Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation is to identify the differences and similarities of in-store versus online visual merchandising in the fashion industry and the representation of accepted high street techniques in the 2D online world, and their effects on consumer behavior. In order to achieve these objectives, an in-depth study was done with three European fast fashion retailers which are H&M, Zara and Esprit.
The different visual merchandising techniques generally used in order to attract customers, are discussed and compared with the help of a content analysis of these outlets and their websites. A questionnaire was set up and answered by 150 random women in the street in Leeds and in the Shopping Mall of Manchester, in order to know more about the effect of visual merchandising on consumer behavior. The findings show that there are several similarities and some specific interesting differences between in-store and online visual merchandising.
