Publications

September 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Angie's List: Ratings Pioneer Turns 20

By: Robert J. Dolan and Ayelet Israeli

In 1995, before people “googled” or “yelped,” Angela Hicks (HBS, 2000) was establishing her Angie’s List as a pioneer in the accumulation and dissemination of consumer rating information. Hicks focused on the home repair and maintenance market and, as she put it,... View Details

25 Jul 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: July 25, 2017

social impact. This registered benefit corporation was formed by Davis Smith who coalesced his experiences as a Wharton MBA student along with professional knowledge from an unpaid internship in Peru and his previous e-commerce startups... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

2024
Case

EPCorp: What Story Does the Data Tell?

By: Jacob M. Cook

In EPCorp: What Story Does the Data Tell?, the Quick Case begins with Shivani Bahl researching problems with her company's website so that she can begin to analyze which option would help EPCorp most: selling all its products on Amazon or improving its own data... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; E-commerce; Analytics and Data Science; Decision Making

July 2019 (Revised November 2019)
Case

Osaro: Picking the Best Path

By: William R. Kerr, James Palano and Bastiane Huang

The founder of Osaro saw the potential of deep reinforcement learning to allow robots to be applied to new applications. Osaro targeted warehousing, already a dynamic industry for robotics and automation, for its initial product—a system which would allow robotic arms... View Details

29 Sep 2015
First Look

September 29, 2015

significant changes, but the engineering and economic challenges of the industry made any move into that space a risky bet. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/716401-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 616-003 SF Express: From Delivery to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 May 2014
Op-Ed

The Alibaba Effect

transactions. A combination of Amazon and eBay, it holds an 80 percent share of the e-commerce market in the world's second largest economy. Its net income for 2013 was four times more than in 2012. Its products and services lie at the... View Details

Keywords: by Bill Kirby & Warren McFarlan; Retail

18 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

Prosper with Multi-Channel Retailing

with their best customers. While some retailers at the beginning of the e-commerce phenomenon feared that adding another channel would simply add costs and erode their other channels, she said the opposite is true in many cases.... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Consumer Products; Retail

02 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Have Marketers Ignored America’s Man-of-Action Hero?

most potent and vital exemplars of the man-of-action hero, beginning with Sam Walton, Lee Iacocca, and Steve Jobs, then Ted Turner and Phil Knight, and then the dozens of celebrated e-commerce heroes who would destroy and reinvent the... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Linking the Globe: The Role of Media and Communications

e-commerce is really about," said Job, "is reducing the gap between thought and action, between when you know something and when you do something about it." Third, he said, is a relevant brand that gives people confidence... View Details

Keywords: by Kenneth Liss; Information; Publishing; Journalism & News; Media & Broadcasting

19 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 19, 2017

e-Commerce Brand at Wayfair Wayfair, Inc. comprised five home goods, furniture, and décor e-commerce brands. Wayfair.com, the main brand, which was responsible for the majority of sales, targeted the... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

March 2018
Supplement

Chewy.com (B)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble

Cohen and Chewy’s other board members decided to fully insource order fulfilment and commenced building an order fulfilment center near its 3PL partner’s facility. As soon as the 3PL learned that Chewy would be managing its own order fulfillment; however, it decided to... View Details

Keywords: Pet Food; Pet Products; Retail; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Decision Choices and Conditions; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Service Industry

January 2018
Supplement

Jumia Nigeria PowerPoint Supplement

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Founded in 2012, Jumia Nigeria, a startup effort by Germany-based Rocket Internet, aimed to become an African Amazon. The company entered the nascent market and immediately enjoyed an uptick in consumer spending fueled by the strength of Nigeria’s oil-based economy. By... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Marketplace; Inventory; Nigeria; Africa; Ecommerce; Funding; Business Ecosystems; Business Ecosystem; Competition; Business Model; Globalization; Emerging Markets; Expansion; Logistics; E-commerce; Retail Industry; India; Nigeria; Africa

January 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Teaching Note

Jumia Nigeria: from Retail to Marketplace (A) and (B)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

Founded in 2012, Jumia Nigeria, a startup effort by Germany-based Rocket Internet, aimed to become an African Amazon. The company entered the nascent market and immediately enjoyed an uptick in consumer spending fueled by the strength of Nigeria’s oil-based economy. By... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Marketplace; Inventory; Ecommerce; Funding; Business Ecosystems; Competition; Business Model; Globalization; Emerging Markets; Expansion; Logistics; E-commerce; Retail Industry; India; Nigeria; Africa

04 Jun 2001
Research & Ideas

RealNetworks, CNET, and Judo Strategy

intact for the Internet, and there is enormous growth potential," Yoffie said. "We still expect 700 million users by 2005 and somewhere between $7 and 8 trillion in e-commerce sales within that time frame. With the likes of... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

11 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Financial Services 24/7

Juno Online Services in an effort to attract more clients, and it is banking on retaining customers by offering benefits such as discounts when using a Wingspanbank credit card at certain e-commerce sites. At first glance Wingspanbank... View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Women Leading Business: A New Kind of Conversation

international flavor to this program. EE: Who are some of the HBS faculty and the issues they will be discussing in the 1999 Executive Forum? Hart: We'll be kicking off with Nancy Koehn discussing revolutions in commerce, particularly in retailing. The introduction and... View Details

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

09 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 9, 2019

attraction, retention, and motivation of talent in organizations. Purchase this case:https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/119007-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 518-097 Flipkart (B): The Ongoing Battle for India's E-Commerce Market In... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

December 2016
Case

thredUP: Think Secondhand First

By: Thomas Eisenmann, Allison Ciechanover and Jeff Huizinga

In the fall of 2016, the management team at thredUP, the largest U.S. online retailer of second hand clothing, is deciding whether to expand into international markets. Over the past 12 months the 7-year-old startup, which had raised over $130 million in venture... View Details

Keywords: Scaling Start-ups; International Expansion; Online Consignment; Apparel; Internet and the Web; Expansion; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Business Startups; E-commerce; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; San Francisco