Fashion Design and Visual Merchandising attributes in E-commercePaulo Martins

University of Beira Interior, Portugal

Madalena PereiraUniversity of Beira Interior, Portugal

Susana G. AzevedoUniversity of Beira Interior, Portugal

Rui A. L. MiguelUniversity of Beira Interior, Portugal

Jos LucasUniversity of Beira Interior, Portugal

Abstract

Today, the design and development of fashion collections taking into account new forms of marketing, when it is not possible to touch or try the garments requires a previous reflection and appropriate methodologies for the whole process from design to sale.

As for the buying online, the e-commerce is defined as being the modern methodology that comprehend the needs of organizations, salesman and consumers to cut costs while the quality of the products and services rises, the time of delivery falls, the combination of communications, business and marketing strategies simplify the exchange of information, products and services (Kalakota and Whinston, 1996).

The aim of this investigation work is to analyse the e-commerce of fashion products, and identify a set of attributes required for the development of fashion design collections and the visual merchandising for fashion brands. In the search for answers it has been made a questionnaire with closed answers, followed by the data collection from 380 valid responses.

It was concluded that there are a set of attributes in fashion design collections and visual merchandising of e-commerce that the consumer considers as important in group of attributes studied. Also, the social causes of the brands are mentioned as important nowadays and the diversity of products and the possibility to try them is still a limitation for online purchase of certain products of fashion.

Keywords: Fashion Design, Visual Merchandising, E-commerce

Introduction

The consumer buying behaviour of fashion products is influenced by different factors. One of them is the visual merchandising of physical and virtual shops. The e-commerce of fashion products grow every year, and represents today about ten per cent of total business in fashion (Journal du Textile, 2012).

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The visual merchandising nowadays is the main element in the environment and space available on website, including its presentation, design and image, models, props and materials, lighting, graphic design and information (Diamond and Diamond, 2003), being defined as the encompassing of the various elements of marketing of a product or products, in terms of its importance, being a form of direct communication with the target of a particular product or brand (Arriaga, 2005) and according to Pereira et al. (2010) the merchandising is an approach able to endow a brand with its profile and represents the most direct means of communication to the product target. The visual merchandising influences as much the visual aspect of the website as its marketing, both in terms of products such as advertising, with the goal of improving the image of the website and encreasing sales emerging as the key to the presentation of the brand and its products in order to attract potential buyers (Hubl and Trifts, 2000; Diamond and Diamond, 2003; Khakimdjanova and Park, 2005).

For the market, Eroglu et al. (2003), Menon and Kahn (2002) and Park (2002), shows that the characteristics of the websites can affect consumer behaviour and attitudes on the purchase, even if the features are the brand's mission or environmental interests, as well as the brand's history. As for the product, the purchase decision relates mainly to the fact that it cannot meet the expectations of the buyer, and this problem is what the visual merchandising intends to fill, showing all the characteristics of the product. In websites of fashion products it can be more critical to present and sell fashion products than on websites that sell other types of products, because these are articles that need to be touched and experienced, and their quality can only be fully determined after purchase. Without the ability to try the product, the buying risk increases, whereas in the retail market consumers have the opportunity to examine the fashion products visually and physically (Kim and Lennon, 2000).

An online consumer can only base is knowledge on visual information, descriptions or images of the product and when buying, a lot of consumers still tend to look the garment physically in a store and then, make the purchase online or vice versa demonstrating that the multiple channels that brands have to sell interacting between them is still being one of the most significant factors to increase profits (Poloian, 2003).

