Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
Spring 2023
Abstract
Considering the significant pressures faced by fashion-oriented e-commerce retailers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to understand what modifications, if any, these retailers may have made to their online retail stores, and the impact that these changes may have had on their effectiveness during this time frame. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to examine the various product-centric and service-centric features and functions found on the websites of European fashion retailers both before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also examined the conversion rates, the average ticket values and customer demographics for the retailers in both time frames. The findings reveal that the proportion of retailers offering the live chat function almost doubled from 2019 to 2020 while the proportion of retailers offering content in multiple languages increased by 50 percent. No other significant differences in the propensity of the retailers to offer other product or service-centric features or functions were observed. Also, while no significant difference was found in either average ticket value or the demographic composition of customers, the results do show a significant increase in conversion rates from 2019 to 2020.
Recommended Citation
Heiens, R., and Narayanaswamy, R. (2023). Examining the product and service-centric website features and functions offered by European fashion retailers following the COVID-19 pandemic" (2023). Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2023. 39. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/amtp-proceedings_2023/39
