Santiago Gallino

Santiago Gallino
  • Charles W. Evans Distinguished Faculty Scholar
  • Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    3730 Walnut Street
    563 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: Empirical Operations Management, Retail Management

Links: CV

Overview

Santiago Gallino is The Charles W. Evans Distinguished Faculty Scholar, Associate Professor at the Operations, Information and Decisions Department.

Professor Gallino studies both digital transformation and store execution issues in retail. Professor Gallino has researched with and consulted for numerous organizations. His research has won multiple awards and has appeared in journals such as Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Operations Research, Journal of Marketing, Sloan Management Review, and Harvard Business Review. His research has been covered frequently by several media outlets.

Before joining Wharton, Professor Gallino worked at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He holds a PhD in Operations and Information Management and a Master’s in Statistics from the University of Pennsylvania where he was a Fulbright Scholar, an MBA from IAE Business School, and a degree in Electrical Engineering from Universidad de Buenos Aires.

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Research

  • Santiago Gallino, Nil Karacaoglu, Antonio Moreno-Garcia, Algorithmic Assortment Curation: An Empirical Study of Buybox in Online Marketplaces.

    Abstract: Most online sales worldwide take place in online marketplaces that connect sellers and buyers. The presence of numerous third-party sellers leads to a proliferation of listings for each product, making it difficult for customers to choose between the available options. Online marketplaces adopt algorithmic tools to curate how the different listings for a product are presented to customers. This paper focuses on one such tool, the Buybox, that algorithmically chooses one option to be presented prominently to customers as a default option. We leveraged the staggered introduction of the Buybox within a prominent product category in a leading online marketplace to study how the Buybox impacts marketplace dynamics. Our findings indicate that adopting Buybox results in a substantial increase in marketplace orders and visits. Implementing Buybox reduces the frictions customers and sellers face. On the customer side, we find a reduction of search frictions, evidenced by an increase in conversion rates and a higher impact on the mobile channels, which have significantly higher search frictions than desktop channels. On the seller side, the number of sellers offering a product increases following the implementation of Buybox. Customers benefit from lower prices and higher average quality levels when competition in Buyboxes is high. After the introduction of the Buybox, the marketplace also becomes more concentrated. Our paper contributes to the burgeoning literature on the role of algorithms in platforms by examining how algorithmic curation impacts the participants of the marketplace as well as the marketplace dynamics.

  • Rafael Escamilla, Jan C. Fransoo, Santiago Gallino, Order-Based Trade Credits and Operational Performance in the Nanostore Retail Channel.

    Abstract: Millions of nanostores serve bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers in emerging markets. Their suppliers, consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, struggle with high operational costs that largely stem from shopkeepers’ liquidity constraints. We empirically investigate whether suppliers can improve operational performance by allowing nanostore shopkeepers to delay order payment by a short period of time. We term this delayed payment alternative “order-based trade credit” (OBTC) and examine the key trade-off that suppliers face when transacting with it. While OBTC can create efficiency gains when selling and delivering products to nanostores, it is risky, as shopkeepers might default on their credit lines. By leveraging data from a nanostore supplier offering OBTC, we assess the effect of this novel policy on the operational perfor- mance of the supplier through a difference-in-differences approach. We find that OBTC leads to substantial gains for nanostore suppliers across a range of important operational drivers. In addition, we show when the benefits of OBTC compensate the risk suppliers take in providing it.

  • Carolyn Deller and Santiago Gallino (Under Review), Pay for Quantity or Time? Implications for Work Speed and Quality.

    Abstract: We examine how paying workers a fixed amount for a pre-specified quantity of work vis-à-vis paying workers a fixed amount for a pre-specified amount of time for a quality-focused task affects the time spent per unit of work and the quality achieved. Across two experiments, we find no evidence—contrary to our expectations—that workers paid for a set quantity of work spend less time on each unit (i.e., work faster) than workers paid for a set amount of time. In fact, in our second experiment, we find workers paid for a set quantity of work spend more time on each unit on average. These workers also achieve greater quality. These findings, together with the worker outcomes we observe when workers are told what is valued (quality, speed, or both), are consistent with the idea that the design of fixed compensation schemes can influence employee effort and performance, despite no compensation consequences, by implicitly communicating what is valued.

