Publications

Find at Harvard

November 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Background Note

Online Content Providers

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alastair Brown

Describes the business model for online content providers, companies that distribute copyright content via the Internet. Focuses on their revenue and cost drivers and on the ways that online content providers create value for consumers. Also investigates the benefits... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Customers; Value Creation; Business Model; Internet and the Web; Cash Flow; Risk and Uncertainty; Growth and Development Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Decision Making; Profit; Information Industry

Find at Harvard

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

Find at Harvard

Read Now

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

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

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

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

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

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

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

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

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

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

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

February 2015 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Quincy Apparel (A)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lisa Mazzanti

Quincy Apparel designs, manufactures and sells work apparel for young professional women that offers the fit and feel of high-end brands at a lower price. In late 2012, Quincy's cofounders are debating how to approach a crucial board meeting. Their seed-stage startup... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Failure; Online Retail; Women's Apparel; Business Startups; Business Plan; Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Production; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; New York (city, NY)

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

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

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

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Technology

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; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

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