Are U.S. Plus-Size Women Satisfied with Retail Clothing Store Environments?

Abstract

U.S. plus-size female consumers account for 28% of the nation’s apparel purchasing power (Binkley 2013). This group of women, who wear size 14 or larger clothing, believe that fashion retailers do not understand their clothing needs. Despite the apparently under-tapped potential of the plus-size apparel market, there is a limited amount of information on how this demographic is affected by the retail store environment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine attributes (clothing availability, fitting rooms, mannequins, in-store signage, sales associates, and human crowding) of mainstream retail clothing store shopping environments and determine how they affect the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of plus-size female consumers. Results reveal that the store attributes of clothing availability, fitting rooms, mannequins, and in-store signage are significant predictors of plus-size consumers’ satisfaction with a retailer. Additionally, results indicate that while the human attributes of sales associates significantly impact this market’s satisfaction with a retailer, human crowding does not. These findings are useful to retailers, marketers, and apparel manufacturers as they attempt to satisfy this under-served market for ready-to-wear apparel.