Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Since consumers have many retailers at which to shop, premium prices are quickly competed away. The large UK retailer, owned by Wal-mart, lowered its 2010 expenses by over £70 million ($110 million) through energy and waste reduction throughout its retail footprint of 500 stores. Consider Asda. Their distinctive insight?

Retail 14

Retail Apparel Supply Chain Agility 14

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 21, 2011

Any action that might lead to food price inflation will not be taken lightly. As China's soybean production is constrained by land availability, the alternatives would be to import from Brazil and Argentina, which accounted for 27% and 16% respectively of China's soybean supply in 2010.

Apparel 14

Apparel Real Estate Automotive Globalization 14

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 12, 2012

The Wall Street Journal says that Prada's dazzling numbers reflect Chinese consumers' increasingly refined tastes, making Prada's high quality leather goods, with high price points and subtle logos, that much more attractive. trillion, with annual expenditures increasing from $2 trillion in 2010 to more than $6 trillion in 2020.

Marketing 9

Marketing Apparel Short-term Brand 9

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

By lowering the "China price," the world's low-cost manufacturer is doing to solar what it did to the apparel and electronics sectors: driving higher-cost producers (usually in the West) out of business. Portugal transformed its electric grid from 17 percent renewables to 45 percent in just five years (as of 2010).

Energy 8

Energy Apparel Cost Entrepreneur 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 20, 2011

Ok, this one is cheating a bit, but on a fundamental level, the top themes in green business haven't actually changed too much ( see the 2010 list ). Coca-Cola was not alone in facing increasing costs in 2011; one of my clients, Kimberly-Clark, took an earnings hit from record pulp prices. Business as usual is no more.

Supply Chain 15

Supply Chain Apparel P&L Long-term 15

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 27, 2012

While GILT and its rivals sell across verticals (apparel, home, travel, kids, local), OKL deals in just one big one: home. With six to eight boutiques opening every day, at prices 50 percent below retail, Mack says the goal is to make every day "Black Friday" — without selling out too fast given the 72-hour lifetime of each boutique.

Retail 15

Retail Fashion Merchandising Apparel 15