Identification of UK fashion retailer use of Web sites

This exploratory study examines fashion retailer use of Web sites of retailers operating within the UK. A survey of 990 fashion retailers was undertaken, 780 of which have a registered domain name. A content analysis of their Web sites took place in order to examine: first, retailer characteristics in terms of product focus, marketing positioning, operational structure type and Web site functionality; and second, to establish whether a relationship exists between online levels of involvement and specific fashion retailer characteristics. Results indicate that a high number of those surveyed (78.7 per cent) had registered a domain name and over half of those who had registered, had a Web site that was transactional. Fashion designer retailers predominantly use their Web sites as an informational tool. Whereas transactional retailers were predominantly made up of product specialist retailers who were multiple, independent, mail order or pure play retailers. In conclusion it is product specialists who have greater levels of involvement in e‐commerce.