Piriya Thepkanjana's Profile

Great article! I agree with Gregor that given the rapid growth of dating platforms, it is probably better to have different platforms targeting different set of customers. I think Match should invest more in differentiating their platforms so that they are attracting their target customers to their intended platforms. I would suggest that Match impose some requirements based on interests/personal values so we can have a more matching efficient process.

Adam, very interesting article. I’m surprised to learn that majority of Kroger’s investments in digital is not in grocery delivery given the trend of people moving toward online grocery. I agree with you that given how fast online grocery is growing, it is important that Kroger enters this space. I see from above comments that people are concerned that moving into online grocery is against Kroger’s competitive advantage. A possible solution would be to partner with a third-party online grocery service provider, such as Instacart, and pay them commissions for delivery service. While the margin will most likely be lower than in-store purchase, this strategy will allow Kroger to at least get a slice of the pie.

Very interesting article, Alison. I agree with you that Chipotle should consider its delivery capabilities and that customers are putting more emphasis on how quick they can get their burritos delivered. However, I’m not sure whether the additional investment in delivery fleet is justifiable given the nature of Chipotle’s QSR business model. I have recently learned that Chipotle actually offers delivery via third-party services. I think it would be great if Chipotle puts more efforts in marketing its delivery options. In addition, I would recommend that Chipotle tries launching a pilot program first to gauge whether investing in its own delivery fleet is economically feasible.

Mary, this article is very insightful. I used to shop occasionally on Farfetch and have always wondered how they manage their internal logistics. Their customer service amazed me—fast DHL shipping and seamless return process. I was surprised to learn that Farfetch receives 25% commission from each transaction, which to be seems to be a very high amount taking into considerations additional shipping costs that boutiques stores will have bear. It makes me wonder how profitable being on Farfetch is to these small boutique stores. Given such a high commission and strict standards on product presentation, do you think Farfetch can scale its business? In addition, do you think Farfetch could partner with Barneys, Bergdorf, or other luxury US-based department stores to help expand these stores expand their online platform internationally?

Thank you for such an interesting article. You raised a very interesting point about how local governments are concerned that a host will use Airbnb for commercial purposes. This is indeed very prevalent in developing countries where many foreign investors invest in condominiums, leave them vacant, and put them on Airbnb. It would be interesting to see how Airbnb will adjust its strategy to overcome this regulation hurdle.

Recently, to make housing more affordable, the city of Vancouver has imposed a new tax up to $7,450 annually on empty homes up. This new tax will take effect on January 1st. It would be interesting to see how this new tax will affect Airbnb business in Vancouver, Canada’s most expensive real estate market.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-09/vancouver-wields-c-10-000-a-day-fine-in-crackdown-on-empty-homes

It is very interesting to learn that millennials are willing to pay for products from a company that is committed to environmental sustainability and social impact. To assess whether how effective publicizing the steps that General Mills have taken to address climate change will generate additional demand from millennials, it would be helpful to see the breakdown of General Mills customers (% of millennials to total). In addition, what marketing channels do you think General Mills should employ to publicize its environmental sustainability initiatives?

Interestingly, it seems that recently General Mills faced some negative publicity. According to bizjournal, General Mills donated approximately $100,000 to politicians who tend to underestimate the threat of climate change. How do you think General Mills should respond?

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2016/10/10/target-general-mills-pledged-to-help-climate-then.html

Very interesting article. It’s interesting to know that hotels can financially benefit from reducing their water footprint. While we have seen many global initiatives from major hotel operators to reduce water usage per occupied room, I wonder what are some other potential initiatives these major hotel companies can implement to specifically reduce water usage for banquet functions, especially for convention hotels.

In addition, it would interesting to see how end uses of water in hotels vary across segments (luxury vs upscale vs economy). That way IHG can tailor its initiatives accordingly for different hotel brands within its portfolio.

Thank you for a very interest and insightful post! I like the additional steps you proposed for WhiteWave. Do you WhiteWave’s competitors in the almond-milk production business should adopt a similar strategy? In addition, would it be even more effective for WhiteWave to get buy in from other major almond milk producers to work together in developing strong supply chain relationship outside of California? It would be interesting to see the economic impact of sourcing almonds from other regions outside of California on WhiteWave’s almond milk business.

I wonder how Stella McCartney price her faux leather products relative to other luxury brands. Given that leather jackets are fashion essentials and investment pieces for some people, how do customers justify buying faux product which are perceived as having inferior quality compared to real leather? It would be interesting to learn more about other strategies that Stella McCartney have taken to change this perception that real leather is of higher quality than faux leather.

In addition, many fast-fashion brands like Topshop and Zara usually get “inspirations” from high-end designers like Stella McCartney, how does Stella McCartney differentiate its faux leather products from these fast-fashion brands?

Thank you for a very insightful article. This case reminds me of the Ikea case we read in class, in particular the concept of setting environmental standards for its suppliers. I notice that Ben and Jerry’s has been trying to expand into emerging markets. I wonder what policies Ben and Jerry’s have in place to make sure that local and regional suppliers comply with the standards the company has in place. Do you think it would be a great idea if Ben and Jerry’s adopt a similar vertical integration approach to Ikea’s? For example, Ben and Jerry’s could consider operating in the dairy farming business itself.

Very interesting article! I agree that given Shake Shack’s strong millennials customer base, the restaurant chain has potential to reshape the burger industry and become more environmentally conscious.

My concern with Shake Shack collaborating with companies that produce plant-based proteins is that Shake Shack may need to completely reposition its brand image which it has spent years creating. Will phasing out beef burgers and promoting non-beef burger take away the trendiness of the brand and turn Shack Shack into a health-conscious restaurant chain like Protein Bar?

In addition, I wonder how Shake Shack customers will respond to non-beef burgers. It would be great if Shake Shack conducts a survey to see whether introducing additional non-beef burger is a good investment. In addition, it can try launching a pilot program at one of the locations to gauge how customers respond to the new non-beef offering.

Thank you for such an interesting and insightful article! As a frequent shopper at H&M, I’ve never realized how significant of an impact H&M and other fast-fashion companies have on carbon emissions and climate change. In fact, I was never aware of the Conscious Collection and the Garment Collecting Program.

I wonder how the material costs for Conscious Collection compare to those of other collections. If the percentage of material costs to revenue for Conscious Collection are indeed noticeably higher than those of other normal collections, what would H&M do? Would it still be incentivized to continue producing Conscious Collection?

In addition, it would be interesting to see how customers react to Conscious Collection. As a brand that focuses on affordability and trendiness, do H&M’s target customers really take into account the environmental-friendliness factor as part of the customer value propositions when they make their purchasing decisions?