Due the growing demand for male clothing, this blog will explore what the wants and needs are of the male consumers from a clothing retail website, and if their wants and needs are being met by online retailers.  Differences in gender are believed to influence, or perhaps moderate the interest in websites and how much an individual uses it (Rodger & Harris 2003).  The three critical determinants of men’s shopping attitudes and behaviour, according to Rodger & Harris (2003), are the following; Emotion, trust, and convenience.

There has  been a big increase in the male clothes market, for example between 2001 to 2006 the market grew by 13% to £9 billion (Tungate, M. 2008).  With increasing celebrities and public figures setting more ‘metrosexual’ trends, it is growing more common for men to change their wardrobe as females (Keynote 2012).

Mens garments, as a sub sector, recorded the highest period of growth of 23.2% in 2013 (Keynote, 2o14)

The growing demand for male clothing as discussed is growing, but what do males want from the online stores?

It has been shown that males prefer a much more ‘functional online environment’, in other words males are wanting a clothing website where the information about clothes is simple to find and where the ordering process is quick and simple (Close, A. 2012).  Further more the structure has to be relatively simple and straight forward, and it has also been shown that males prefer the use of imagery and descriptive wording when advertising the clothing products (Close, A. 2012).  Also it has been shown that if retailers bring  in customization features, for example being able to change the colour of the items, or specify the exact measurements it can  enhance consumer interest and loyalty (Tarafdar,M. & Zhang, J. 2007).  It has also been advised for retailers to concentrate on the aesthetics of the websites, such as the images and colours used, as this encourages prolonged use by the customers (Nsairi, Z.B. & Khadraoui, M. 2013).

It is all good to try and understand the theory behind what males want from shopping but it is another scenario trying to apply it to your website.  To try and demonstrate the application Asos’s mens section, (Asos, 2015), will be looked at and a few key points will be applied in a hope to demonstrate some of the theory.

The annotations above show some concepts which can be applied to the pages of male clothing websites, in an attempt to further obtain custom, or help to gain repeat custom.

To create a website that males are going to respond to the following factors need to be taken into consideration; it has to be functional; easy to navigate, yet needs the use of imagery and descriptive wording to capture our attention.  As demonstrated, applying the theory is not that difficult, however the prove is in the results….. so try it out for yourself!

References:

• Asos, (2015). Shop men’s clothes, jeans, shoes, t-shirts, shirts and more at ASOS. [online] Available at: http://www.asos.com/men/ [Accessed 30 Apr. 2015].
• Close, A. 2012, Online consumer behavior: theory and research in social media, advertising, and e-tail, Routledge Academic, London.
• Key Note. (2012). Men and Womens buying habits. [online] Available at: http://www.keynote.co.uk.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/market-intelligence/view/product/10564/men-and-women%27s-buying-habits?medium=download [Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
• Key note. (2014).Market update. [online] Available at: http://www.keynote.co.uk.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/market-intelligence/view/product/10958/clothing-retailing?medium=download [Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
• Nsairi, Z.B. & Khadraoui, M. 2013, “Website Satisfaction: Determinants and Consequences on Website Loyalty”, International Business Research, vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 77.
• RODGERS, S. & HARRIS, M.A. 2003, “Gender and E-Commerce: An Exploratory Study”, Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 322-329.