Go to main content
Harvard Business School
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Campaign
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions

Faculty & Research

  • HOME
  • FACULTY
  • RESEARCH
    • Global Research Centers
    • HBS Case Collection
    • HBS Case Development
    • Initiatives & Projects
    • Publications
    • Research Associate (RA) Positions
    • Research Services
    • Seminars & Conferences
    Close
  • FEATURED TOPICS
    • Business and Environment
    • Business History
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Globalization
    • Health Care
    • Human Behavior and Decision-Making
    • Leadership
    • Social Enterprise
    • Technology and Innovation
    Close
  • ACADEMIC UNITS
    • Accounting and Management
    • Business, Government and the International Economy
    • Entrepreneurial Management
    • Finance
    • General Management
    • Marketing
    • Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
    • Organizational Behavior
    • Strategy
    • Technology and Operations Management
    Close

Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2017 (Revised December 2017)

X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (A)

by Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

  • Print
  • Email

Abstract

Three years after launching his brick-and-mortar store, X Fire Paintball and Airsoft, Steve Herbert Sr. and his sons began selling products on Amazon.com’s third-party Marketplace, and online sales expanded rapidly. Over time, X Fire noticed that products of which it had once been the only seller were now being sold by Amazon straight from X Fire’s suppliers, effectively cutting X Fire out. Amazon was also ignoring the minimum advertised price (MAP) set by manufacturers. How should X Fire defend itself? Now Amazon representatives were approaching X Fire to encourage them to sell on Amazon’s smaller but growing Canadian Marketplace. How should X Fire respond to this opportunity?

Keywords: Ethics; Competition; Market Platforms; Online Technology; Small Business; Retail Industry; Canada;

Language: English Format: Print 18 pages EducatorsPurchase

Citation:

Zhu, Feng, and Angela Acocella. "X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (A)." Harvard Business School Case 617-046, January 2017. (Revised December 2017.)

Related Work

  1. Supplement | HBS Case Collection | January 2017 (Revised December 2017)

    X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (B)

    Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

    Three years after launching his brick-and-mortar store, X Fire Paintball and Airsoft, Steve Herbert Sr. and his sons began selling products on Amazon.com’s third-party Marketplace and online sales expanded rapidly. Over time, X Fire noticed that products of which it had once been the only seller were now being sold by Amazon straight from X Fire’s suppliers, effectively cutting X Fire out. Amazon was also ignoring the minimum advertised price (MAP) set by manufacturers. How should X Fire defend itself? Now Amazon representatives were approaching X Fire to encourage them to sell on Amazon’s smaller but growing Canadian Marketplace. How should X Fire respond to this opportunity?

    Keywords: Ethics; Competition; Market Platforms; Online Technology; Small Business; Retail Industry; Canada;

    Citation:

    Zhu, Feng, and Angela Acocella. "X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 617-047, January 2017. (Revised December 2017.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related
  2. Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2017 (Revised December 2017)

    X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (A)

    Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

    Three years after launching his brick-and-mortar store, X Fire Paintball and Airsoft, Steve Herbert Sr. and his sons began selling products on Amazon.com’s third-party Marketplace, and online sales expanded rapidly. Over time, X Fire noticed that products of which it had once been the only seller were now being sold by Amazon straight from X Fire’s suppliers, effectively cutting X Fire out. Amazon was also ignoring the minimum advertised price (MAP) set by manufacturers. How should X Fire defend itself? Now Amazon representatives were approaching X Fire to encourage them to sell on Amazon’s smaller but growing Canadian Marketplace. How should X Fire respond to this opportunity?

    Keywords: Ethics; Competition; Market Platforms; Online Technology; Small Business; Retail Industry; Canada;

    Citation:

    Zhu, Feng, and Angela Acocella. "X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (A)." Harvard Business School Case 617-046, January 2017. (Revised December 2017.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related

About the Author

Photo
Feng Zhu
Piramal Associate Professor of Business Administration
Technology and Operations Management

View Profile »
View Publications »

 

More from the Author

  • Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised March 2018)

    ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (A)

    Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen and Shirley Sun

    ZBJ.com (ZBJ), an online platform that connects knowledge workers to small and medium-sized enterprises, is China’s largest outsourcing platform. Founded by Mingyue Zhu in 2006, ZBJ had grown into a unicorn with 4,000 employees and a daily transaction volume of RMB15 million by 2017. During the company’s 11-year history, ZBJ had launched ten transformation campaigns to overcome various challenges by changing its products, operations, and business model. For example, it encountered winner-takes-all competition, disintermediation (when service providers and clients took transactions off the platform to avoid the platform’s 20% commission fees), the rise of fake transactions, member management issues, and difficulties in delivering satisfactory services to large enterprises. Zhu must decide how to use the next campaign to address challenges that had emerged since the last campaign and how ZBJ should expand globally.

