Filter Results:
(536)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(840)
- News (195)
- Research (536)
- Events (8)
- Multimedia (5)
- Faculty Publications (270)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(840)
- News (195)
- Research (536)
- Events (8)
- Multimedia (5)
- Faculty Publications (270)
Sort by
- 18 Apr 2005
- Research & Ideas
Prosper with Multi-Channel Retailing
For decades, major retailers offered customers only two methods of purchasing: directly at the store or from catalogs sent through the mail. With the advent of the Internet, retail companies that offered... View Details
- August 1998
- Background Note
Selling Books Online in Mid-1998
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis
Provides an overview of the trends and predictions for the online book retail industry as of August 1998 and the current status of Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and other main players' online ventures. View Details
Rayport, Jeffrey F., Carin-Isabel Knoop, and Cate Reavis. "Selling Books Online in Mid-1998." Harvard Business School Background Note 899-038, August 1998.
- Other Article
Online Discounting: Who is Leading the Race to the Bottom?
By: Ayelet Israeli, Eric Anderson and Anne Coughlan
A short review of the finidings in: Israeli, Ayelet, Eric Anderson, and Anne Coughlan. "Minimum Advertised Pricing: Patterns of Violation in Competitive Retail Markets." Marketing Science 35, no. 4 (July–August 2016): 539–564. View Details
- July 2022
- Supplement
Solution for E-Commerce Analytics for CPG Firms (B): Optimizing Assortment for a New Retailer
By: Ayelet Israeli
Keywords: Data; Data Analysis; Data Analytics; Data Sharing; CPG; Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG); Delivery Planning; Customer Lifetime Value; Online Channel; Retail; Retail Analytics; Retailing Industry; Ecommerce; Grocery; Optimization; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis; Customer Value and Value Chain; Marketing Channels; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States
- November 2013
- Article
Adding Bricks to Clicks: On the Role of Physical Stores in a World of Online Shopping
By: Jill Avery, Thomas Steenburgh, John A. Deighton and Mary Caravella
Buying a product has never been easier. Consumers can shop online, over the phone or via mail order, from home or on the go, and if they want to experience touch and feel, they can also visit a "real" store. Often, one and the same retailer offers several of these... View Details
Keywords: Channel Management; Retailing; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; E-commerce; Retail Industry; United States
Avery, Jill, Thomas Steenburgh, John A. Deighton, and Mary Caravella. "Adding Bricks to Clicks: On the Role of Physical Stores in a World of Online Shopping." GfK Marketing Intelligence Review 5, no. 2 (November 2013).
- March 1998 (Revised March 1999)
- Case
Dell Online
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell
Dell started online commerce for its PCs in 1996, and by 1997 had achieved a sales rate of $3 million a day. The case describes the internal process that led to these dramatic results and poses the question of how the firm should leverage this activity to meet Michael... View Details
Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Market Transactions; Goals and Objectives; Business Processes; Distribution Channels; Internet and the Web; Information Infrastructure; Competitive Advantage; Retail Industry; Retail Industry
Rangan, V. Kasturi, and Marie Bell. "Dell Online." Harvard Business School Case 598-116, March 1998. (Revised March 1999.)
- August 2002 (Revised June 2006)
- Case
Great Dakota Bank: Online Banking
By: Frances X. Frei, Youngme E. Moon and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar
In 2002, Great Dakota Bank's retail division is considering how heavily it should be promoting the company's online banking service. A recent promotional campaign appears to have significantly increased enrollments in online banking, but it is unclear whether the bank... View Details
Keywords: Banks and Banking; Internet and the Web; Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Technological Innovation; Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Satisfaction; Management; Service Operations; Banking Industry
Frei, Frances X., Youngme E. Moon, and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar. "Great Dakota Bank: Online Banking." Harvard Business School Case 603-011, August 2002. (Revised June 2006.)
- 19 May 2011
- Research & Ideas
Empathy: The Brand Equity of Retail
There's a famous line from the movie The Godfather, which is often repeated in corporate settings: "This is business, not personal." Ironically, though, that statement is actually bad business advice. During the Consortium for Operational Excellence in View Details
- February 2019 (Revised September 2019)
- Case
Amazon in Fashion
By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock and Gabriel Ellsworth
According to many analysts and industry observers, in 2018 Amazon became the largest retailer of apparel in the United States and the second largest in the world, behind Alibaba. Much of Amazon’s apparel was made by third-party retailers on its platform, but Amazon had... View Details
Keywords: Amazon; Amazon.com; Fashion; Fashion Accessories; Retail; Retailing Industry; Retailing; ASOS; Inditex; Multi-channel Retailers; Online Retail; Online Retailing; Positioning; Private Label; Delivery; Spending; Internet and the Web; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry
Wells, John R., Benjamin Weinstock, and Gabriel Ellsworth. "Amazon in Fashion." Harvard Business School Case 719-481, February 2019. (Revised September 2019.)
- 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
Alcácer, Juan, and Alpana Thapar. "Majid Al Futtaim Retail Geographic Expansion: Brick or Click?" Harvard Business School Case 720-482, June 2020. (Revised August 2020.)
