© 2023 IJNRD | Volume 8, Issue 6 June 2023 | ISSN: 2456-4184 | IJNRD.ORG IJNRD2306260 International Journal of Novel Research and Development (www.ijnrd.org) c570 A STUDY OF ONLINE VISUAL MERCHANDISING ELEMENTS (OVME) OF INDIAN FASHION BRANDS AND THEIR IMPACT ON CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR Aditya Upadhyay 1 , Dr. Sangeeta Jauhari 2 , Dr.Vijay Singh 3 1 Student, MP Bhoj (Open) University, Bhopal (M.P.), India 2 Pro Vice Chancellor, Rabindranath Tagore University, Bhopal (M.P.) India 3 Registrar, Rabindranath Tagore University, Bhopal (M.P.) India Abstract: This research paper is the outcome of a study of Visual Merchandising Elements of an apparel retail store and their impact on behavior of customers. It is an attempt to identify the most appealing elements of VM. The general purpose of Visual Merchandising is to attract, invite, educate and motivate the customers to purchase merchandise being sold in the store. Online Visual Merchandising Elements (OVME) have been categorized into two major segments: High Task Relevant Environment (HRE) and Low Task Relevant Environment (LTRE). further both in total have five categories under LTRE there are two (atmospheric feature and registration) and HTRE includes three (web navigation, web graphics and product demonstration). If we go further we can see there are thirteen elements within category - background color, text color, atmospheric features, and registration requirement within LTRE; site map, search engine, website geometry, presentation format, product view dimensionality, apparel color, product display method, and mix/match option within HTRE. After this 55 sub- elements were identified 17 sub elements within LTRE group and 38 sub elements within HTRE group. For this study, four leading MBOs of India were selected which are Fashion at Big Bazar (FBB), Lifestyle, Shoppers stop and Reliance Trends. All these four retailers are department stores dealing into multiple brands, offer both apparels and accessories and have presence pan India through their multiple outlets in various cities. The Store size and offered brands and merchandise quantity being similar in all the stores of these brands make them perfect competitors targeting the same customer group. Also all these 4 MBOs are available online. Hence Online Visual Merchandising Elements of these stores and their impact on Customer Behavior are comparable. Secondary data was used for formulating list of VME and primary data was collected from 500 samples, to study impact of these VME through self-developed and self-administered questionnaire. The Likert scale was used to record the level of influence of VME from ‘Strongly Agree’ to ‘Strongly Disagree’. Collected data was analyzed and it was found that 80% sample agreed with the influence of VME on their behavior. Also the most influencing External VMEs were found to be Window Display setting and Merchandise on Display. On the other hand, the most influencing Internal VMEs were found to be creative product display and mannequin styling. Keywords: Visual Merchandising, Online Visual Merchandising Elements, Customer Behavior,, VM, VME, OVME. 1 Corresponding Author: Aditya Upadhyay. Tel. +919589222057 Email Address: aditya.mfm@gmail.com