By Rachel Fay Gimuriman, supervised by Robert A. Novack📧 (Thesis Supervisor) and John C. Spychalski📧 (Honors Advisor) (2018)
The new age of business revolves around data, technology, and the incredible capabilities said advancements have brought every company and consumer in the world. The retail sector, in particular, has been completely transformed and catalyzed because of the revolutionary vision of companies like Amazon or Walmart. They have focused on creating new strategies that are fueled by data and technology, and furthermore, being the ones who create the consumer expectation; no customer knows what they need to make their life better or more convenient…until Amazon or Walmart tells them. This thesis aims to delve into the history and evolution from solely traditional brick and mortar stores to click and mortar stores, and vice versa, and how the octopus that is Amazon and the hippo that is Walmart have disrupted retail as we know it. This publication creates a platform that students and professionals can reference to gain a deeper understanding of the evolution of “brick to click” and “click to brick” over the recent decade and begin to understand where these two animals will take us next. The main foci include: developing consumer trends, competitive strategies, pricing, operations, product assortment, private label, store formats, and supply chain management. The industries and companies studied includes grocery (Whole Foods Market, Kroger, Instacart, and Blue Apron), wholesale (Costco, Sam’s Club, Boxed Wholesale), department stores (Lord and Taylor, Kohl’s and Nordstrom), home delivery companies, big box retailers (Walmart and Target), private label manufacturing, and the future of the retail store. This thesis aims to examine the entire retail industry.
Access the paper at Electronic Theses for Schreyer Honors College (ETDA) website here.