Call for Papers:  The New Marketing in Fashion E-commerce

 Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Special Issue, Deadline 30 November 2016

  The difficulty of translating the in-store experience to the online environment is one of the main reasons why the fashion industry has been slower than other sectors to adopt e-commerce. Recently, however, new information technologies (ITs) are enabling consumers to evaluate fashion online, creating an interactive and exciting shopping experience. As a result, clothing is now one of the fastest-growing online categories of goods bought in the industry. This trend will have serious consequences for brick-and- mortar stores. The aim special edition issue is to gain a better understanding of multichannel fashion-shopping experiences, focusing on the role of IT and the crossover effects between channels and the internationalization process (Guercini and Runfola 2015). Retailers and manufacturers must think in all channels holistically, boosting interactive and new technologies for the Internet and taking advantage of all touch-points with the consumer, including mobile devices and social networks.

  Adoption of new technologies changes shoppers¡¯ behavior. Growth of smartphone ownership and deeper mobile Internet penetration are two contributors to this change. In fact, consumers consider their own mobile devices as the most important form of in-store technology. Increasing demand for mobile Websites and applications confirms the challenge that mobile Internet represents for fashion retailers. Social networks are an important challenge, too, as they are becoming a place to start the shopping process, mainly through people seeking advice on Facebook and Twitter. However, it is very common to use social networks to criticize brands, so retailers must take special care of them as a part of their multichannel offer (Kim and Ko 2012).

  Finally, consider that use of technology in online environment produces a concrete shopping experience that consumers could miss in the store. Consumers looking for an interactive experience prefer 3D technologies such as image enlargement and augmented reality. From their perspective, however, the in-store experience has been unchanged for more than 30 years. They are eager for different experiences, and they are able to pay more for them. What they expect from stores, in short, is a memorable shopping experience.  Despite knowledge that e-retail should offer better economics for selling clothing than traditional storefronts (Barsh et al., 2000) and a very effective way to expand the business and to have a broader international expansion.

  The potential topics for the planned special issue include, but are not limited to (1) the relationship between design and marketing in industrial marketing and IT or web use in fashion; (2) the role of the technology, e-commerce and the growth strategy and marketing in the conquest new markets and consumers; (3) the marketing of the firm specialized in fashion e-commerce; (4) the contribution of IT, e-commerce and marketing in the business models of companies in the fashion industry; (5) the contribution of e-commerce and new technologies to marketing orientation and market orientation in the business of fashion; (6) the presence of e-commerce strategies in companies that integrate retail; (7) firms based in fashion e-business and their relationship with the consumer market and international markets; (8) the strategies of firms in the field of fashion e-business.

References/Sources

Chapman, P., James-Moore, M., Szczygiel, M. and Thompson, D. (2000), ¡°Building internet capabilities in SMEs¡±, Logistics Information Management, Vol. 13 No. 6, pp. 353-60.

Guercini, S., & Runfola, A. (2015). Internationalization through E-Commerce. The Case of MultiBrand Luxury Retailers in the Fashion Industry. Advances in International Marketing, Vol. 26, pp.15-31.

Jones, P., Clarke-Hill, C. & Hillier, D. (2002), ¡°(R)etailing in the UK¡±, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 229-33.

Kalakota, R., & Whinston, A. B. (1996). Frontiers of electronic commerce. Addison Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc..

Kim, A. J., & Ko, E. (2012). Do social media marketing activities enhance customer equity? An empirical study of luxury fashion brand. Journal of Business Research, 65(10), 1480-1486.

Reynolds, J. (2000), ¡°E-commerce: a critical review¡±, International Journal of Retail & Distribution

Management, Vol. 28 No. 10, pp. 417-44.

Reynolds, J. (2002), ¡°Charting the multi-channel future: retail choices and constraints¡±,  International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 30 No. 11, pp. 530-5.

Strauss, J. & Frost, R. (2001), E-Marketing, 2nd ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Webdale, J. (2003), ¡°Refashioned¡±, New Media Age, March 27, p. 23

Webdale, J. (2003), ¡°Refashioned¡±, New Media Age, March 27, p. 23.

Time schedule

Interested contributor are requested to submit the full paper (between 4,000 and 8,000 words including cover page, abstract page, text pages and reference page, plus up to 5 tables and figures) by November 30th 2016.

Submission to the Guest Editors:

Simone Guercini, Professor of Marketing, Dept. of Business Sciences, University of Florence, Via delle Pandette 9, 50126 Florence, Tel. 0039 055 4374704, Fax 0039 055 4374910, E-mail: simone.guercini@unifi.it

Pedro Mir Bernal, Associate Professor of Marketing, Dept. of Business Sciences, University of Navarra, Campus Universitario s/n, 31008 Pamplona, Tel. 0034 948 425600, E-mail: pmir@unav.es,

Catherine  Prentice, Associate Professor of Marketing, School of Business & Law,  Edith Cowan University, 2 Bradford St, Mount Lawley WA 6050, Australia  E-mail: cathyjournalarticles@gmail.com

For Submission Guideline and More Information: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=rgfm20&page=instructions#.VrFWDsv2ZrM .

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