Apparel recommendation system evolution: an empirical review

Purpose: With the developments of e-commerce markets, novel recommendation technologies are becoming an essential part of many online retailers' economic models to help drive online sales. Initially, the purpose of this paper is to undertake an investigation of apparel recommendations in the commercial market in order to verify the research value and significance. Then, this paper reviews apparel recommendation techniques and systems through academic research, aiming to acquaint apparel recommendation context, summarize the pros and cons of various research methods, identify research gaps and eventually propose new research solutions to benefit apparel retailing market. Design/methodology/approach: This study utilizes empirical research drawing on 130 academic publications indexed from online databases. The authors introduce a three-layer descriptor for searching articles, and analyse retrieval results via distribution graphics of years, publications and keywords. Findings: This study classified high-tech integrated apparel systems into 3D CAD systems, personalised design systems and recommendation systems. The authors' research interest is focussed on recommendation system. Four types of models were found, namely clothes searching/retrieval, wardrobe recommendation, fashion coordination and intelligent recommendation systems. The forth type, smart systems, has raised more awareness in apparel research as it is equipped with advanced functions and application scenarios to satisfy customers. Despite various computational algorithms tested in system modelling, existing research is lacking in terms of apparel and users profiles research. Thus, from the review, the authors have identified and proposed a more complete set of key features for describing both apparel and users profiles in a recommendation system. Originality/value: Based on previous studies, this is the first review paper on this topic in this subject field. The summarised work and the proposed new research will inspire future researchers with various knowledge backgrounds, especially, from a design perspective

Consumers of ethnic apparel and textile crafts from alternative trading organizations

Increasingly, craft producers from developing countries are turning to alternative trading organizations (ATOs) for assistance in craft exporting. ATOs know the needs of the craft producers with whom they work; however, little is known about the ATO consumer;The purpose of the study was twofold. One goal was to describe consumers who had purchased products from alternative trading organizations (ATOs). The second goal was to further examine ATO consumers\u27 preferences for ethnic apparel. Theory in consumer behavior and social psychology provided the conceptual framework for the study. Major variables included in the study were values, Latin American involvement, altruism, clothing evaluative criteria, mail-order risk, past purchase behavior, and future purchase intentions;Data were collected with a mail survey of consumers randomly drawn from the stratified mailing list of Pueblo to People (usable response rate = 48.6%, n = 376). The basis for stratification was past purchase behavior and included: (1) Clothing Purchasers, (2) Other Purchasers, and (3) Non-Purchasers. Factor analysis uncovered latent variables among a large number of items. Multiple discriminant analysis revealed which independent variables were useful for distinguishing among consumer groups. Finally, path analysis was used to examine the causal relationships among variables affecting future purchase intentions;Perceived quality of ethnic apparel, support for ATOs, attitudes about social and political conditions in Latin America, past travel experience, concern for persons in developing countries, education, age, and willingness to sacrifice product expectations were useful for discriminating among past purchaser groups. Similar variables exerted strong influence on future purchase intentions. Results from both analyses were combined into a model describing ATO consumer behavior;The research makes numerous contributions. ATOs will benefit from knowledge that quality is an influential product characteristic. Theoretical contributions include the differentiation of ethnic apparel consumers from textile craft consumers and from consumers of mass-produced Western apparel, recognition of the value of less parsimonious models for explaining consumer behavior, and an understanding of the differing roles that attitudes toward objects and attitudes toward behaviors have in explaining purchasing. The research also recognizes socially responsible consumers who are concerned with others\u27 needs as well as their own

Performance of state space and ARIMA models for consumer retail sales forecasting

Forecasting future sales is one of the most important issues that is beyond all strategic and planning decisions in effective operations of retail businesses. For profitable retail businesses, accurate demand forecasting is crucial in organizing and planning production, purchasing, transportation and labor force. Retail sales series belong to a special type of time series that typically contain trend and seasonal patterns, presenting challenges in developing effective forecasting models. This work compares the forecasting performance of state space models and ARIMA models. The forecasting performance is demonstrated through a case study of retail sales of five different categories of women footwear: Boots, Booties, Flats, Sandals and Shoes. On both methodologies the model with the minimum value of Akaike's Information Criteria for the in-sample period was selected from all admissible models for further evaluation in the out-of-sample. Both one-step and multiple-step forecasts were produced. The results show that when an automatic algorithm the overall out-of-sample forecasting performance of state space and ARIMA models evaluated via RMSE, MAE and MAPE is quite similar on both one-step and multi-step forecasts. We also conclude that state space and ARIMA produce coverage probabilities that are close to the nominal rates for both one-step and multi-step forecasts

K-State undergraduate catalog, 2004-2006

Course catalogs were published under the following titles: Catalogue of the officers and students of the Kansas State Agricultural College, with a brief history of the institution, 1st (1863/4); Annual catalogue of the officers and students of the Kansas State Agricultural College for, 2nd (1864/5)-4th (1868/9); Catalogue of the officers and students of the Kansas State Agricultural College for the year, 1869-1871/2; Hand-book of the Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kansas, 1873/4; Biennial catalogue of the Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kansas, calendar years, 1875/77; Catalogue of the State Agricultural College of Kansas, 1877/80-1896/97; Annual catalogue of the officers, students and graduates of the Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, 35th (1897/98)-46th (1908/09); Catalogue, 47th (1909/10)-67th (1929/30); Complete catalogue number, 68th (1930/31)-81st (1943/1944); Catalogue, 1945/1946-1948/1949?; General catalogue, 1949/1950?-1958/1960; General catalog, 1960/1962-1990/1992. Course catalogs then split into undergraduate and graduate catalogs respectively: K-State undergraduate catalog, 1992/1994- ; K-State graduate catalog, 1993/1995-Citation: Kansas State University. (2004). K-State undergraduate catalog, 2004-2006. Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University.Call number: LD2668.A11711 K7

K-State undergraduate catalog, 2000-2002

Course catalogs were published under the following titles: Catalogue of the officers and students of the Kansas State Agricultural College, with a brief history of the institution, 1st (1863/4); Annual catalogue of the officers and students of the Kansas State Agricultural College for, 2nd (1864/5)-4th (1868/9); Catalogue of the officers and students of the Kansas State Agricultural College for the year, 1869-1871/2; Hand-book of the Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kansas, 1873/4; Biennial catalogue of the Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kansas, calendar years, 1875/77; Catalogue of the State Agricultural College of Kansas, 1877/80-1896/97; Annual catalogue of the officers, students and graduates of the Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, 35th (1897/98)-46th (1908/09); Catalogue, 47th (1909/10)-67th (1929/30); Complete catalogue number, 68th (1930/31)-81st (1943/1944); Catalogue, 1945/1946-1948/1949?; General catalogue, 1949/1950?-1958/1960; General catalog, 1960/1962-1990/1992. Course catalogs then split into undergraduate and graduate catalogs respectively: K-State undergraduate catalog, 1992/1994- ; K-State graduate catalog, 1993/1995-Citation: Kansas State University. (2000). K-State undergraduate catalog, 2000-2002. Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University.Call number: LD2668.A11711 K7