By Alexandra Hana Calderaro, supervised by Robert A. Novack📧 (Thesis Supervisor) and John C. Spychalski📧 (Honors Advisor) (2017)
The purpose of this thesis is to explore the triumphs and struggles of retail companies adopting an omni-channel presence. In a climate of increased customer demands, current retail giants are forced to push previous boundaries in product assortment, speed of service, and supply chain innovation. Two companies particularly susceptible to changing market expectations are Wal-Mart and Amazon. In the quest to become the largest player in retail, each entity is experimenting in online and physical environments, causing much speculation as to who will “win” the hearts and dollars of U.S. retail customers. To determine the likelihood of each company’s success, the historical philosophies and past practices of Wal-Mart and Amazon were analyzed. This analysis was used to compare the two companies on five key attributes that helped ascertain various sources of competitive advantage. All information was obtained through literature reviews of articles, publications, journals, and additional resources from 1962, the year of Wal-Mart’s founding, to present.
Access the paper at Electronic Theses for Schreyer Honors College (ETDA) website here.