Major Department Store Chain

Are you preparing for a business case interview with Bain? This case will help you sharpen your Profitability skills.

Case Study Prompt

The client is a major department store chain. Sales have been declining in the last months.

You have a couple of weeks to come up with a hypothesis. How would you attack the problem?

Case Study Overview

In this business case interview prep case, your client is a major department store chain that has been suffering from declining profits and has brought you in to help them solve the problem. You have limited time to work on a solution, and it’s your job to leverage everything you know about profitability and do the research necessary to give them a sound plan for recovery.

Have a first round Bain interview you’re preparing for? While you can use the Profitability Framework to solve this case study, the candidates who get the best offers blend the standard frameworks and their own business experience to create a custom framework.

There are no math exhibits in this case. The qualitative difficulty is 2 out of 4, making this a mid-level business case interview you would likely run into in a first round at Bain.

Bain Interview Tips

What does Bain look for in its candidates? In a word… Practicality.

As you prepare for this case, think about how you would functionally manage this project with a team of analysts.

In this case, focus on finding 1 area you can grow and your timing. Allow yourself 2min for structure, 5min for math, 2min for brainstorming, 2min for conclusion.

For out-loud practice with an expert, book an hour with an ex-MBB coach.