E-commerce - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Cities Offer Huge Incentives to Amazon for New HQ

November 30, 2017

Although many retailers enjoyed a sales boost during Thanksgiving Weekend, no other company can rival Amazon’s stellar start to the holiday season. The e-commerce outlet brought in 45 percent of all online purchases on Thanksgiving along with nearly 55 percent of Black Friday’s total Internet transactions. Plus, Amazon announced that Cyber Monday was the company’s biggest sales day ever, boasting that customers had purchased “hundreds of millions of products” throughout the weekend.

Along with putting Amazon’s huge influence with customers Continue reading →

E-commerce, Cyber Monday, Facility Location, Retail, Ethics, Regulation, Amazon, Legal, Black Friday

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Shoppers Spend $6.6 Billion on Cyber Monday

November 28, 2017

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Last week we took a look at how analysts were lowering their expectations for Black Friday, which is traditionally the country’s biggest annual shopping event. While retailers managed to generate about $5 billion in sales on the day, this year’s take was decidedly lower than in years past. In some cases store traffic was non-existent, leading at least one newscaster to vent their frustrations about the poor turnout on air. But while some brick-and-mortar stores stayed empty, Continue reading →

Retail, Pricing, Black Friday, E-commerce, Promotion, Cyber Monday

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Amazon Aims to Expand into Fashion

October 12, 2017

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While Amazon has been an online retail powerhouse for years now, in 2017 the company showed the business world what a truly dominant force it could be. Along with buying Whole Foods during the summer, Amazon’s name came up constantly as the media discussed how the online outlet had upended the traditional retail industry. But despite all the talk about Amazon’s growing supremacy, the company still can’t compete in one of retail’s most lucrative sectors: fashion.

That’s not to Continue reading →

Fashion, Amazon, Product Distribution, E-commerce, Hanes, Clothing, Retail

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Food Halls Provide Eaters with a Variety of Options

September 21, 2017

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In malls across the country, food courts act as hubs where shoppers can eat, drink, and take breaks from comparing price tags. Along with sharing a common purpose, these corrals of restaurants and drink stands often serve similar fare, too. After all, walk into any food court and you’re likely to find mainstay chains like Sbarro, Subway and Panda Express alongside a couple of local options.

This dependable if slightly boring structure served retail centers well for decades as shoppers Continue reading →

E-commerce, Food, Food Halls, Shopping Malls, Product Development, Retail, Product Distribution

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Massive Debts Force Toys ‘R’ Us to File for Bankruptcy

September 19, 2017

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The decline of brick and mortar retail has been one of the biggest business stories of the year, with formerly successful chains like HH Gregg, Payless and others filing for bankruptcy. And this week Toys ‘R’ Us became the latest company to join this unfortunate group. Like so many other traditional retailers, Toys ‘R’ Us couldn’t keep up with the growing dominance of Amazon. The company’s CEO said it would need to slash prices in order to stay afloat, Continue reading →

Toys ‘R’ Us, Retail, Amazon, Product Distribution, Bankruptcy, E-commerce, Debt

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 19: Securities Markets, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Startups Look to Disrupt the Wedding Industry

July 26, 2017

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As the sudden closing of Alfred Angelo Bridal shows, dealing with weddings can be unpredictable and continuously frustrating even on the business side. But the financial rewards are vast for those who manage to navigate this volatile sector successfully. The wedding industry earned $58 billion in revenue in 2016 and is expected to bring in $63 billion by 2021. The average wedding now costs $26,500 as couples spend generously over the year or so that they spend planning the big Continue reading →

Product Development, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Startups, E-commerce, Weddings

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Innovative Retailers in China Plot the Future of the Industry

July 13, 2017

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As we’ve covered a couple of times already, this has been a difficult year for many American retailers. While brick-and-mortar stores struggle to compete with e-commerce outlets, online retailers as well must grapple with the ever-increasing might of Amazon. These seismic shifts in power have led many to wonder what the future of the industry might look like. Amazon has recently been experimenting with cashierless stores, but observers say the company still has a lot of work to do Continue reading →

Innovation, Operations Management, China, Amazon, Product Distribution, Mobile, E-commerce, Retail

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Grocery Delivery Services Operate on Tight Schedules

July 7, 2017

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For more than a decade, the growing e-commerce industry has turned the retail world on its head. From books to beds and everything in between, online shopping offers customers convenience and value that many traditional stores can’t compete with. Still, there’s at least one area of retail that e-commerce hasn’t conquered entirely: groceries. While experts estimate that 10 percent of all shopping in the U.S. now occurs on the Internet, overall online food sales are less than half that number. Continue reading →

Food, Packaging, Product Distribution, E-commerce, Operations Management, Peapod

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Amazon Acquires Whole Foods in Multi-Billion Dollar Deal

June 19, 2017

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A few months ago we looked at how increased competition has hurt sales at Whole Foods and slowed its growth in recent years. Faced with the possibility of shutting down stores, CEO John Mackey cleared five people from the board of directors, appointed a new chairwoman, and hired a new CFO. Executives even developed plans to cut costs while also improving operations.

Then suddenly everything changed: last week Amazon announced that it would buy Whole Foods for $13.4 billion. This Continue reading →

Retail, Amazon, Management, Automation, Food, E-commerce, Acquisitions, Whole Foods

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price

Zara Soars While Other Retailers Struggle

June 15, 2017

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2017 has not been a good year so far for many retailers. Chains like J.C. Penney and Sears plan to close hundreds of locations while J. Crew has posted 11 consecutive quarters of declining same-store sales. But as these formerly powerful brands struggle, the Spanish fashion giant Zara is thriving like never before. This week its parent company Inditex announced that first quarter sales jumped 18 percent to $733.3 million. Plus, total sales for Zara topped out at $6.3 billion, Continue reading →

Zara, Operations Management, Spain, Global, Supply chains, Product Distribution, E-commerce, Product Development, Retail

Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media