2021

Things are changing—fast. The retail sector continues to reflect these changes as it keeps up with consumer demand. Since the pandemic’s onset, retailers’ reactions to government regulations limiting capacity and consumer demands for equity and authenticity have been finessed into smarter, more flexible responses, says Barbara E. Kahn, Patty and…Read More

News Will Guilting Consumers Help Reduce Online's High Return Rates?  “Accepting a product and preparing it to be shipped back is viewed as a nuisance, so not much thought has gone into making the process more efficient. Yet most companies still offer generous return policies to keep their customers coming…Read More

News Penn experts reflect on the global supply chain snags that have stressed systems during the fall and holiday season.  “If you have an item come in in November, that order was placed last winter. And last winter, there was a ton of pandemic restructuring happening where companies didn’t see…Read More

News Into the metaverse: Can Facebook rebrand itself? “The dilemma they’re facing now is, do people want to be part of dystopian metaverse that’s run by a company that seems to have the kind of values that Facebook has? I don’t know if consumers really do.” - Patti Williams, Professor…Read More

News Holiday Holdup: Can We Solve Our Supply Chain Problems? “When you make decisions laser-focused on efficiency, you might be missing on resilience.” - Santiago Gallino, Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions, The Wharton School See All News During normal times, companies look for ways to make their supply chains…Read More

News Retailers Expect Holiday Shopping Shortages, Higher Prices First Insight and Wharton’s Baker Retailing Center study finds that 100% of retail execs agree supply chain disruptions will affect sales, prices, and promotions See All News Despite September’s better-than-anticipated retail sales numbers, trouble could be on the horizon. Top retail executives…Read More