Identify the Factors of Visual Merchandising on Customer Purchasing Behavior on Apparel (With reference to Colombo District).

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the identify factors of visual merchandising elements on consumer purchasing behavior by focusing on selected clothing retail stores in Sri Lanka, identifying the most influential visual merchandising elements, and then comparing the results to those of international retail stores to determine what improvements can be made to attract more customers in the Sri Lankan context. Globalization has boosted the fashion retail industry in Sri Lanka over the last few decades. The textile and clothing sector became subject to the general rules of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade on January 1, 2005, after more than forty years of import quotas (World Trade Organization Geneva, Switzerland). On that note, Sri Lanka plays a significant role in the region's appeal sector, and it has had an impact on the country's retail business improvement. According to Cooray, (2005) Secretary General of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), Sri Lanka has the highest per capita apparel exports in Asia and by capitalizing on regional strengths, the country could easily thrive in positioning the South Asian region as a strong competitor second to China. "Sri Lanka has strategically nurtured its supply chain in order to meet its target of $8.5 billion by 2020." The industry has demonstrated its capability by achieving a significant increase of $ 4.3 billion in 2013 and is on track to achieve a further increase of $ 2.3 billion by June 2014." Economic. In recent years, Sri Lanka's growth has been among the fastest in South Asia. Growth averaged 6.3 percent. Between 2002 and 2013, with GDP per capita rising from $859 in 2002 to $1,059 in 2013.2000 to $3,256 in 2013 (The World Band, 2015). As a developing Sri Lankan people have different point of view about visual merchandising and different reasons are influencing their visual merchandising. The aim of this research is identifying the factors of visual merchandising on consumer purchasing behavior on apparel. The main objective of the study, to identify the factors affecting of visual merchandising on consumer purchasing behavior.