Jie Zhang is a Professor of Marketing and the Harvey Sanders Fellow of Retail Management at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. She received her Ph.D. in marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at NorthwesternUniversity. She was a faculty member at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan prior to joining the Smith School. Her general research interest is to apply advanced econometric and statistical models to study consumer purchase behaviors and retail strategies.
SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Back-to-school shoppers want discounts. Manufacturers want high profit margins. The tension feeds a paradox of sorts at retail outlets where buyers and sellers meet: Stores increasingly emphasize pricey, innovative and fun products in a bargain-shopping season.
SMITH BRAIN TRUST – The fog of perfume and clatter of cosmetics samples for generations have greeted shoppers as they walk through the doors at the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store in Manhattan. But that’s changed this week.
Women Leading Research: Jie Zhang
SMITH BRAIN TRUST – Amazon and Walmart both have plans to let unattended delivery people into your home to drop off parcels or restock your fridge.
Retailer Can Emerge from Bankruptcy a Winner
It's not "game over" for Toys 'R' Us. Its filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week is more of a "timeout." And the Smith School's Jie Zhang, says that if the iconic toy retailer plays its cards right, it could end up a winner. Zhang explains what the country's last remaining toy specialty retailer must do now. Read more...
Soon, it might be that your favorite place to shop is in your mailbox. At least, that's the idea behind the growing crop of online styling and fashion subscription services. The services – Stitch Fix, MM.LaFleur and LeTote are among the most popular – are offering up a tiny-store-in-a-box each month and hoping to gain devoted customers. They're banking on the convenience of shopping at home and the appeal of receiving an assortment of products selected to match a customer's tastes. The idea is catching on. The Smith School's Jie Zhang explains. Read more...
J.Crew is battling some choppy seas. It's had 10 consecutive quarterly sales declines, two straight years of losses, and now the iconic, classic clothier is swimming in more than $2 billion in debt. Its longtime style maven and creative director Jenna Lyons is out, as is its once-celebrated CEO Mickey Drexler. It's paddling against unprecedented challenges from fast-fashion retailers and e-commerce competitors. And now as J.Crew looks to right its course, it's facing another crisis: an identity crisis. Read more...
For Blue Apron, Amazon's blockbuster deal to acquire Whole Foods couldn't have come at a worse time, says Smith School marketing professor Jie Zhang. The New York-based meal-kit delivery service was just beginning the marketing for its initial public offering, in which it hopes to raise more than $500 million, when Amazon.com Inc. announced the $13.7 billion deal that could upend the food-retail industry. Suddenly, all the talk among analysts and prospective investors has turned to Amazon, the 431 Whole Foods locations, the grocery chain's distribution network, and how CEO Jeff Bezos might reshape how Americans shop for food. Read more...
The U.S. grocery industry is bracing for a shakeup, and a potential price war, as one German supermarket chain seeks to make its debut and another looks to expand its reach. German grocery chain Aldi says it will invest $3.4 billion to broaden its U.S. footprint, adding 900 new stores by 2022. German rival Lidl, meanwhile, is opening its first U.S. stores this month, with plans to open 100 by next summer. The added competition in the low-margin world of grocery sales comes as food prices for the U.S. are under pressure, falling for 17 straight months. And it comes at a time of continued price-sensitivity for many Americans. Experts from the Smith School explain how Aldi and Lidl and their "no frills" hard-discount business model might impact American grocery getters. Read more...