- May 2007 (Revised July 2011)
- Background Note
Retail Shopping in 2007: The Net Versus the Mall
By: Stephen P. Bradley, Nancy Bartlett and James Weber
Provides an overview of the retail sector within the United States as online shopping captures an increased percentage of consumer spending. The role of enabling technologies and applications, including comparison shopping sites and recommendation systems, are covered.... View Details
Keywords: Spending; Marketing Channels; Demand and Consumers; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Retail Industry; United States
Bradley, Stephen P., Nancy Bartlett, and James Weber. "Retail Shopping in 2007: The Net Versus the Mall." Harvard Business School Background Note 707-566, May 2007. (Revised July 2011.)
- 02 Mar 2015
- Research & Ideas
Retail Reaches a Tipping Point—Which Stores Will Survive?
authors look to the future—what will the shopping experience be like for us, and for retailers, as ecommerce becomes an ever larger part of the market. In early February, 93-year-old retailer RadioShack announced it was filing for... View Details
- February 2011 (Revised February 2012)
- Case
Online Marketing at Big Skinny
By: Benjamin Edelman and Scott Duke Kominers
Describes a wallet maker's application of seven Internet marketing technologies: display ads, algorithmic search, sponsored search, social media, interactive content, online distributors, and A/B testing. Provides concise introductions to the key features of each... View Details
Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Digital Marketing; Resource Allocation; Marketing Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Internet and the Web; Retail Industry
Edelman, Benjamin, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Online Marketing at Big Skinny." Harvard Business School Case 911-033, February 2011. (Revised February 2012.) (request a courtesy copy.)
- February 2015 (Revised April 2016)
- Supplement
Quincy Apparel (B)
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lisa C. Mazzanti
The (B) case provides post-mortem analysis from Quincy's cofounders on why their startup failed and what they could have done differently. Explanations for failure focus on Quincy's ambitious value proposition and resulting operational challenges; cofounder conflict;... View Details
Keywords: Retail; Online Retail; Women's Apparel; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Business Startups; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Retail Industry
Eisenmann, Thomas R., and Lisa C. Mazzanti. "Quincy Apparel (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 815-095, February 2015. (Revised April 2016.)
- 19 Nov 2018
- Sharpening Your Skills
E-Santa: Is Retail Ready for Digital Christmas?
at risk of losing them. Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink Mass-market retailers, particularly big-box "category killers," are under critical pressure from online competitors. Why... View Details
- July 2014 (Revised August 2014)
- Case
AmazonFresh: Rekindling the Online Grocery Market
By: Rory McDonald, Clayton Christensen, Robin Yang and Ty Hollingsworth
More than a decade after the high-profile failures of several early online grocers, grocery remains the largest single U.S. retail category and one of the few that has not yet migrated online. Amazon began testing its grocery-delivery service, AmazonFresh, in Seattle,... View Details
Keywords: Innovation; New Markets; Grocery; Operations Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Strategy; Emerging Markets; Learning; Service Operations; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Food and Beverage Industry; United States
McDonald, Rory, Clayton Christensen, Robin Yang, and Ty Hollingsworth. "AmazonFresh: Rekindling the Online Grocery Market." Harvard Business School Case 615-013, July 2014. (Revised August 2014.)
- 09 Feb 2012
- Sharpening Your Skills
Sharpening Your Skills: Online Marketing
retailer-initiated feedback loops. Retailers should ask themselves, How do I create a partnership with the consumer? Data collected from these programs can help merchants make smarter decisions on everything from where to open a new store... View Details
- November 2000 (Revised May 2002)
- Case
FleetBoston Financial: Online Banking
By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar
As the ninth largest bank holding company in the United States in 2000, FleetBoston Financial Corp. provided a myriad of financial services, including retail banking, loan origination, and brokerage accounts. This case explores how FleetBoston responded to the Internet... View Details
Keywords: Business Model; Borrowing and Debt; Cost Management; Banks and Banking; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Competition; Online Technology; Banking Industry; United States
Frei, Frances X., and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar. "FleetBoston Financial: Online Banking." Harvard Business School Case 601-042, November 2000. (Revised May 2002.)
- March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
- Case
ASOS PLC
By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
Launched in 2000, ASOS was one of the world’s largest online fashion specialists in 2018. Focusing on young consumers aged 16–25 years, the company offered over 85,000 items on its websites, many times more than the largest fashion stores, and added several thousand... View Details
Keywords: ASOS; AsSeenOnScreen; Online Fashion; Online Apparel; Nick Beighton; Nick Robertson; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Social Media; Marketplaces; Shipping; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Startups; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Age; Gender; Currency Exchange Rate; Profit; Revenue; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United Kingdom; England; London
Wells, John R., and Gabriel Ellsworth. "ASOS PLC." Harvard Business School Case 716-449, March 2016. (Revised May 2018.)
- November 2015 (Revised April 2018)
- Case
Flipkart (A): Transitioning to a Marketplace Model
By: Das Narayandas, Sunil Gupta and Rachna Tahilyani
In 2015, Sachin and Binny Bansal, co-founders of India’s largest e-commerce company, are wondering if it is time to move from a hybrid model to a full marketplace. While Amazon runs a hybrid model, Alibaba operates a marketplace. In addition, Flipkart has been losing... View Details
Keywords: Marketplaces; Online Retail; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; E-commerce; Retail Industry; India
Narayandas, Das, Sunil Gupta, and Rachna Tahilyani. "Flipkart (A): Transitioning to a Marketplace Model." Harvard Business School Case 516-017, November 2015. (Revised April 2018.)