Publications

27 Feb 2015
News

Harvard Business School Professors Predict Retail Revolution

19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Ground-Floor Opportunities for Retail in India

About Malls? An audience member asked what advice panelists would give to an entrepreneur launching a retail business in India. "Don't try to copy any Western model," said Biyani. "India might surprise you. Adopt a flexible... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail; Retail

11 Dec 2014
News

Fashion's Retail Revolution

Áslaug Magnúsdóttir (MBA 2000) in the New York office of Tinker Tailor, her new online couture business. When HBS first turned a scholarly eye to retail in the early 20th century, department stores were king. Institutions like Filene’s... View Details

Keywords: April White; fashion; Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Finance

Markups and Cost Passthrough Along the Supply Chain

We study markups and pricing strategies along the supply chain. Our unique dataset combines detailed price and cost information from a large global manufacturer with matched retail prices collected online for the period July 2018 through June 2023. We show that... View Details

2012
Working Paper

The Effect of Supply Chain Complementarities on Local Food

By: Baris Ata, Deishin Lee and Mustafa H. Tongarlak

We study the operational tradeoffs of a retailer and farmers in a fresh produce supply chain to determine the equilibrium supply chain structure. These operational tradeoffs arise as a result of the geographic constraints posed by the availability of arable land and... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Food; Supply Chain; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

2025
Working Paper

Markups and Cost Pass-through Along the Supply Chain

By: Santiago Alvarez-Blaser, Alberto Cavallo, Alexander MacKay and Paolo Mengano

We study markups and pricing strategies along the supply chain. Our unique dataset combines detailed price and cost information from a large global manufacturer with matched retail prices collected online for the period July 2018 through June 2023. We show that total... View Details

Keywords: Markups; Pricing; Price; Supply Chain; Inflation and Deflation; Cost

SSRN

10 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink

2011. In the early 2000s, e-commerce was seen as a threat to entire store formats such as grocery, music, and toy stores. But as consumer behavior evolved over the last decade and as supply chains improved, it became apparent that the... View Details

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Jose B. Alvarez; Retail

April 2009
Case

Supply Chain Optimization at Hugo Boss (A)

By: Ananth Raman, Nicole DeHoratius and Zahra Kanji

We evaluate the impact of a supply chain pilot implemented at Hugo Boss. This pilot entailed altering the way in which Hugo Boss orders from its suppliers. We explore the challenge of assessing the impact of supply chain change, the link between operational performance... View Details

Keywords: Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Supply Chain Management; Performance Evaluation; Sales; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Europe

25 May 2011
HBS Case

QuikTrip’s Investment in Retail Employees Pays Off

QT has resource groups where employees regularly get together and discuss problems and improvement opportunities. Many of these opportunities end up being implemented across the chain. "It's amazing how clearly the employees' voices are heard," Ton adds.... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

2020
Working Paper

Reverse Information Sharing: Reducing Costs in Supply Chains with Yield Uncertainty

By: Pavithra Harsha, Ashish Jagmohan, Retsef Levi, Elisabeth Paulson and Georgia Perakis

Supply uncertainty in produce supply chains presents major challenges to retailers. Supply shortages create frequent disruptions in terms of promised delivery times, quantity and quality delivered. To alleviate these challenges, dual sourcing--a strategy in which... View Details

Keywords: Information Sharing; Yield Uncertainty; Ration Gaming; Blockchain; Supply Chain; Risk and Uncertainty

SSRN

Read Now

07 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Banning Big-box Stores Can Hurt Local Retailers

census data on retail stores located in England, Sadun found that stricter planning restrictions against big-box stores actually coincided with independent retailers closing down or hiring fewer workers, a... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail

April 2020
Background Note

U.S. Food Retail During the Pandemic: March 2020

By: José B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

This note, written in late March 2020 and mainly U.S. focused, looks at the unfolding impact of the coronavirus pandemic on food retailers and their suppliers. It allows student to consider the challenges facing food retail executives as they navigate urgent supply... View Details

Keywords: Coronavirus Pandemic; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Food; Supply Chain; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Trade; Crisis Management; Health Pandemics; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Retail Industry; United States

May 2003
Background Note

How to Induce Retailers to Reduce Stockouts?

By: V.G. Narayanan

Describes how the lack of incentive alignment between retailers and their vendors can lead to stockouts. Also describes various means to reduce incentive misalignment and hence stockouts. View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Supply Chain Management; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution; Alignment; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

25 Feb 2014
News

Is The Gap's Minimum Wage Hike Good Retail Politics?

02 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Retail Reaches a Tipping Point—Which Stores Will Survive?

In this three-part series, we start with an overview of why retail experts Rajiv Lal, José B. Alvarez, and Dan Greenberg believe retail is at an inflection point. In Part Two, coming next week, they identify... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

04 Sep 2019
News

From Retail to Real Estate

traded national chain and generations-long family enterprise—until it was acquired by Walmart for $1.6 billion in 2009. As reported in the Bloomberg story, “Harvard Grad Solves His Family’s $1.6 Billion Liquidity Problem,” Ibañez was... View Details

Fast Answer

Sustainability in CPG and Retail

2018: Companies must collaborate across the value chain to improve sustainability. Fashion’s new must-have: Sustainable sourcing at scale. McKinsey, October 2019. Highlights the sustainable sourcing targets... View Details

January 2014
Case

Tesco Group Food

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Damien P. McLoughlin and Mary Shelman

In 2010, the world's third largest retailer created a new centralized sourcing department for fresh food and store-brand grocery products in response to changes in global supply and to better meet the needs of a new multi-channel retail environment. The case, set in... View Details

Keywords: Food Retailing; Multichannel Retailing; Sustainable Supply Chains; Agribusiness; Food Marketing; Supply Chain Management; Marketing; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United Kingdom