John Cabot University Welcomes Maria La Via, CEO of ShopAround
Maria La Via, CEO of ShopAround
On March 1st, students attending Professor Antonella Salvatore‘s classes, “Made in Italy: the Italian Business Environment” and “Retailing Applied to Fashion Industry,” met Maria La Via, CEO and co-founder of ShopAround.
ShopAround, a startup that is part of JCU Institute for Entrepreneurship’s network, is an app that allows tourists (but also locals) to know where the best shops in town are. The app, currently in the acceleration phase with LUISS EnLabs, will be downloadable for free starting from mid-April. ShopAround’s services will first be available in Rome and Milan, providing an opportunity for tourists to discover smaller or specialized shops, outside of the tourist circle of flagship stores.
La Via shared with students the difficulties of identifying the correct target audience and explained how challenging it can be to convince Italian retailers to use technology to boost revenues and improve performance. Prof. Salvatore explained, “This company testimonial encouraged students to bring new ideas to the job market and find effective ways to put them into practice.” As proved by the ShopAround company case, difficult experiences can be rewarding if young entrepreneurs have the courage to pursue them and to face challenges as well as risks.