  • Santiago Gallino, Nil Karacaoglu, Antonio (Toni) Moreno-Garcia (2022), Need for Speed: The Impact of In-Process Delays on Customer Behavior in Online Retail,.

    Abstract: The impact of delays has been widely studied in various offline services. The focus of this study is online services, and we explore the impact of in-process delays—measured by website speed—on customer behavior. We leverage novel retail and website speed data to investigate how delays impact online sales and how customer sensitivity to in-process delays varies across the different stages of a customer’s shopping journey. We estimate sizable adverse effects of website slowdowns on online sales. Using threshold regression models, we show that customers exhibit diminishing sensitivity to increases in website slowdowns. Our results suggest that waiting times affect customer abandonment differently at different stages of the shopping journey. Customers are more sensitive to slowdowns at the checkout stage. Our findings have implications for website design decisions such as improving website speed at the checkout stage, selecting third-party content providers, and customizing the design of mobile and desktop channels. The paper’s results are especially relevant in the current regulatory environment with ongoing policy debates about net neutrality.

  • Santiago Gallino and Robert Rooderkerk, New Product Development in an Omnichannel World in California Management Review, September 2020.

    Abstract: Firms compete in an increasingly omnichannel environment. Customers no longer travel a single linear path but traverse a complex map invoking many channels, firm-owned and external, seamlessly through integrated technology. The associated changes in consumer behavior and the ways that firms engage consumers have led many to reshape the way they innovate their product portfolios. This article presents a structured overview of some of the most striking changes to firms’ new product development (NPD) processes in B2C settings. Enlisting the classic NPD funnel, it describes how the omnichannel environment and its technologies affect speed and execution in each development stage. It illustrates key changes with examples from packaged goods, consumer technology, and fashion.

  • David Bell, Santiago Gallino, Antonio (Toni) Moreno-Garcia (2020), Customer Supercharging in Experience-Centric Channels, Management Science.

    Abstract: We conjecture that for online retailers, experience-centric offline store formats do not simply expand market coverage, but rather, serve to significantly amplify future positive customer behaviors, both online and offline. We term this phenomenon “supercharging” and test our thesis using data from a digital-first men’s apparel retailer and a pioneer of the so-called “Zero Inventory Store” (ZIS) format—a small footprint, experience- centric retail location which carries no inventory for immediate fulfillment, but fulfils orders via e-commerce. Using a risk-set matching approach, we calibrate our estimates on customers who are “treated”, i.e., have a ZIS experience, and matched with identical customers who shop online only. We find that post the ZIS experience, customers spend more, shop at a higher velocity, and are less likely to return items. The positive impact on returns is doubly virtuous as it is more pronounced for more tactile, higher-priced items, thus mitigating a key pain point of online retail. Furthermore, the ZIS shopping experience aids product discovery and brand attachment, causing sales to become more diffuse over a larger number of categories. Finally, we demonstrate that our results are robust to self-selection and potentially confounding effects of unobservable factors on the matched pairs of customers. Implications for retailing practice, including for legacy, offline-first retailers, are discussed.

  • Dawson Kaaua, Santiago Gallino, Christian Terwiesch, S Mehta (Working), The Impact of Waiting Location on Customer Satisfaction: An Empirical Analysis of Preoperative Patient Flow.

  • Santiago Gallino and Dawson Kaaua (Work In Progress), How May I Help You? Inferring Service Quality from a Server’s Personal Details.

  • Marshall L. Fisher, Santiago Gallino, Jiaqi (Joseph) Xu (2019), The Value of Rapid Delivery in Omnichannel Retailing, Journal of Marketing Research.

    Abstract: The authors study how faster delivery in the online channel affects sales within and across channels in omnichannel retailing. The authors leverage a quasi-experiment involving the opening of a new distribution center by a U.S. apparel retailer, which resulted in unannounced faster deliveries to western states through its online channel. Using a difference-in-differences approach, the authors show that online store sales increased on average by 1.45% per business day reduction in delivery time, from a baseline of seven business days. The authors also find a positive spillover effect to the retailer’s offline stores. These effects increase gradually in the short to medium term as the result of higher order count. The authors identify two main drivers of the observed effect: customer learning through service interactions with the retailer, and existing brand presence in terms of online store penetration rate and offline store presence. Customers with less online store experience are more responsive to faster deliveries in the short term, while experienced online store customers are more responsive in the long term.

