Richard Last is a co-founder of Axcelora, connecting service providers with retailers, and “making the cold call obsolete”. Rich retired from the University of North Texas in 2016 where he launched and led the Digital Retailing degree program and was Senior Director of the Global Digital Retailing Research Center. He has had over 20 years of industry experience in Digital Retailing. Under Rich’s leadership, JCPenney began selling merchandise via the Web in 1994, the first Department Store online, and by 2005, the first $1 Billion Apparel and Home Furnishings website. Earlier, he led JCPenney’s international expansion of its catalog business, operating specialty catalogs in Japan, the UK, Mexico, and Chile. 

From 2007-11, Rich served as Chairman of Shop.org, the digital division of the National Retail Federation. He served on the Shop.org Board for 10 years. He has served on the Editorial Boards of Total Retail and of Retail Touchpoints. He served on the NRF Board of Directors from 2004-08, and the NRF Foundation Board from 2010-11. He joined the Advisory Board of Evergreen Trading in 2018.

Rich resides in Plano, Texas with his wife, Linda. He is fortunate to have his two children and four grandchildren all residing in Plano.