How Do Customers Judge Quality in an E-Tailer? Net Present Value (NPV) / MBA Resources

Introduction to Net Present Value (NPV) - What is Net Present Value (NPV) ? How it impacts financial decisions regarding project management?

NPV solution for How Do Customers Judge Quality in an E-Tailer? case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. How Do Customers Judge Quality in an E-Tailer? case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Joel E. Collier, Carol C. Bienstock. The How Do Customers Judge Quality in an E-Tailer? (referred as “Online Quality” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Technology & Operations. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Customers, Leadership, Market research, Product development.

The net present value (NPV) of an investment proposal is the present value of the proposal’s net cash flows less the proposal’s initial cash outflow. If a project’s NPV is greater than or equal to zero, the project should be accepted.

NPV = Present Value of Future Cash Flows LESS Project’s Initial Investment

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Case Description of How Do Customers Judge Quality in an E-Tailer? Case Study

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. Early research in e-commerce projected that online retailing would spiral into a never-ending price war. But recent research has shown that customers are more likely to pay higher prices to online retailers of high quality that they trust. But how do customers evaluate quality in online retailing? What are the specific aspects of an online transaction that customers value and use to distinguish one site from another? The authors explored these issues by surveying customers who had recently engaged in an online retail transaction to determine how they evaluate the quality of their experiences with online retailers. The results demonstrated that customers' perceptions of quality and satisfaction with online purchases depend on three things: interaction with the Web site, delivery of the product, and how prepared retailers are to address problems when they occur. Of the three, product delivery has the strongest influence on customer satisfaction and future purchase intentions. The authors further break down each of the three aspects of quality to create a complete picture of what it takes to build a trusting relationship with customers in an e-commerce environment.

Case Authors : Joel E. Collier, Carol C. Bienstock

Topic : Technology & Operations

Related Areas : Customers, Leadership, Market research, Product development

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for How Do Customers Judge Quality in an E-Tailer? Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10003273)	-10003273	-	-
Year 1	3450725	-6552548	3450725	0.9434	3255401
Year 2	3966525	-2586023	7417250	0.89	3530193
Year 3	3952713	1366690	11369963	0.8396	3318774
Year 4	3241020	4607710	14610983	0.7921	2567191
TOTAL			14610983		12671560

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2668287

In isolation the NPV number doesn't mean much but put in right context then it is one of the best method to evaluate project returns. In this article we will cover -

Different methods of capital budgeting

What is NPV & Formula of NPV,
How it is calculated,
How to use NPV number for project evaluation, and
Scenario Planning given risks and management priorities.

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Capital Budgeting Approaches

Methods of Capital Budgeting

There are four types of capital budgeting techniques that are widely used in the corporate world –

1. Profitability Index
2. Payback Period
3. Internal Rate of Return
4. Net Present Value

Apart from the Payback period method which is an additive method, rest of the methods are based on Discounted Cash Flow technique. Even though cash flow can be calculated based on the nature of the project, for the simplicity of the article we are assuming that all the expected cash flows are realized at the end of the year.

Discounted Cash Flow approaches provide a more objective basis for evaluating and selecting investment projects. They take into consideration both –

1. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Online Quality shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.
2. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Online Quality have higher preference for cash returns over 4-5 years rather than 10-15 years given the nature of the volatility in the industry.

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of How Do Customers Judge Quality in an E-Tailer?

NPV = Net Cash In Flowt1 / (1+r)t1 + Net Cash In Flowt2 / (1+r)t2 + … Net Cash In Flowtn / (1+r)tn
Less Net Cash Out Flowt0 / (1+r)t0

Where t = time period, in this case year 1, year 2 and so on.
r = discount rate or return that could be earned using other safe proposition such as fixed deposit or treasury bond rate. Net Cash In Flow – What the firm will get each year.
Net Cash Out Flow – What the firm needs to invest initially in the project.

Step 1 – Understand the nature of the project and calculate cash flow for each year.
Step 2 – Discount those cash flow based on the discount rate.
Step 3 – Add all the discounted cash flow.
Step 4 – Selection of the project

Why Technology & Operations Managers need to know Financial Tools such as Net Present Value (NPV)?

In our daily workplace we often come across people and colleagues who are just focused on their core competency and targets they have to deliver. For example marketing managers at Online Quality often design programs whose objective is to drive brand awareness and customer reach. But how that 30 point increase in brand awareness or 10 point increase in customer touch points will result into shareholders’ value is not specified.

To overcome such scenarios managers at Online Quality needs to not only know the financial aspect of project management but also needs to have tools to integrate them into part of the project development and monitoring plan.

Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 15%

After working through various assumptions we reached a conclusion that risk is far higher than 6%. In a reasonably stable industry with weak competition - 15% discount rate can be a good benchmark.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 15 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10003273)	-10003273	-	-
Year 1	3450725	-6552548	3450725	0.8696	3000630
Year 2	3966525	-2586023	7417250	0.7561	2999263
Year 3	3952713	1366690	11369963	0.6575	2598973
Year 4	3241020	4607710	14610983	0.5718	1853064
TOTAL					10451930

The Net NPV after 4 years is 448657

(10451930 - 10003273 )

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 20%

If the risk component is high in the industry then we should go for a higher hurdle rate / discount rate of 20%.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 20 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10003273)	-10003273	-	-
Year 1	3450725	-6552548	3450725	0.8333	2875604
Year 2	3966525	-2586023	7417250	0.6944	2754531
Year 3	3952713	1366690	11369963	0.5787	2287450
Year 4	3241020	4607710	14610983	0.4823	1562992
TOTAL					9480577

The Net NPV after 4 years is -522696

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9480577 - 10003273 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Online Quality to discount cash flow at lower discount rates such as 15%.

Acceptance Criteria of a Project based on NPV

Simplest Approach – If the investment project of Online Quality has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Online Quality can ACCEPT the project, otherwise they can reject the project. This means that project will deliver higher returns over the period of time than any alternate investment strategy.

In theory if the required rate of return or discount rate is chosen correctly by finance managers at Online Quality, then the stock price of the Online Quality should change by same amount of the NPV. In real world we know that share price also reflects various other factors that can be related to both macro and micro environment.

In the same vein – accepting the project with zero NPV should result in stagnant share price. Finance managers use discount rates as a measure of risk components in the project execution process.

Sensitivity Analysis

Project selection is often a far more complex decision than just choosing it based on the NPV number. Finance managers at Online Quality should conduct a sensitivity analysis to better understand not only the inherent risk of the projects but also how those risks can be either factored in or mitigated during the project execution. Sensitivity analysis helps in –

What are the uncertainties surrounding the project Initial Cash Outlay (ICO’s). ICO’s often have several different components such as land, machinery, building, and other equipment.

What will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

What are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

Some of the assumptions while using the Discounted Cash Flow Methods –

Projects are assumed to be Mutually Exclusive – This is seldom the came in modern day giant organizations where projects are often inter-related and rejecting a project solely based on NPV can result in sunk cost from a related project.

Independent projects have independent cash flows – As explained in the marketing project – though the project may look independent but in reality it is not as the brand awareness project can be closely associated with the spending on sales promotions and product specific advertising.

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Negotiation Strategy of How Do Customers Judge Quality in an E-Tailer?

References & Further Readings

Joel E. Collier, Carol C. Bienstock (2018), "How Do Customers Judge Quality in an E-Tailer? Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.