Marketing design elements of mobile fashion retail apps

Purpose – Whilst some may argue that e‐commerce design literature can be applied to the designing of mobile commerce channels, it is an assumption that may come at the expense of the retailer. The purpose of this paper is to identify which marketing design elements could be integrated within a retailer's mobile strategy and suggest the importance of empirical testing. An academic or practitioner must primarily understand the abundance of marketing tools that can be integrated into a mobile strategy before they can begin to investigate the consumer effects. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review of online and mobile design elements is undertaken, in order to develop and illustrate a holistic framework of stimuli for commercial and academic appreciation. Although literature regarding the variety of marketing design elements online is profuse, a holistic framework currently does not exist, an absence that this paper fulfils. Findings – The paper collates and identifies 18 individual marketing design stimuli classified within four stimulus categories relating to their purpose and form. Originality/value – Literature concerning e‐commerce design and strategy is currently prevalent; however, due to the immaturity of mobile commerce, literature is deficient concerning the strategic design and implications of mobile applications. Although £68.2 billion was spent online in 2011, mobile commerce sales represented less than 5 per cent, highlighting an immediate requirement for research into how such sales could be improved.