E‐service attributes available on men's and women's apparel web sites

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine whether service attributes available on women’s apparel web sites differ from those available on men’s apparel web sites in relation to the nine dimensions of E-A-S-QUAL (E-S-QUAL for apparel). Design/methodology/approach – Using three separate sources, 97 women’s and 97 men’s apparel web sites were selected, which constituted a variety of apparel retail web sites that are a fair representation of available US retail apparel web sites. ANOVAs and chi-square analysis were performed. Findings – The results of content analysis suggest that differences exist between women’s and men’s apparel web sites in providing online services that improve e-service quality in such a way that women’s web sites provided more service attributes that improve e-service quality than men’s web sites. Practical implications – The results of content analysis suggest that the distribution or availability of almost half the e-service attributes analyzed significantly differed between women’s and men’s apparel web sites. For the further growth of men’s apparel shopping via the internet, e-retailers of men’s apparel need to provide e-services at a more sophisticated level. Originality/value – This study provides valuable information to both men’s and women’s apparel e-retailers to understand their current performance in delivering e-service and areas for improvement.