Consumer acceptance of apparel e-commerce–Ethiopia

Abstract

In Ethiopia e-commerce for apparel products is growing by leaps and bounds among customers. It plays a significant role in the development and economic growth of country. Moreover, many companies are more active in focusing on online trade. It is very important to focus on the consumer acceptance towards e-commerce for apparel. According to famous researches consumer acceptance is one important ingredient for the companies to be successful and profitable. An investigation has been made to identify the key factors related to acceptance of e-commerce for apparel products in Ethiopia. An online survey has been used for this research to obtain the feedback from the customers all around Ethiopia; their feedback/response has been assessed using statistical analysis techniques. The results revealed that the inability to physically interact with an item, fear of risk security and privacy and lack of e-commerce infrastructure are the main barriers that prevent the consumers from online apparel product shopping. Acceptance levels are likely to be influenced by offering infrastructure like encouraging the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), improving the level of information on clothing sizes and fit on product web pages, trailing different checkout processes and different levels of information on product web pages, adding customer ratings and reviews to the website, offering free returns, providing virtual fitting, robotic mannequin which can adopt their precise, individual body shape and Substantial changes have been identified in this work to broaden the acceptance of e-commerce for apparel in Ethiopia.