As for the incentive to purchase, the very website itself may tell us what the most important elements are. Character, colour, environment and manoeuvrability are important to attract the customer and, in this context, the customer can become more interested in the website and as an interested customer the chances of purchasing enhances and he will also be more assiduous at each visit. The characteristics of visual merchandising that influence the perception of the consumer are various, from the colour to enlightenment, through the materials, presentation of products, the route set to visit the website. And a good description of the functional characteristics of the product and a good visualization of the product turns out to encourage the customer to return (Swinyard and Smith, 2003).In the online context Then and Delong (1999) suggest that the visual aspects such as variety of images and different viewing angles of the product may generate increased sales, or, view the products in various combinations can help consumers to imagine how a product would be when dressed (Allen, 1999; Park and Stoel, 2002; Ha et al., 2007). Suggestions for combination of products are also a good way to persuade the customer to buy one or more products, and suggestions of coordination of parts previously thought (Allen, 2000; Then and Delong, 1999) and the ability to mix and coordinate different parts to each other, also affects the visitor and get him to remain on site longer than what he had planned (Fiore and Jin, 2003). Mitchell (2001) also suggests that sites visually 155

attractive and well stylized reduce the perceived risk by consumers related to the purchase as well as the possibility to have various forms of visualization as larger images, the image side and back and the possibility of zoom in the image.

As for the overall of the website, the most important characteristics are the design and the music. Music is a feature that may give the website a strong image and personality. However when it is applied properly, otherwise, it can destroy the reputation of the whole brand (Price-Rankin, 2004). In the design, the initial image of an e-commerce site according to Liu (2009) is quite important, since the image and message of the brand itself is what will be in question, immediately giving retrospective information on the type of products that will be available, as well as other information.

Another factors (age, gender, country, education, etc.) affect also the decision to buy clothes (Kwon et al., 1991, Vignali and Vignali, 2010; Susana et al. 2010). So, to better understand the reality of the online commerce of fashion products and what are the attributes required for the development of products, suitable for online visual merchandising, eight questions were placed:

Question one): What is the main purpose of the visit of the consumer to e-commerce websites?

Question two): What kind of visual introduction is preferred by consumers in an e-commerce website?

Question three): How the consumer considers the ability to know what the environmental and social concerns of the brand are?

Question four): What are the consumer preferences in terms of the attributes on a fashion website? Is different according to gender?To answer the question four was placed the following hypothesis:Hypothesis one): There are significant differences between men and women in the preference of the attributes on the fashion websites at the e-commerce.

Question five): The ability to try, depending on the type of fashion product, has an influence on online shopping? Is different according to gender?To answer the question four was placed the following hypothesis:Hypothesis two): There are significant differences between men and women in the fact of want to try a particular product before buying.

Question six): How the consumer considers the possibility of having a wide range of views of the products?

Question seven): What kind of presentation of the product is preferred by the consumer?

Question eight): What is the importance that the consumer gives to the information about the characteristics of the product?

Sampling, data collection and statistic

To obtain answers to the questions posed it was made a questionnaire with closed questions, with the possibility of response by a scale, for the subsequent collection and 156

analysis of data of 380 responses using the program PASW Statistics 18. For this we used the T Student test and the Kruskal-Wallis test when there were no assumptions of normality and homogeneity on the results or the variance.

In statistical terms, we used two types of scales. The Lickert scale, that includes a sliding scale or a grid scale which has only two possible answers (Malhotra, 2004).The distribution was done through e-mail, randomly attaching the address of the housing of the survey and an introductory text indicating the research objectives and the purpose for which were intended the results, using the technique of snowball sampling. To select a representative sample the only criterion applied was that the respondent had Internet access, since the questionnaire was distributed only online.

Results and discussion

As for the characterization of the sample, it was found that most respondents are female (sixty five per cent) of which the male represents about a third of respondents (thirty five per cent). Sixty per cent are aged between twenty three and twenty nine years followed by the ages between eighteen and twenty two with a value of seventeen per cent. The remaining corresponds to percentages lower than ten per cent. Most respondents have a higher education degree (fifty per cent), and the number of respondents with an MBA, Masters or PhD (twenty three per cent) is very close to the number of respondents with primary or secondary education (twenty per cent). With regard to residence, (sixty five per cent) live in cities and thirty five per cent in villages.

Objectives of the visit for a consumer to an e-commerce website

To understand the consumers objective when visiting an e-commerce website, the question one was raised. It was found that the main purpose of the visit to an e-commerce website is to see what's new and check trends and the demand for information on fashion products and demand for addresses of stores also obtained great importance. As regards the purchase of products that is not the main purpose of the visit, with a much lower average compared to other options (table one).

