1 Feature - oriented vs . Needs - oriented Product Access for Non - Expert Online Shoppers

Most online shops today organise their product ca talogue in a feature-oriented way. This can cause problems for shoppers who have only limited knowledge of product features. An alternative is to organizin g product information in a needs-oriented way. Here possible ways of using the product build the focus of attention. In this study we compared reported prefe rence of catalogue access of non-expert shoppers when confronted with either fea ture-oriented or needs-oriented access to a catalogue of digital cameras. 1. INTRODUCTION An important success factor for online shops is the way in which they help shoppers identify appropriate purchases (Hagen et al, 2000). Currently we can identify three main ways in which online sho ps help visitors find the products they desire: – Hierarchically organised catalogues, – Feature-oriented catalogues (search & browse base d on product features), – Needs-oriented catalogues (search & browse based on shopper needs).