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Leavey School of Business Santa Clara University

Newsmakers

Kirthi Kalyanam : Amazon to Serve Food Stamp Recipients : Bloomberg

Professor Kirthi Kalyanam, Director of the Retail Management Institute, was quoted in a Bloomberg article on Amazon’s plans to deliver groceries to food stamp recipients.
JCPenney Research Professor and Director of RMI Krithi Kalyanam Head Shot

Kirthi Kalyanam, JCPenney Research Professor, Marketing Department Chair and Director of the Retail Management Institute, recently weighed in on Amazon’s plan to disrupt the grocery industry by extending its delivery services to low-income customers and food stamp recipients. The Bloomberg piece discusses how Amazon plans to use its existing warehouses and delivery infrastructure to reach this new low-income market, which is largely and conveniently located around or in big cities.

An excerpt from the article:
“There are very few retailers who can serve the high- and low-end of the income spectrum,” says Kirthi Kalyanam, director of the Retail Management Institute at Santa Clara University. “Costco customers are mostly affluent and Wal-Mart customers are mostly low income. No one retailer has been able to bridge the gap. Amazon is uniquely positioned to go all the way to the top and all the way to the bottom of the customer spectrum.”

The piece was also picked up by a number of other outlets including The Gazette and Athens Daily Review

Read the full article here»

Learn more about Professor Kirthi Kalyanam here»

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