Publications

June 1998 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Microsoft CarPoint

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

CarPoint.com was Microsoft's Web-based entry into on-line automobile retailing. While it could not, in fact, "sell" or deliver any cars, it could shift much of consumer search, comparison, and decision-making, including pricing, the traditional car dealer to the Web.... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Operations; Market Entry and Exit; Consumer Behavior; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

19 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

Why Are Web Sites So Confusing?

Do you sometimes get the feeling that Internet portals, search pages, social networks, e-commerce, and other Web sites are not necessarily designed in order to maximize user convenience and benefits? We do, too. Why—you might ask? For a... View Details

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Bruno Jullien

05 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

In Praise of Marketing

alongside global brands. Retailing and distribution remain largely local. And American consumers show a desire for increasing cultural variety in their life experiences, eating more often at ethnic restaurants and vacationing more often... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Advertising

December 2019
Case

Walmart Ecommerce (A): Picking up the Pace

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case is an abridged version (part 1 of 2) of "Walmart's Omnichannel Strategy: Revolution or Miscalculation?" HBS Case No. 720-370. The (A) case discusses Walmart's early forays into online retail, as well as improvements made under Doug McMillon beginning in 2014.... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry; Bentonville; Arkansas; United States

January 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Background Note

Paving the Information Superhighway

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Geoffrey Bock and Janis Lee Gogan

Examines solutions to many of the information-sharing problems that limit growth of electronic commerce on the Internet. Serves as a basic primer for the use of electronic information exchange. While familiarizing the student with the basic tenets and terminology of... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Knowledge Sharing; Problems and Challenges; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

30 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, May 30

These findings challenge previous recommendations for optimal advice-seeking behavior. Harvard Business School Case 617-059 Flashion: Art vs. Science in Fashion Retailing Kate Wilson, retail analytics... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

A Better Way to Negotiate: Backward

negotiate in the right order. Sorting Out The Possibilities When Steve Perlman was preparing to launch WebTV in 1996, he faced a critical sequencing dilemma. He had obtained seed funding, developed the technology to bring the Internet to... View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius

30 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 30, 2018

traction in these adjacent markets has been to pursue a tying strategy. For example, Microsoft pre-installed Internet Explorer into Windows, and Apple set Apple Maps as the iOS default. Policymakers have raised concerns that dominant... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

04 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Predictions, Prophets, and Restarting Your Business

period—and so did in-store sales as well as sales of jigsaw puzzles and walkie-talkies. It’s not clear what we learn from panic buying. So let’s look at what was happening online before the virus of 2020. Ecommerce has been part of the View Details

Keywords: by Frank V. Cespedes

30 May 2019
What Do You Think?

Is There a Distinctive West Coast Style of Management?

this month’s column. Like some other trends, these are traveling from West to East. As Scocimara put it, “companies are adapting, and often the ones that are most threatened are adapting fastest. Retail is a great example.” What’s “the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

20 Feb 2001
Research & Ideas

What’s Next for Japan

Japan. "Wireless Internet is a reality in Japan," he said, speculating that broadband, digital content, and semiconductors will all be controlled by Japan by 2005. Vogel commented that finance and View Details

Keywords: by Hilah Geer

24 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 24, 2009

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=209029 The Restructuring of Daiei Harvard Business School Case 209-060 In 2004, the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan (IRCJ) was given the task of restructuring Daiei, one of the largest... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2016 (Revised January 2018)
Case

Improving Repurchase Rates at zulily

By: Thales Teixeira and Sarah McAra

In February 2015, zulily cofounder and CEO Darrell Cavens faced a major challenge in his business, a Seattle-based daily deals site that catered to moms. The more he spent to acquire new customers, the less he retained them in the form of repeat purchases. This was an... View Details

Keywords: Zulily; Repurchase; E-commerce; Online Shopping; Fashion; Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Digital Marketing; Customer Satisfaction; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Seattle

02 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles of 2011

Published: January 10, 2011 For retailers offering deals through the wildly popular online start-up Groupon, does the one-day publicity compensate for the deep hit to profit margins? A new working paper, "To Groupon or Not to... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

30 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Tracks of My Tears: Reconstructing Digital Music

or even whether to sell their products via those channels at all if online retailers impose certain bundling policies. I thought the music industry would be an ideal research setting because it is a sector strongly associated with bundled... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Music

25 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Who Wants to Be an Entrepreneur? [Part II]

of enthusiasm for the Internet was just cresting. Rhyne's old-economy idea was the only nontechnology concept to make the semifinals. Her teammates moved on to other things, but she decided to try to build a business. And then began her... View Details

Keywords: by John S. Rosenberg

December 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Teaching Note

Alibaba Group

By: Julie M. Wulf

Teaching Note for 710436. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Subsidiaries; Competition; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Structure; Retail Industry; China