  • Santiago Gallino and Antonio Moreno-Garcia (Eds.), Operations in an Omnichannel World (Springer, 2019)

    Abstract: The world of retailing has changed dramatically in the past decade. Sales originating at online channels have been steadily increasing, and even for sales transacted at brick-and-mortar channels, a much larger fraction of sales is affected by online channels in different touch points during the customer journey. Shopper behavior and expectations have been evolving along with the growth of digital channels, challenging retailers to redesign their fulfillment and execution processes, to better serve their customers. This edited book examines the challenges and opportunities arising from the shift towards omni- channel retail. We examine these issues through the lenses of operations management, emphasizing the supply chain transformations associated with fulfilling an omni-channel demand. The book is divided into three parts. In the first part, “Omni-channel business models”, we present four studies that explore how retailers are adjusting their fundamental business models to the new omni-channel landscape. The second part, “Data-driven decisions in an omni-channel world”, includes five chapters that study the evolving data opportunities enabled by omni-channel retail and present specific examples of data-driven analyses. Finally, in the third part, “Case studies in Omni-channel retailing”, we include four studies that provide a deep dive into how specific industries, companies and markets are navigating the omni-channel world. Ultimately, this book introduces the reader to the fundamentals of operations in an omni-channel context and highlights the different innovative research ideas on the topic using a variety of methodologies.

Teaching

OIDD1010 – Introduction to OIDD

OIDD 101 explores a variety of common quantitative modeling problems that arise frequently in business settings, and discusses how they can be formally modeled and solved with a combination of business insight and computer-based tools. The key topics covered include capacity management, service operations, inventory control, structured decision making, constrained optimization and simulation. This course teaches how to model complex business situations and how to master tools to improve business performance. The goal is to provide a set of foundational skills useful for future coursework atWharton as well as providing an overview of problems and techniques that characterize disciplines that comprise Operations and Information Management.

OIDD 6150: Operations Strategy

Operations strategy is about organizing people, acquiring resources, and designing systems to gain a competitive advantage in the delivery of products (both goods and services) to customers. We address long-run strategic decisions, but to be able to make intelligent decisions regarding these high-level choices, this course also provides a foundation of analytical methods. These methods give students a conceptual framework for understanding the linkage between how a firm manages its supply and how well that supply matches the firm’s resulting demand.

Current Courses (Spring 2024)

  • OIDD1010 - An Introduction To Operations, Information And Decisions

    OIDD1010005 ( Syllabus )

    OIDD1010006 ( Syllabus )

    OIDD1010007 ( Syllabus )

    OIDD1010008 ( Syllabus )

  • OIDD6730 - Global Supply Chain Mgmt.

    OIDD6730001 ( Syllabus )

    OIDD6730003 ( Syllabus )

  • OIDD8990 - Independent Study

    OIDD8990031

  • OIDD9010 - Introduction To Oid Faculty And Their Research

    OIDD9010001 ( Syllabus )

  • OIDD9950 - Dissertation Preparation

    OIDD9950017 ( Syllabus )

    OIDD9950019 ( Syllabus )

    OIDD9950021 ( Syllabus )

    OIDD9950023 ( Syllabus )

  • OIDD9990 - Doctoral Independent Study

    OIDD9990003 ( Syllabus )

    OIDD9990005 ( Syllabus )

    OIDD9990006 ( Syllabus )

In the News

Knowledge at Wharton

Activity

Latest Research

Santiago Gallino, Nil Karacaoglu, Antonio Moreno-Garcia, Algorithmic Assortment Curation: An Empirical Study of Buybox in Online Marketplaces.
All Research

In the News

Is Self-checkout a Failed Experiment?

Wharton’s Santiago Gallino discusses the pros and cons of self-checkout, which has become more popular as stores look for ways to cut labor costs.Read More

Knowledge at Wharton - 1/30/2024
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Wharton Magazine

Wharton’s Global Impact: From Phoenix to Kuala Lumpur
Wharton Magazine - 04/15/2022