In today’s society, it is increasingly important for retailers to have an online presence, yet the adoption rate of e-commerce by small retailers is still lagging behind the that of larger retailers. This is due to the difficulty small retailers have to overcome the barriers to develop their web-shops, such as cost and time. This thesis will examine the barriers of single-store independent retail businesses to sell and market their goods online. It will use the Technology Acceptance Model framework developed by Davis (1986) to help understand how the barriers affect the retailers attitude towards the process of developing their web-shops. Specifically, it will ask the retailers, through interviews, what barriers exist, what their perception of difficulty to overcome these barriers is, and what their perception of importance to overcome these barriers is. The major findings show that the barriers for retailers have not changed in the past decade, nor has the difficulty level of overcoming these barriers. The majority of small retailers who have not yet developed their web-shops don’t feel that the effort to do so is worth the potential gains, yet the small retailers who have already developed their web-shops did feel it was worth the effort. The retailers all felt that the process was more difficult than it should be, and insisted they would make the leap if the cost and effort required was reduced.

The purpose of this study is to explore the different marketing techniques accessible to fashion independent retailers and aiming to strengthen their customer relationship and attract/create a community. It also focuses on understanding the applicability and operationalization of customer relationship management marketing techniques in a specific context, here, a fashion independent retailer. / Program: Master programme in Fashion Management