Retail and consumer goods cases are the most relatable industry category in consulting interviews – everyone shops, so interviewers expect sharper commercial intuition here than in niche sectors. Based on our analysis of interview data, retail cases appear in roughly 15-20% of MBB first-round interviews, often testing profitability diagnosis and operations optimization.
Industry Dynamics That Shape Every Case
Four structural shifts define modern retail. Understanding these before your interview means you can immediately contextualize any retail case prompt.
| Trend | Impact on Strategy | Metric to Watch |
|---|---|---|
| Omnichannel integration | Brick-and-mortar must work with e-commerce, not against it | Online share of revenue (averaging 20-30% for most retailers) |
| Private label growth | Retailer-owned brands now capture 25-35% of grocery sales in mature markets | Private label share, margin differential vs. national brands |
| Supply chain disruption | Global sourcing complexity, last-mile delivery costs, inventory management | Days of inventory, fulfillment cost per order |
| Shifting consumer preferences | Sustainability, convenience, and personalization drive purchase decisions | Customer acquisition cost, repeat purchase rate |
Five Case Types You Will Encounter
1. Store Performance and Profitability
Declining same-store sales is the classic retail case prompt. The profitability framework applies directly: decompose revenue into traffic multiplied by conversion rate multiplied by average basket size, then analyze each driver. In our experience, the strongest candidates also segment by store format (urban vs. suburban), daypart (morning vs. evening), and customer type (loyal vs. occasional).
2. Supply Chain Optimization
These operations cases ask you to improve inventory management, redesign distribution networks, or reduce fulfillment costs. The key trade-off is always cost versus service level. Reducing inventory lowers carrying costs but increases stockout risk. Centralizing distribution cuts warehouse costs but slows delivery.
3. Brand and Portfolio Strategy
Should a consumer goods company launch a new product line, rationalize its brand portfolio, or reposition an existing brand? These cases combine market analysis with financial modeling. Key data points: category growth rate, brand market share trend, cannibalization risk, and margin by SKU.
4. E-Commerce and Digital Strategy
Online channel launch, marketplace vs. direct-to-consumer, and fulfillment strategy are increasingly common prompts. The core question is usually whether digital growth is accretive or cannibalistic to the overall business. A useful starting point: compare customer acquisition cost, average order value, and contribution margin across channels.
5. Pricing Architecture
Setting pricing across a product portfolio involves pricing strategy fundamentals: price-volume trade-offs, competitive positioning, and price elasticity by segment. Retail pricing cases often add promotional strategy – how deep, how frequent, and which products to promote.
Retail Metrics That Win Points
These are the numbers interviewers expect you to know or ask about:
- Same-store sales growth (comp sales): The single most important performance metric. It isolates organic growth from new store openings. Healthy retailers target 3-5% annual comps.
- Revenue per square foot: Measures space productivity. Top performers like Apple achieve over $5,000/sq ft; average specialty retail is $300-500/sq ft.
- Inventory turnover: How many times inventory cycles per year. Grocery averages 14-15x; apparel averages 4-6x. Higher is generally better.
- GMROI (Gross Margin Return on Investment): Gross margin dollars divided by average inventory cost. Combines margin quality with inventory efficiency.
- Customer lifetime value (CLV): Increasingly critical as acquisition costs rise. Subscription and loyalty programs aim to increase CLV by 20-40%.
Browse our retail industry cases to practice with these metrics in context.
Key Takeaways
- Retail cases appear in 15-20% of MBB interviews and test commercial intuition more than other industry categories
- Decompose store profitability into traffic, conversion, and basket size before analyzing costs
- Omnichannel integration and private label growth are the two trends most likely to feature in case prompts
- Know your key metrics: same-store sales, revenue per square foot, inventory turnover, and GMROI
- Supply chain cases always involve the cost-versus-service-level trade-off; frame your analysis around this tension
Practice retail case scenarios in our case library with real consulting interview prompts, or test yourself in a timed AI Mock Interview to build speed and confidence.