fudan University).

• Delegate of Alliance MBS at the Association of MBAs Asia Pacific Deans and Directors Conference (2015, Chongqing).

• Panel Guest on “Future of Retailing in China” by the Oxford Institute of Retail Management (OXIRM), Saïd Business School, University of Oxford (2015, Shanghai).

• Panel Guest at the 8th China Retail Forum, co-organized by Tsinghua University, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (2012, Beijing).

• Session Chair for Relationship Marketing Track at the Academy of Marketing Conference, supported by the Nottingham University Business School Conference Full Grant (2012, Southampton University).

• Doctoral Fellow in Advanced Model Building for Marketing, Aston Business School (2012, Birmingham).

• EDEN Doctoral Fellow, European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (2011, Brussels).

• Doctoral Consortium Fellow, INFORMS Marketing Science Conference (2010, Cologne).

• Doctoral Colloquium Fellow, European Marketing Academy (EMAC) Conference (2010, Copenhagen).

• Doctoral Colloquium Grant Recipient, Academy of Marketing Conference (2009, Leeds).

• Nautilus Travel Grant Recipient, Templeton College, University of Oxford (2008).

• Conference Grant Recipient, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford (2008).

• Doctoral Fellow, Research Methods for Industrial Doctoral Community, Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), University of Cambridge (2008–2009).