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Case | HBS Case Collection | October 2017

Shift Technologies, Inc.

by Thomas Eisenmann and Nicole Tempest Keller

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Abstract

In 2017, management at Shift, an online marketplace that uses a “high touch,” concierge approach to buy and sell used cars, was formulating plans for the San Francisco-based startup’s next phase of expansion. One option was to preserve Shift’s current business model and grow through geographic expansion. Another option was to decentralize more tasks to sellers and/or buyers, for example, management of inspections and repairs. While decentralizing tasks would reduce Shift’s labor per transaction and thereby improve the venture’s unit economics and its scalability, Shift might risk undermining users’ trust by handing off responsibility for critical tasks.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Multi-Sided Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; United States;

Language: English Format: Print 20 pages Educators

Citation:

Eisenmann, Thomas, and Nicole Tempest Keller. "Shift Technologies, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 818-002, October 2017.

About the Author

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Thomas R. Eisenmann
Howard H. Stevenson Professor of Business Administration
Entrepreneurial Management

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    Keywords: market design; auctions; marketplace matching; marketplaces; Two-Sided Markets; Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Multi-Sided Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Market Participation; Market Transactions; Market Entry and Exit; Market Platforms; Auctions;

    Citation:

    Eisenmann, Thomas R., and Scott Duke Kominers. "Making Markets." Harvard Business School Technical Note 818-096, January 2018. (Revised February 2018.)  View Details
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