Publications

March 2004 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Paper and More

Provides a context and exercise for introducing retail inventory management, including cost optimization, service-level criteria, and forecasting in single and multiproduct settings. The owner of a single-location paper and paper products store considers the... View Details

Keywords: Management; Expansion; Logistics; Forecasting and Prediction; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

March 2001
Supplement

Francisco de Narvaez at TIA: Selling the Family Business

By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty

Francisco de Narvaez reflects on the process of selling his family's retail business. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Business Exit or Shutdown

August 2023
Case

Reimagining Hindustan Unilever (A)

By: Sunil Gupta and Rachna Tahilyani

In the fall of 2019, the CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firm, is wondering what to do about their experiments to digitize distribution. Despite three years of intense efforts, their apps to empower retailers... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Leading Change; Distribution; Decisions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Consumer Behavior; E-commerce; Competition; Performance; Business Strategy; Marketing; Transformation; Consumer Products Industry; Asia; India

01 Nov 2013
News

Adding Bricks to Clicks: On the Role of Physical Stores in a World of Online Shopping

June 1998 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Egghead.com

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Egghead Software, an entrenched traditional chain retailer specializing in computer software and peripherals, had established a nationwide chain of mall and shopping center stores and a well-organized national brand. In early 1998, management made a highly unusual, and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

09 Dec 2015
News

As Office Depot merger falters, Staples’ next step won’t be easy

25 Apr 2013
News

The business strategy in plausible deniability

Kris Johnson Ferreira

Kris Ferreira is the Edgerley Family Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management (TOM) Unit. She teaches the Supply Chain Management course in the MBA elective curriculum and analytics in numerous Executive Education... View Details

Keywords: retailing

May 1975 (Revised October 1985)
Case

Marks and Spencer Ltd.

By: Joseph L. Bower

This business policy and retailing strategy case focuses on the unique corporate strategy and philosophy of a leading English retailer. Emphasizes expansion plans. View Details

Keywords: Learning; Policy; Management; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

July 2021 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Fynd

By: Ranjay Gulati, Kairavi Dey and Rachna Tahilyani

Fynd is a fast-growing venture that in 7 years since its founding has become India's largest omnichannel retail company with real-time access to over 9,000 stores' offline inventory. It started as a B2B business supporting retailers who didn’t have an online business,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Business Model; Acquisition; Decision Making; Cost vs Benefits; Growth and Development Strategy; Web Services Industry; Technology Industry; Communications Industry; India; Mumbai

02 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

‘Retail Revolution’ Excerpt: The Scale of the Ecommerce Threat

book excerpt The Scale Of The Threat From Retail Revolution: Will Your Brick-and-Mortar Store Survive? By Rajiv Lal, José B. Alvarez and Dan Greenberg After years against the ropes, many retailers are... View Details

Keywords: Re: Rajiv Lal; Retail

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

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Books; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

26 Nov 2014
News

Taking Apple’s Lead, Amazon Considers Getting Physical

September 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Lifefont: The Case for RetailDriver

Examines how Lifefont (pseudonym), a multidivisional consumer packages goods company, develops a system to manage and measure the impact of promotional events in retail outlets. View Details

Keywords: Framework; Change Management; Compensation and Benefits; Cost vs Benefits; Growth Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Customer Relationship Management; Product Marketing; Salesforce Management; Advertising; Management Systems; Information Technology; Retail Industry

Video

Patrick Chalhoub

Patrick Chalhoub, CEO of Dubai-based luxury retailer Chalhoub, discusses responses to political risk after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. View Details

September 2012
Supplement

United Capital Partners (B)

By: Paul A. Gompers, J. Daniel Kim and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

This case continues the discussion started in the (A) case about a proposed growth equity investor in a Russian fashion retail chain. View Details

Keywords: Fashion; Growth Equity; Private Equity; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Russia

September 2019
Teaching Note

Boxed

By: Laura Huang and Andy Wu

Boxed.com (“Boxed”) is an ambitious e-commerce retailer start-up, founded by visionary CEO Chieh Huang in 2013. From starting in Huang’s garage in 2013, to winning Emerging E-Retailer of the Year in 2016, to having 4 operational distribution centers in 2018, Boxed used... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Business Startups; Leadership; Strategy; Success; E-commerce; Retail Industry