The Internet: A viable strategy for fashion retail marketing?

Much attention, both within the popular media and the academic milieu, is devoted to presenting a very positive image of the Internet in terms of its usefulness and its importance within the business environment of the 1990s. The above statements convey that any company can ill afford not to have a presence on the Internet. The objective of this paper is to establish whether a strategic intention exists for companies being on the Internet or whether there is an element of ‘keeping up with the Jones's’. This has been achieved by undertaking investigative research in order to establish the reason why companies, who already have a presence on the Internet, have selected to be there. The research will concentrate on clothing retailers operating within the UK marketplace. In all, it is hoped that this research will go some way to offering a more focused view on the use of the Internet and its potential as part of a viable strategy for clothing retail marketing.