E-Service Performance of Apparel E-Retailing Websites: A Longitudinal Assessment

Abstract

This article takes a longitudinal approach to examine the evolution of e-retail sites in reference to service delivery performance. Using a content analysis approach, product-related e-service attributes currently available on women's apparel websites were identified and quantified in order to compare them to data collected in an earlier time frame. A Chi-square Goodness-of-Fit test was conducted to compare availability of e-service attributes in 2011 and 2016. The current retailers provided more product description/presentation attributes on their websites than in the 2011 research. However, they are still at an unsatisfactory level that need further improvement. This article offers practical insights for fashion websites in terms of the areas of strengths and weakness in e-service performance by exploring how e-service performance of apparel e-retailers has changed over the past five years.