Technological advances and the promulgation of Internet access in the last 20 years have spurred the emergence of a new industry: Internet retailing. The industry's rapid evolution has brought about a host of business challenges, and previous academic efforts have focused on specific segments of retailing without emphasizing e-commerce, or e-commerce without a retailing concentration. The Sloan Center for Internet Retailing at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) seeks to fill this void by conducting research that improves business effectiveness and advances best practices in Internet retailing by focusing on the customer chain, including all functions that impact the consumer experience.

    Housed at the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management, the Center draws on the infrastructure of eLab, UCR's pioneering digital consumer research center. Research is organized around six main themes identified by Internet retailers as essential to gaining competitive advantage. These include: 1) multi-channel retailing, 2) customer experience, 3) loyalty, 4) innovation, 5) pricing and promotion strategies, and 6) personalization and related online marketing strategies. Insights are drawn from direct observation of firm practices, behavioral and economic experiments, quantitative modeling, and survey research.

   A key aspect of the Center's approach is its direct collaboration with industry partners including founding partners Lands' End/Sears and Walmart.com. Through Advisory Board participation and networking opportunities, these corporate partners provide essential input to ensure that the research agenda addresses questions relevant to the immediate needs of the industry. Partners also have advance access to Center research reports and recruiting opportunities with the Center's top MBA candidates.

    Center faculty use existing research to produce proprietary, action-oriented reports called "Sloan Solutions" that are tailored to address immediate industry needs. For example, Center faculty have worked with partners on topics involving online merchandising strategy and online loyalty programs, among others. Another example of the Center's practical insights is the book Beyond the Basics: Research-Based Rules for Internet Retailing Advantage. Written by the Center's MBA and Ph.D. students under the direction of Professors Hoffman and Novak, the volume draws on rigorous academic research to provide a wide range of industry recommendations such as "Managing Consumers' Forgiveness When Online Recommendations Go Bad" and "Cognitive Lock-In: How Internet Retailers Can Create Cognitive Loyalty."