Investigation of Online Visual Merchandising (OVM) Elements of Apparel Web Stores

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a
scientific research project concerning the
new emerging academic field of Online
merchandising. The study aims to identify,
classify, and measure the OVM elements/
subelements and it is the first one that
generalizes and systematizes on a global
basis the groups, the categories, the
elements, and the subelements of OVM of
apparel online shops. The method of content
analysis is applied in the context of randomly
selected apparel web stores. The adopted
inductive approach in the study reveals 55
subelements which are grouped into 13
elements. These elements form 5 categories.
Finally the 5 categories form 2 major groups.
The OVM elements/subelements are
analyzed and the frequency of usage of each
subelement is measured and discussed.
Finally, the authors summarize the results
and outline the future directions for research.