Fast or Furious: A study of attributes important to the online customer experience in fast fashion shopping

Sammanfattning: The primary aim of this paper is to investigate which attributes are most important to the online customer experience (OCE) in the fast fashion industry. Qualitative data was gathered through a netnography of online customer reviews and comments, and a comprehensive framework of attributes important to OCE in the fast fashion industry was constructed. This framework includes nine primary attributes, which are further broken down into thirteen secondary attributes and seven tertiary attributes. Based on the findings of this study, the attributes most important for OCE in the fast fashion industry are delivery, returns, customer service, products, technology, and omnichannel experience, including their respective secondary and tertiary sub-attributes. With help from prior literature, the identified attributes of importance to OCE in the fast fashion industry were then compared to the attributes important to the physical store experience. Several similarities were found between the attributes important to customer experience in the two channels, such as the importance of customer service. Furthermore, some attributes are shared but differ in importance. One such attribute is returns, which takes on an amplified role in OCE. Attributes unique to OCE were also identified, one of these being user experience. Finally, the paper addresses the implications of the identified attributes for retailers with both physical and online channels, and points to the importance of providing customers with a seamless experience while also considering that customers may focus on different attributes depending on which channel they are shopping in.