Segmenting the UK Mobile Fashion Consumer

As mobile apparel retail websites and apps grow in popularity, insight into the psychology and behaviours of shoppers using these mobile interfaces has become more important. Although Android operated mobile devices dominate the market, the current study of fashion consumers’ opinions shows that, in terms of fashion shopping via mobile devices, Apple’s iOS is leading. The data show that mostly females aged 18 to 34 years old purchase clothing via smart phones, and consumers using iOS smart phones purchase more clothing via mobile than Android OS. Over 60% of respondents prefer to use websites on their mobile devices despite the wide range of mobile apps available. 70% of respondents think that ’website and products do not display properly on the small screen’. This is the first study focusing on critical issues of fashion m-retail’s environment based on mobile fashion consumers’ behaviour and shopping experience. Five mobile fashion consumer types - self-confident addicted shoppers, time-conscious consumers, followers, bargain hunters and style-conscious connected browsers - were identified. Appropriate marketing strategies can be developed, guided by the specific mobile fashion consumer type’s shopping journey, and apparel retailers can better define their target consumers and more effectively tailor mobile interfaces to meet customer needs. Keywords: m-retail, mobile device, mobile fashion consumer, mobile marketing, consumer behaviour, mobile apps, smart phones, fashion retail, apparel, consumer segmentation, comparative analysis