Acceptance of online customization for apparel shopping

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify the determinants of successful customization of apparel in e-retailing and to provide managerial suggestions for strategic planning. Design/methodology/approach - Using an online survey, data are collected from 300 female adults in the US secured through a nationwide random sampling method. AMOS 7.0 and SPSS 15.0 are used to analyze the data. Findings - Customers recognize the benefits of online customization of apparel when they perceive the website to be useful and competent. Additionally, customers perceive customization websites to be more useful when the websites are secure for the information customers provide. Interestingly, the ease of operation of a website is negatively related to the perception of a competent website and does not influence a positive attitude toward the online customization of apparel. Practical implications - In order to give the impression of competent and useful websites, marketers need to develop secure websites. Ease of operation on the website may not always be an advantage for apparel customization; therefore, marketers need to find the optimal levels of ease of website operation to imply useful, yet competent, websites. Originality/value - This study identified the potential factors for successful customization of apparel in e-retailing and provided strategic implications to marketers.