Consumer garment evaluation in multiple channel retail environments

Multi channel distribution has revolutionised the global retail landscape. Despite investment in virtual technology platforms (i.e. retailer’s websites) to present items and information about them, which make the purchase process highly convenient, customers prefer to purchase in physical stores. This demonstrates a discrepancy between the information provided in the virtual environment and that required by consumers to make a purchase commitment. Consumers appear to evaluate products in more than one channel in a multiple channel process, which is not well understood. Customers switching between virtual and physical store environments to evaluate garments can lead to sales loss to competitors. This paper proposes the application of the Test-Operate-Test-Exit (TOTE) model of human task performance (Miller, Galanter and Pribram, 1960) to conceptualise the consumer evaluation process for garments, in multiple channel environments. This aims to establish information provision discrepancies that must be addressed to enhance the profitability of virtual platforms.