Analysing and Conceptualising the Online Fashion Shopping Environment A Thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences 2009 Helen McCormick School of Materials

The importance of the retail environment has been a prominent area of research for overfour decades, focusing upon the effects of design. The retail environment, like otheraesthetic surroundings affects customers’ behaviour, perceptions and attitudes. Yet, whilethere is a growing body of research regarding design, there is little research to datespecifically on fashion retail shopping environments.Technology has made shopping via multiple channels possible and economically feasible,and the demand for more channel options is being driven by the consumer. Thesignificant growth of online retailing has led to the evolution of traditional retailing,developing from a single channel to multi-channel models.This study has used both quantitative and qualitative research methods in order to explaintheoretically the online shopping environment cues that contribute towards creating anonline fashion shopping environment. As this research is taking into consideration thedevelopment of the retail market and the movement of retailers towards multi-channelfashion retailing, design cues which can be replicated, or transferred from a physicalshopping environment to an online shopping environment will be discussed. Fashionretailers can use the different channel environments to induce a desired shoppingexperience for the consumer, facilitate the consumers’ needs and fulfil the retailers’strategic objectives. This report includes new perspectives on how website design hasdeveloped during the past decade as a result of advances in technology and consumeracceptance.This research will identify and develop some important issues related to onlineenvironment cues and consumers' perceptions of online design that have not beenaddressed by previous studies by investigating literature regarding the physical andonline shopping environment, design cues that form part of an online fashionenvironment focusing on the strategic design of an online retail store will be studied.