Publications

28 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 28

popularity of price-matching apps for mobile phones made price differences between retailers transparent, online and offline. Shoppers' desire to test electronics first-hand before purchase drove them to use... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

25 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

How SHEIN and Temu Conquered Fast Fashion—and Forged a New Business Model

Two China-based retail platforms, SHEIN and Temu, are getting a huge amount of attention in the fashion industry these days. I believe that the significance of these platforms goes way beyond the ability to give consumers trendy,... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Retail; Retail; Retail

August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Reinventing Retail: ShopRunner's Network Bet

By: Benjamin Edelman and Karen Webster

ShopRunner considers adjustments to improve its online shopping service which offers no-charge two-day shipping as well as easy returns and other conveniences. Competitors' diverse pricing models and ancillary benefits raise questions about how to structure and price... View Details

Keywords: Shopping Club; Coop; Pricing; Shipping; Marketing Channels; Global Strategy; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States; China

May 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Lowe's: Improving the Total Home Strategy

By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Alicia Dadlani

In 2023, Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe’s, contemplated enhancements to the company’s Total Home Strategy to accelerate performance and grow market share. In the last five years since becoming CEO, Ellison had championed a turnaround of the company, completing a... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Competition; Brands and Branding; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; United States; North Carolina

January 2025
Case

Olive Young: Formulating Beauty Innovation

By: Rebecca Karp and Shu Lin

Sun-jung Lee, CEO of Olive Young, South Korea's largest beauty and health retailer, saw significant potential in the U.S. market and considered three pathways: replicating Korea's omnichannel model, adopting a digital-native approach with curated products, or relying... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Market Entry and Exit; Business Strategy; Distribution Channels; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; South Korea; East Asia; United States

October 2001 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Philipp Justus at eBay Germany (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

A week after becoming country manager of eBay's recently acquired German auction site, Philipp Justus must steer the company through a massive technical integration with eBay's Web site. Throughout the seven-month project, Justus and his team must master the challenge... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Leadership; Internet and the Web; Globalized Firms and Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Managerial Roles; Management Teams; Management Practices and Processes; Auctions; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Germany

2014
Working Paper

~To Groupon or Not to Groupon: The Profitability of Deep Discounts

By: Benjamin G. Edelman

We examine the profitability and implications of online discount vouchers, a relatively new marketing tool that offers consumers large discounts when they prepay for participating firms' goods and services. Within a model of repeat experience good purchase, we examine... View Details

Keywords: Voucher Discounts; Groupon; Experience Goods; Repeat Purchase; Online Advertising; Price; Profit; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry

SSRN

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10 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 10, 2018

Teixeira Abstract—Online retail accounts for a rapidly growing proportion of revenues in many industries. While selling online broadens firms’ access to consumers, operating margins are often lower in View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

February 2018
Case

Montes Calcados: A Step Ahead

By: James L. Heskett and James T. Kindley

Montes Calçados (MC) is a well-known "fast-fashion" Brazilian manufacturer of casual, but fashionable, shoes for women aged 18–35 in major cities worldwide. To boost its declining revenues, MC must evaluate two growth options: whether to expand distribution online (at... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Distribution Channels; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Global Range; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

June 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Case

AVA.ph: Growing a Filipino E-Commerce Company

By: William R. Kerr and Henry Motte-Munoz

AVA is a three-year old e-commerce company in the Philippines. From its early start mimicking the Gilt Groupe concept of online flash sales, the company has grown into a broader e-commerce platform for local fashion commerce. Oliver Segovia needs to evaluate where AVA... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Business Growth and Maturation; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Philippines

March 2023 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Majid Al Futtaim: Adapting the Shopping Mall to the Digital Era

By: Antonio Moreno and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in August 2022, as Ahmed Galal Ismail, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Properties and Fatima Zada, digital and omnichannel director at Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls, go over the plans to roll out the omnichannel mall offering for the Mall of the Emirates they... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Value Creation; Competition; Expansion; Profit; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United Arab Emirates

21 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Buy Now, Pay Later: How Retail's Hot Feature Hurts Low-Income Shoppers

Online shopping features that let consumers pay for goods in interest-free installments exploded during the pandemic, but new research questions the riskiness of such services: Are people getting in over their heads? Buy now, pay later... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Retail; Retail; Retail

February 1999 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Onsale, Inc.

By: Youngme E. Moon

Onsale has been a pioneer in electronic commerce, offering excess and refurbished goods using an online auction format. The company is now planning to become a player in the highly competitive world of first-run computer merchandise as well. However, unlike other... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Transformation; Customers; Brands and Branding; Auctions; Network Effects; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Internet and the Web; Retail Industry

23 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 23, 2008

Working PapersSecuring Online Advertising: Rustlers and Sheriffs in the New Wild West Author:Benjamin G. Edelman Abstract Read the news of recent computer security guffaws, and it's striking how many problems stem from View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Jan 2014
First Look

First Look: January 21

these features may also facilitate discrimination based on sellers' race, gender, age, or other aspects of appearance. In this paper, we test for racial discrimination against landlords in the online rental marketplace Airbnb.com. Using a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2001 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Amazon.com (C)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

At the end of 1998, Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos ponders the next moves for his company. Having secured the leadership position as the leading online book seller in the United States, Amazon.com has now moved into the product categories of CDs and videos by... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Internet and the Web; Business Growth and Maturation; Books; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Germany; United Kingdom; United States

June 2011 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Wal-Mart Update, 2011

By: David B. Yoffie and Renee Kim

In 2011, Wal-Mart was the world's largest company with $420 billion in sales and operations in 14 countries. Yet it found itself searching for the right growth strategy moving forward. U.S. same-store sales had declined for eight consecutive quarters and Wal-Mart was... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Global Range; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

02 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 2, 2018

occupation or possession by grant/gift, and tributary or chieftaincy. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54766 Opportunistic Returns and Dynamic Pricing: Empirical Evidence from Online View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

January 2017 (Revised August 2019)
Supplement

X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (B)

By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

Three years after launching his brick-and-mortar store, X Fire Paintball and Airsoft, Steve Herbert Sr. and his sons began selling products on Amazon.com’s third-party Marketplace and online sales expanded rapidly. Over time, X Fire noticed that products of which it... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Competition; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Small Business; Retail Industry; Canada