Publications

May–June 2023
Article

Need for Speed: The Impact of In-Process Delays on Customer Behavior in Online Retail

By: Santiago Gallino, Nil Karacaoglu and Antonio Moreno

The impact of delays has been widely studied in various offline services. The focus of this study is online services, and we explore the impact of in-process delays—measured by website speed—on customer behavior. We leverage novel retail and website speed data to... View Details

Keywords: Online Retail; Quasi-experiments; Abandonment; Synthetic Control; E-commerce; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Policy; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Dec 2017
News

2017 in Real Estate: A Local Business Goes Global

we need less office space; e-commerce will mean we will need less retail space and new kinds of industrial buildings. Autonomous vehicles—if the ethical, legal, and technical issues can be resolved—may reduce the need for roads and... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate

May 2023
Article

Self-Preferencing at Amazon: Evidence from Search Rankings

By: Chiara Farronato, Andrey Fradkin and Alexander MacKay

We study whether Amazon engages in self-preferencing on its marketplace by favoring its own brands (e.g., Amazon Basics) in search. To address this question, we collect new micro-level consumer search data using a custom browser extension installed by a panel of study... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; E-commerce; Product Positioning; Brands and Branding

November–December 2021
Article

Does Gender Matter? The Effect of Management Responses on Reviewing Behavior

By: Davide Proserpio, Isamar Troncoso and Francesca Valsesia

We study the effect of management responses on the reviewing behavior of self-identified female and male reviewers. Using data from Tripadvisor, we show that after hotels begin to respond to reviews, the probability that a negative review comes from a self-identified... View Details

Keywords: Word Of Mouth; Online Reviews; Management Responses; E-commerce; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Digital Platforms; Customers

SSRN

Find at Harvard

November 2014
Supplement

The Grommet - Video Supplement

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Karen Gordon Mills, Lena G. Goldberg and Annelena Lobb

Keywords: Retail; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Product Launch; E-commerce; Retail Industry

20 May 2025
Blog Post

How Student-Proposed Internships Can Create Value

contemporary women’s fashion brand that blends European simplicity with California energy. Known for its elevated essentials and modern aesthetic, the company has carved out a niche in the affordable-luxury space, with a global presence across more than 100 markets and... View Details

21 May 2025
Blog Post

Mentorship in Action: When an HBS Student Proposes a Project

simplicity with California energy. Known for its elevated essentials and modern aesthetic, the company has carved out a niche in the affordable-luxury space, with a global presence across more than 100 markets and strong e-commerce and... View Details

01 Feb 2000
News

The Future Is Now: 21st-Century Business Pondered at HBS Forum

the worlds of technology and e-commerce gathered for the daylong "CEO Millennium Forum," an event jointly sponsored by HBS, Microsoft, Forrester Research, and the Wall Street Journal. The forum was also the subject of an hourlong... View Details

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

15 Mar 2019
News

A Model of Drive and Impact

Pablo Fernandez Alvarez (GMP 17, 2014) is cofounder of Clicars, an e-commerce platform in Spain that allows users to buy and finance refurbished cars hassle-free. In this interview, Fernandez explains the business model, the reasons... View Details

Keywords: Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers; Retail Trade

01 Dec 2014
News

Taking Tailoring High Tech

the Boutique Online Shoptiques founder Olga Vidisheva (MBA 2011) offers all the technical tools and support a small shop needs to get started in the e-commerce world and a one-stop boutique shopping portal for customers. Thinking Inside... View Details

Keywords: April White; fashion

12 Apr 2011
News

Twelve Global Finalists Compete at HBS

shared mobile-based longitudinal Electronic Health Records via mobile phone. AVA is an invitation-only shopping platform. The company addresses the gap between the growing market demand for fashion and the lack of availability of branded merchandise and View Details

Keywords: Multiple alumni

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

2025
Working Paper

Algorithmic Assortment Curation: An Empirical Study of Buybox in Online Marketplaces

By: Santiago Gallino, Nil Karacaoglu and Antonio Moreno

Most online sales worldwide take place in marketplaces that connect sellers and buyers. The presence of numerous third-party sellers leads to a proliferation of listings for each product, making it difficult for customers to choose between the available options. Online... View Details

Keywords: Algorithms; E-commerce; Sales; Digital Marketing; Internet and the Web; Customer Satisfaction

SSRN

February 2021 (Revised February 2021)
Background Note

eGrocery and the Role of Data for CPG Firms

By: Ayelet Israeli, Fedor (Ted) Lisitsyn and Mark A. Irwin

This notes provides information about the eGrocery industry and how traditional CPG companies handle this channel and potential data. It is recommended to use together with a series of exercises entitled: "E-Commerce Analytics for CPG Firms (A), (B), and (C)." View Details

June 2020 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Majid Al Futtaim Retail Geographic Expansion: Brick or Click?

By: Juan Alcácer and Alpana Thapar

This case illustrates the challenges that retailers face when they aggressively pursue geographical growth by expanding both their physical store network and their online presence. It features Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Retail, a franchisee of Carrefour hypermarkets in the... View Details

Keywords: Stores; Ecommerce; Strategy; Expansion; Geographic Location; Decision Making; Internet and the Web; Digital Transformation; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Middle East

January 2017
Case

Expanding Ecommerce at Technos

By: Thales Teixeira, Rohit Deshpandé, Ruth Costas and Priscilla Zogbi

Technos was the market leader in the Brazilian watch market. Its CEO had made a firm commitment to evolve the company’s marketing and commercial practices by focusing less on pushing product to retail clients and more on branding to end consumers to pull watches from... View Details