Table one - Means of the objectives of the consumer when visiting an e-commerce website

Mean Standard Deviation

Check current trends 4,90 2,024Making the purchase of a product 2,94 1,869See the new products 5,17 1,853Find addresses of stores that have the product i want

4,45 2,011

Find information on fashion products 4,75 1,801

Visual introduction preferred by the consumer

To understand what visual introduction to a website is preferred by the consumer has been made the question two. Of the visual Introductions proposed, was considered that 157

the preferred option for the consumer is to be routed directly to the site with all the options on the main screen (by colour, product, size, etc.) The previous option is closely followed by the introduction with news and notes and there is also a strong preference in the direct entrance to the website. The introduction of less interest was found to be the introduction with video (Table two).

Table two - Mean of visual introductions of a website preferred by the e-commerce consumer

Mean S t a n d a r d Deviation

Getting started with video 4,18 2,091Getting started with images 4,77 1,983Directly to the website 5,48 1,528Directly to the site with all the choices on the main screen (by colour, product, size, etc..)

5,84 1,282

New products 5,73 1,404Brand concept 4,64 1,836

Environmental concerns of the consumer

In order to obtain an indication of more specific environmental concerns of the consumer was made the question three in which it appears that for most consumers there is a need to obtain information about the environmental concerns of the brand. There are eighty four per cent consumers interested; however, sixteen per cent dont have any kind of concerns for the share of information, from the brand.

Attributes preferred for e-commerce websites of fashion products

To understand whether there are significant differences between male and female preference of attributes on fashion websites, the question four was raised and it was placed the hypothesis one, tested using the t-student test.

The results obtained found three differences in the evaluation of the attributes of the website. They are the possibility of coordination of different clothing parts, the website advice on opportunities for coordination with other pieces, accessories and shoes; the ability to view videos of the collections and connection to social networks. In these three attributes the importance given by the woman was always lower and different than the one given by man (Table three).

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Table three Mean of preferences in attributes on the e-commerce website of fashion (* with significante diferences in t-Test)

Mean Standard Deviation

Variety of pieces Man 5,80 1,543Variety of piecesWoman 5,63 1,456

Multiplicity of styles Man 5,80 1,476Multiplicity of styles Woman 5,61 1,444

The environment / character Man 4,75 1,910The environment / characterWoman 4,82 1,551

The music Man 3,48 1,858The musicWoman 3,59 1,644

The easy accessibility to various areas and applications of e-commerce website

Man 4,90 1,500The easy accessibility to various areas and applications of e-commerce website Woman 5,14 1,475Ability to coordinate different pieces Man 4,54* 1,963Ability to coordinate different pieces

Woman 5,18* 1,629Customization of pieces Man 4,76 1,840Customization of pieces

Woman 5,04 1,581Have website advice about possibilities for coordination with other parts, accessories or footwear

Man 4,24* 2,003Have website advice about possibilities for coordination with other parts, accessories or footwear

Woman 5,12* 1,603

Connection to social networks Man 3,69* 2,161Connection to social networksWoman 3,29* 1,620

View videos from the collections Man 4,03* 1,929View videos from the collectionsWoman 4,60* 1,528

In short, it is not rejected the hypothesis "there are significant differences between men and women in the preference of the attributes on the fashion websites at the e-commerce" for the attributes: ability to coordinate different pieces, take advice on the site for possibilities for coordination with other parts, accessories and footwear; viewing videos from the collections and connection to social networks (table four).

