Standing on the year 2008, Threadless needs to make an important decision whether take their business to Retail partnership or not!

Analysis of the Case Study
Threadless had to carefully consider the perceived benefit of the users when changing its business model. In the way, users' perceived benefit from contributing to Threadless, constrains business model progress only to those solutions where the users still find it attractive to contribute. For example, Threadless would decide to sell only exclusive designs in big retailers due to considerations to their customers, who often like to think of Threadless as something exclusive. Thus Threadless would decide against the option of selling their bestsellers through retail partners. Similarly, users’ perceived identification with the firm and the community appears to constrain certain business models and opportunities that conflict with the shared values. For example, the users of Threadless did not want to see Threadless designs in Walmart, as it conflicts with their values.
Furthermore, the findings suggest that users' perceived benefit of the business model progress would appears to be moderated by their perception of partnership, their sense of responsibility to the other users and Threadless, and their perceived identification with the firm. When the users a. perceive to be involved in Threadless, b. have built up a gratitude for what Threadless has provided them, and c. perceive Threadless to share the same values, they appear to trust that the changes to the business model are beneficial for themselves and they seem to understand that Threadless also is a business and needs to make a profit. In this way the users influence business