    Keywords: outsourcing; disintermediation; Two-Sided Platforms; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Information Technology Industry; China;

    Citation:

    Zhu, Feng, Weiru Chen, and Shirley Sun. "ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (A)." Harvard Business School Case 618-044, January 2018. (Revised March 2018.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducators Related
  • Supplement | HBS Case Collection | March 2018

    ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (B)

    Feng Zhu, Weiru Chen and Shirley Sun

    ZBJ.com (ZBJ), an online platform that connects knowledge workers to small and medium-sized enterprises, is China’s largest outsourcing platform. Founded by Mingyue Zhu in 2006, ZBJ had grown into a unicorn with 4,000 employees and a daily transaction volume of RMB15 million by 2017. During the company’s 11-year history, ZBJ had launched ten transformation campaigns to overcome various challenges by changing its products, operations, and business model. For example, it encountered winner-takes-all competition, disintermediation (when service providers and clients took transactions off the platform to avoid the platform’s 20% commission fees), the rise of fake transactions, member management issues, and difficulties in delivering satisfactory services to large enterprises. Zhu must decide how to use the next campaign to address challenges that had emerged since the last campaign and how ZBJ should expand globally.

    Keywords: outsourcing; disintermediation; Two-Sided Platforms; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Information Technology Industry; China;

    Citation:

    Zhu, Feng, Weiru Chen, and Shirley Sun. "ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 618-046, March 2018.  View Details
    CiteView Details Related
  • Case | HBS Case Collection | May 2016 (Revised March 2018)

    Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model

    Feng Zhu, Angela Acocella, Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

    Fasten, a new ridesharing start-up in Boston, entered the scene in September 2015 hoping its unique vision of transparency for both driver and passenger and strategy to keep riders' fares low and charge drivers a flat $0.99 fee per ride as opposed to the 20-30% commission charged by its competition, would help differentiate it and gain the necessary traction in an ostensibly concentrated market between Uber and Lyft. Despite both Uber's and Lyft's valuations skyrocketing to $50 billion and $5.5 billion respectively, heavy investment in top notch Silicon Valley software developers and technological innovations such as autonomous vehicles, aggressive marketing strategies, and cutthroat poaching practices—all of which forced number three competitor Sidecar out by January 2016—Fasten's leadership felt confident their 17 years of experience in Russia's car services industry positioned them well to truly understand their customers and ultimately expand to other major cities. But with limited budgets to acquire talented and expensive platform developers, Fasten needed to ensure its core IT services could compete, and that its word-of-mouth approach to attract the essential network of drivers and passengers could get it the vital foothold it would need to grow.

    Keywords: Information Technology; Transportation; Business Startups; Business Model; Transportation Industry; Boston;

    Citation:

    Zhu, Feng, and Angela Acocella. "Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model." Harvard Business School Case 616-062, May 2016. (Revised March 2018.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related
ǁ
Campus Map
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→ Map & Directions
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
  • HBS Facebook
  • Alumni Facebook
  • Executive Education Facebook
  • Michael Porter Facebook
  • Working Knowledge Facebook
  • HBS Twitter
  • Executive Education Twitter
  • HBS Alumni Twitter
  • Michael Porter Twitter
  • Recruiting Twitter
  • Rock Center Twitter
  • Working Knowledge Twitter
  • Jobs Twitter
  • HBS Youtube
  • Michael Porter Youtube
  • Executive Education Youtube
  • HBS Linkedin
  • Alumni Linkedin
  • Executive Education Linkedin
  • MBA Linkedin
  • Linkedin
  • HBS Google Plus
  • Executive Education Google Plus
  • HBS Instagram
  • Alumni Instagram
  • Executive Education Instagram
  • Michael Porter Instagram
  • HBS iTunes
  • Executive Education iTunes
  • HBS Tumblr
  • Executive Education Weibo
  • HBS Snapchat
  • Executive Education Wechat
  • →All Social Media
  • → All Social Media
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College