Table four Results of t-TestL e v e n e ' s Te s t f o r Equality of Variances

L e v e n e ' s Te s t f o r Equality of Variances

t-test for Equality of Means t-test for Equality of Means t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t dfSig. (2-tailed)

Variety of pieces EVA ,021 ,885 ,969 314 ,333Variety of piecesEVNA ,956 240,57

4,340

Multiplicity of styles EVA 1,246

,265 1,112 314 ,267Multiplicity of styles

EVNA 1,107 247,472

,270

The environment / character EVA 3,095

,080 -,331 306 ,741

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L e v e n e ' s Te s t f o r Equality of Variances

L e v e n e ' s Te s t f o r Equality of Variances

t-test for Equality of Means t-test for Equality of Means t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t dfSig. (2-tailed)

Variety of pieces EVA ,021 ,885 ,969 314 ,333Variety of piecesEVNA ,956 240,57

4,340

Multiplicity of styles EVA 1,246

,265 1,112 314 ,267The environment / character

EVNA -,313 194,714

,754

The music EVA 8,677

,003 -,539 310 ,590The music

EVNA -,523 218,646

,602

The easy accessibility to v a r i o u s a r e a s a n d applications of e-commerce website

EVA 1,164

,281 -1,417 310 ,158The easy accessibility to v a r i o u s a r e a s a n d applications of e-commerce website

EVNA -1,411 238,207

,160

Ability to coordinate different pieces

EVA 9,213

,003 -3,112 306 ,002Ability to coordinate different pieces

EVNA -2,959 198,053

,003*

Customization of pieces EVA 6,769

,010 -1,432 310 ,153Customization of pieces

EVNA -1,378 213,493

,170

Have website advice about possibilities for coordination with other parts, accessories or footwear

EVA 8,962

,003 -4,269 310 ,000Have website advice about possibilities for coordination with other parts, accessories or footwear

EVNA -4,035 201,644

,000*

C o n n e c t i o n t o s o c i a l networks

EVA 24,924

,000 1,875 310 ,062C o n n e c t i o n t o s o c i a l networks

EVNA 1,744 191,775

,083**

V i e w v i d e o s f r o m t h e collections

EVA 10,233

,002 -2,867 306 ,004V i e w v i d e o s f r o m t h e collections

EVNA -2,709 201,305

,007*

*To a significant level of significance of five per cent; **To a significant level of significance of ten per cent EVA - Equal variances assumed; EVNA - Equal variances not assumed

Products that the consumer considers the most important to try prior to the acquisition

To understand whether there are significant differences between male and female preference for products that consumers consider to be most important to try before 160

purchasing the question five was raised and it was placed the hypothesis two, tested using the t-student test.

For shirts, t-shirt and sweater it appears that the importance of trying the product is higher for men, but for the beach clothes, the woman had the greater concern to try this type of product. In the remaining products there was a higher index of importance in any of them for the fact that there is a need to try the product, especially for jeans (Table five).

Table five - Means of products that consumer consider being most important to try before purchase (* with significante diferences in t-Test)

Mean S t a n d a r d Deviation S t a n d a r d Deviation

Classic pants Man 5,37*5,37* 2,177Classic pantsWoman 5,82*5,82* 1,654

Jeans Man 6,176,17 1,321 JeansWoman 6,396,39 1,178

Jacket Man 5,80*5,80* 1,627JacketWoman 5,43*5,43* 1,620

Footwear Man 5,905,90 1,497FootwearWoman 5,635,63 1,642

Shirt Man 5,86*5,86* 1,462ShirtWoman 5,43*5,43* 1,595

T-Shirt Man 5,43*5,43* 1,613T-ShirtWoman 4,40*4,40* 1,775

Sweater Man 5,59*5,59* 1,433SweaterWoman 4,53*4,53* 1,741

Beach clothing (shorts, bikinis, bathing suit)

Man 5,55*5,55* 1,761Beach clothing (shorts, bikinis, bathing suit) Woman 6,06*6,06* 1,483

In short it is not rejected the hypothesis, "there are significant differences between men and women in the fact of want to try a particular product before buying", for six types of garments: classic pants, jacket, shirt, t-shirt, sweater and beach clothes (Table six).

