Publications

December 2019
Article

The Impact of Increasing Search Frictions on Online Shopping Behavior: Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Donald Ngwe, Kris J. Ferreira and Thales Teixeira

Many online stores are designed such that shoppers can easily access any available discounted products. We propose that deliberately increasing search frictions by placing small obstacles to locating discounted items can improve online retailers’ margins and even... View Details

Keywords: Online Retailing; Friction; Effor; Search Costs; Price Discrimination; Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Strategy; Price; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

June 2015
Teaching Note

Quincy Apparel

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lisa C. Mazzanti

Keywords: Retail; Online Retail; Women's Apparel; Internet and the Web; Failure; E-commerce; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

01 Dec 2019
News

Capitalizing the Corner Shop

Amazon of Africa”; at the time of its IPO last April, it was valued at $1.3 billion. A year later, Kehinde and fellow Jumia executive Ercin Eksin went on to found Africa Courier Express (ACE), a logistics company meant to meet the growing last-mile delivery needs of... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

19 Jan 2011
First Look

First Look: Jan. 18

analysts' forecasts of firm performance actually reflect any of these factors and which are considered most important. We use survey data from 967 analysts ranking 837 companies to judge how their forecasts are related to evaluations of firms' View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Aug 2019
Blog Post

Meet the PRIDE Club

Miami, Florida. Prior to HBS, she worked in digital and multicultural marketing across the consumer products and media industries. She will be transitioning to e-commerce management after HBS. When she's not immersed in the case method... View Details

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Women Leading Business: A New Kind of Conversation

which our faculty provide. EE: What is the typical profile of the group? Hart: The single defining characteristic of our participants is that they have achieved a position of extraordinary responsibility and recognition in their industry... View Details

Keywords: Re: Myra M. Hart & Cynthia A. Montgomery

May 2019 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Walmart's Workforce of the Future

By: William R. Kerr and Jordan Bach-Lombardo

Faced with intense competition from Amazon, Walmart began a transformation of its operations and workforce in 2015. The goal was to create an omnichannel retail experience for customers that seamlessly joined online and offline shopping. This case explores Walmart's... View Details

Keywords: Walmart; Managing The Future Of Work; Workforce; Automation; Ecommerce; Omnichannel Retail; Operations; Transformation; Employees; Training; Information Technology; Infrastructure; Disruption; Competitive Strategy; E-commerce; Information Infrastructure; Retail Industry

14 Oct 2020
News

Sewn with Love

In the midst of a global pandemic and widespread protests against racial injustice, the fashion industry can seem pretty frivolous. Fashion-industry leader Kikka Hanazawa (MBA 2002), CEO of VPL, a women’s underwear and athleisure company,... View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon

15 Feb 2000
Lessons from the Classroom

Delivering Information Services: A 30-Year Perspective

well-established firms such as Walgreen's and Rite Aid. We also look at Amazon.com, another upstart that can claim to be "the biggest book store in the world." By looking closely at these companies' use of the Internet— which I believe is the analog to the... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

09 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 9, 2019

Swiss Watchmaking By: Raffaelli, Ryan, and Richard DeJordy Abstract—This study examines how influential institutional leaders in the Swiss watch industry responded to its precipitous decline after the introduction of quartz technology.... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

January 2015 (Revised October 2016)
Case

onefinestay: Building a Luxury Experience in the Sharing Economy

By: Jill Avery, Anat Keinan and Liz Kind

onefinestay was a two-sided marketplace that offered high-end home rentals to travelers who sought a more authentic and local experience than a typical upscale hotel might provide. After five years of rapid growth, it was time to do a comprehensive analysis of the... View Details

20 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

Moving from Supply Chains to Supply Networks

successful firms. Some firms have completely changed the competitive dynamics of their industries because of the kind of competitive advantage they've been able to gain in the supply chain. Wal-Mart, of course, is the obvious one. The... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

01 Apr 2000
News

Real World Issues Aired at Student Led Conferences

Always impressive, the annual conferences organized by HBS student clubs bring together industry leaders, alumni, and students for meetings marked by informative discussions of key business issues. Earlier this year, gatherings sponsored... View Details

Keywords: Mary Ellen Gardner

Profile

Jeff Bussgang

sciences, consumer marketing, e-commerce and energy, to name a few. In my judgment, Boston is the absolute best place to run a start-up.” As an MBA student, Jeff says, “I was able to plug into the entrepreneurial community – to talk to... View Details

August 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Case

Shindigz

By: Frank Cespedes

Shindigz provides party and celebratory items for various occasions and events through its branded online channel, through third-party retail and wholesale channels, and external online marketplaces. The case focuses on pricing challenges facing a venture with an... View Details

Keywords: Ecommerce; Pricing; Price; Strategy; Decision Making; Brands and Branding; Distribution Channels; E-commerce; Consumer Products Industry

19 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 19, 2017

of organic wine, which provides a case study of failed category creation. The modern organic wine industry emerged during the 1970s in the United States and Western Europe, but it struggled to gain traction compared to other organic food... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Web

Class Profile | MBA

/ E-Commerce 9% Financial Services 10% Health Care / Biotech 8% Manufacturing / Industrial / Energy 9% Media / Entertainment / Travel 4% Military 5% Nonprofit / Government / Education 6% Services 2%... View Details

22 Jan 2018
News

The First Five Years: ‘30 Under 30’ Edition

vote of confidence for us to keep pushing forward in our efforts to improve America’s healthcare system.” Dhar: “Any recognition of your hard work is gratifying and exciting. For me, it's a push to keep doing what I love: e-commerce and... View Details

Keywords: Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance; Nonstore Retailers; Retail Trade; Educational Support Services; Educational Services

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