Online platforms, the services available on the Internet, are what we rely on heavily as consumers (Peterson, 2003). The Internet has been a retail channel for so long, which highlights the importance of fashion retailers developing an online presence. 500 million people are estimated to be on the Internet worldwide (Nua, 2002), and this figure is most definitely expected to increase continuously. The advantages of the Internet as a retail channel are clear: it allows retailers to reach a larger audience, save costs, increase personalization, and availability 24/7 (Rowley, 1996; McBride, 1997; Jones and Biasiotto, 1999; Goldsmith, 1999; Hunter, 1999).
On online platforms, optimizing is crucial to provide a better customer experience. There are ways to optimize web designs, one being using subheads to organize the key points and make them stand out. Subheads keep headlines short and extend the headline’s idea (Bitkulova, 2017). Instead of clustering all the words together, you should put a subhead, preferably in enlarged font and differentiated color to help the users focus. You can put an emphasis on the most important text with an unusual font or by using curves (Aro, 2014). Also, web designs should keep the F-shaped theory in mind, which asserts the user’s eye movements on screens to resemble the alphabet F. Many users tend to scroll through the page starting from the upper left and reading through (Nielsen, 2006).
References:
Aro, N. (2014) The visual design of a websites user interface. [online] Available at: < https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/70538/Aro_Nina.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y> [Accessed 15 April 2022].
Bitkulova, R. (2017) Digital marketing in travel industry. Case: Hotel landing page optimization. [online] Available at: <https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/122604/Bitkulova_Renata.pdf;sequence=1> [Accessed 15 April 2022].
Goldsmith, R.E. (1999) ‘The personalised marketplace: beyond the four Ps’. Journal of Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 178-85.
Hunter, P. (1999) ‘Into the Net’. MS Online Business, pp. 4-5.
Jones, K. and Biasiotto, M. (1999) ‘Internet retailing: current hype or future reality?’. International Review of Retail Distribution & Consumer Research, Vol.9 No.1.
Peterson, R. and Merino, M. (2003) ‘Consumer information search behavior and the internet’. Psychology and Marketing, [online] 20(2), pp.99-121. Available at: <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/mar.10062> [Accessed 15 April 2022].
McBride, N. (1997) ‘Business use of the Internet: strategic decision or another bandwagon?’. European Journal of Marketing, Vol.15 No.1, February.
Nielsen, J. (2006) F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content (original eyetracking research). [online] Nielsen Norman Group. Available at: <https://www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-content-discovered/> [Accessed 15 April 2022].
Nua. (2002) Internet surveys. [online] Available at: www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online/index.html [Accessed 15 April 2022).
Rowley, J. (1996) ‘Retailing and shopping on the Internet’. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 26-37.