Critical success factors for leading apparel e-tailers in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

The South African retail apparel industry has and continues to undergo major digitisation. This movement better known as e-tailing has pioneered over the years and proven to be a lucrative way of trading. As a developing market, e-tailing has seen increased growth with great potential for new entrants to thrive. Only a small number of e-tailers were dominating the South African online apparel industry. In order to understand and further promote success in e-tailing, the researchers identified the need to determine the critical success factors of leading apparel e-tailers in South Africa. Identifying the CSFs proved to be an integral part of successful e-tailer survival. The objective of this study was, therefore, to establish and delve into the CSFs of both leading pure-play online apparel e-tailers and omnichannel or hybrid retailers based in Cape Town, South Africa. The study adopted a multiple case study approach and a qualitative methodology was used by employing an interpretive philosophical perspective. An exploratory design was appropriate for the study and an Inductive reasoning is a theory-building method which best explained the phenomena that are the subject of this study. The research paper further incorporated an empirical approach and the data comprised of four organisations primarily collected through semi-structured interviews from individuals that were connected to the organisations. The findings of the study revealed the most fundamental CSFs which consisted of five CSF groups, namely, 1) Business Intelligence, 2) Operations, 3) Organisational culture, 4) Business model and 5) Strategic modelling. Ultimately, the study recommended an effective growth and development framework for apparel e-tailers in Cape Town.