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Table six Results of t-Test

Levene's Test for Equality of VariancesLevene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Meanst-test for Equality of Meanst-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t dfS i g . ( 2 -tailed)

Classic pants EVA 14,484 ,000 -2,075 314 ,039Classic pantsEVNA -1,945 202,542 ,053**

Jeans EVA 3,444 ,064 -1,491 310 ,137JeansEVNA -1,448 220,018 ,149

Jacket EVA 1,887 ,170 1,974 314 ,049JacketEVNA 1,972 250,882 ,050*

Footweer EVA 2,626 ,106 1,452 314 ,148Footweer EVNA 1,484 269,528 ,139

Shirt EVA 1,525 ,218 2,392 310 ,017*ShirtEVNA 2,446 258,437 ,015

T-Shirt EVA ,897 ,344 5,139 306 ,000*T-ShirtEVNA 5,249 271,075 ,000

Sweater EVA 3,964 ,047 5,476 302 ,000SweaterEVNA 5,733 278,040 ,000*

Beach clothing (shorts, bikinis, bathing suit)

EVA 14,567 ,000 -2,720 302 ,007Beach clothing (shorts, bikinis, bathing suit)

EVNA -2,612 212,606 ,010*

*To a significant level of significance of five per cent; **To a significant level of significance of ten per cent EVA - Equal variances assumed; EVNA - Equal variances not assumed

Visualization that the consumer considers to be most beneficial for the presentation of the product

To the question six was tried to identify which forms of visualization the consumer considers to be most beneficial to the product presentation. The ability to zoom in on the image alongside with the viewing at different angles, were considered the most important factors followed closely by the variety of images (Table seven).

Table seven - Means of ways to view that the consumer considers to be most beneficial to the product presentation

Mean S t a n d a r d Deviation

Variety of images 6,31 1,110 View from different angles 6,46 ,931Ability to zoom in on image 6,47 ,972

Product presentation preferred by the consumer

The question seven was made to identify what types of presentation of the product were preferred by the consumer. The average values obtained lead to the conclusion that the favourite method of presentation is in three D human body, followed by three D mannequins. The less appreciated presentation method is through hangers (Table eight).162

Table eight - Means of the types of presentation of the product preferred by the consumer

MeanS t a n d a r d Deviation

Mannequins 2D 4,06 1,781Human Body 2D 4,56 1,826Mannequins 3D 5,71 1,547Human Body 3D 6,16 1,361Hangers 3,04 2,000No physical support but with the body shape 4,04 1,961

Characteristics of products which the consumer considers to be important to obtain information

In the question eight the objective was to identify the characteristics of the products of which the consumer considers to be important to get information. The most important were the style, silhouette, shape and fabric, as well as being of particular importance to have information on the design of the piece. The features considered of minor importance were embroidery, linings and washing instructions (Table nine).

Table nine - Means of product characteristics which consumers consider to be important to get information

Mean Standard Deviation

Fabrics 6,05 1,282Liners 4,78 1,595Notions (buttons, zippers, ribbons) 5,28 1,394Details 5,78 1,308Embroidery 4,73 1,955Prints 5,15 1,801Finishes 5,87 1,374Composition 5,70 1,361Care instructions 4,86 1,751Texture 5,77 1,270Shape 6,06 1,246Silhouette 6,14 1,226Style 6,23 1,133Colour grading 5,78 1,308

ConclusionsThe e-commerce, as analysed, is a market in constant growth and evolution and so greatly influenced by the use of visual merchandising in its construction, evolution and connection to the consumer, which is many times the face of the website and brand and builds the brand image, bringing the consumer entertainment experience and taste for

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visiting the site and also the attributes that contribute with a good look and a good set service that builds trust.

It was concluded from the data discussed earlier that the consumer attends the e-commerce mostly in order to see the news and trends which is supported by the preference of visual introduction in which the consumer prefers the direct entrance to the website or then to the news. Nowadays the consumer has become an individual concerned with environmental protection. The variety of pieces and the multiplicity of styles are the attributes preferred by both genders and jeans are considered by both also the product where exists the greater need to try the product before buying, showing that there is still a limitation on the purchase due to this factor. The ability to zoom in on the image followed by the view from different angles, lead the viewing preferences, but with very similar values came the variety of images and for the presentation of the product the preference lies in the human body three D visualization.

In general, sums up that the most important concern is to identify all factors that may be successful in the visual merchandising of the e-commerce site of fashion products, so as to be able to create consumer desire to purchase.

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