The study investigated the influence of website features on the purchase intention of online fashion among Generation Z consumers in South Africa. This topic has received increasing attention against the backdrop of the rapidly growing ‘Digital Generation’, or ‘Millennial consumers’, who are one of the most tech-savvy generations. Despite the benefits that online shopping offers to both the business and the consumer, the act of buying clothes online has presented some challenges to customers. This study therefore aims to gather further insight in an attempt to provide fashion businesses with guidance to better succeed in encouraging customers to shop online. This study selected two visual elements (website aesthetics and product presentation) and two functional website features (website navigation, and security and privacy) and social norms, the test the effect they have on perceived ease of use, attitude and intention to purchase clothing online. The proposed conceptual model tested seven hypotheses of which four were supported. By means of an empirical study, 166 online surveys were collected from individuals within the Generation Z cohort and the analysis was done using SPSS27 by running multiple regression analysis to test the relationships between the variables. The results from this study provide global and local fashion brands with valuable insight into the consumption habits of young consumers in an emerging economy, and factors that drive online fashion consumption.

• Marike Venter de Villiers(University of the Witwatersrand)
• Hanita Channa(University of the Witwatersrand)
• Safa Ebrahim(University of the Witwatersrand)