Web contents-comparative analysis: Online shopping agencies that retail foreign apparel

The purpose of this study is 1) to investigate the Web content of online shopping agencies and to see if differences exist in their contents and 2) to suggest strategies for online shopping agencies. For the study, the online shopping agency components of web sites were investigated, which consisted of product, information, and customer service. Each component had sub-categories. In order to analyze the Web content of online shopping agencies, nine agencies were chosen based on the rankings of www.rankey.com and www.100hot.co.kr. The content analysis was conducted from January 5th to the 30th of 2009. The results showed that the basic Web content of online shopping agencies (i.e., product, information, and customer service) was evident on most sites. However, products were similar and effective information and labor-saving functions were sparsely used. Areas where customers actively participated were limited. Therefore, most sites need to reinforce their content by providing a well-articulated product, information, and customer service for shoppers and to differentiate their Web site identities.