Course Description
Summary
Retailing is a large component of a country’s economy and is an extremely dynamic industry as it responds
to changing consumer tastes on the one hand and technological advances on the other hand. Especially in
the last decade, due to the confluence of a number of societal and technological developments, retailing has
seen massive change. Yet, these developments are ongoing, which implies that retailing will continue to be
disrupted in the next decade at an accelerating pace. The high-level aims of this course are:
1. Develop an understanding of some basic frameworks to analyze retail, identify the broad societal and
technological trends that are shaping and enabling retailing and how they fit into the frameworks, and
project the trends and their impacts into the future to predict how retailing might evolve.
2. Take a deep dive into specific trends and topics of high importance to retailing today and in the near
future.
B8604: New Frontiers in Retail
Spring 2024, B Term
Dates and Times: Tuesday, 6:00 pm to 9:15 pm
Classroom: Kravis 820
Course Syllabus
Instructors
Prof. Oliver Chen, CFA
Senior Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst: Retail, New Platforms, and Luxury Sector;
Cowen and Company, Equity Research Division
Arthur F Burns Professor of Free and Competitive Enterprise,
Professor of Business in the Marketing Division,
Columbia Business School
Instructor office hours: By appointment
TA: Victoria Ryhanych
(VRyhanych24@columbia.edu)
TA office hours: By appointment
Course Overview
Session 1
Introduction and Course Overview
Key Trends Shaping Retail
“Magic and Logic”
Retail as an Ecosystem
Marketplaces and retail economics
Companies represented: Geoffroy van Raemdonck (CEO, Neiman Marcus)
Session 2
Sustainability, ESG
Companies represented: Kia Lowe (CEO, Loved01) & Chip Bergh (CEO, Levi Strauss)
Session 2
Retail Analytics (e.g., CLV, CAC) and Metrics
Companies represented: Kellie Fitzgerald (Managing Director of Retail, Google)
Optional Site Visit
Coach site visit
Session 4
AI and Automation in Retail
Investing in Retail
Companies represented: François Chaubard (CEO, Focalsystems), Natasha Franck (CEO, EON) & Nik Thukral (Managing Partner, L Catterton)
Optional Site Visit
Macy's site visit
Session 5
Regulation/Antitrust in Retail
Supply Chains and Inventory Management in Retail
Companies represented: Tood Kumler (Principal, Cornerstone Research) & Garrett van Ryzin (VP of Supply Chain Optimization Technology, Amazon)
Session 6
Coordinating the Different Functions of Retail
Student Project Presentations
Course Wind Up
Companies represented: Joanne Crevoiserat (CEO, Tapestry)
Group Project Final Submission
