Shopping online for apparel in Egypt is becoming trendy. However, there is almost no recent research focussed on online shopping for apparel in Egypt. One of the elements of the significance of this study is that it measures the effect of the Egyptian culture on the online shopping intention. According to Hofstede’ culture dimensions, Egypt’s culture is different from all other countries in which other studies have been conducted.

The main aim of the study is to discover the factors affecting the purchase intention of online shoppers when shopping for apparel in Egypt by using mixed research methodology: exploratory research (literature review and in-depth interviews) and explanatory research (phone survey). After completing the literature review, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews (in-depth interviews) with 26 participants: Thirteen males and thirteen females of different ages. The questions examined the demographic
characteristics of the participants, the constructs of the conceptual model formed through the literature review, and the cultural dimensions of each individual. The findings of the literature review along with the in-depth interviews were used to form a conceptual model for further investigation through the explanatory phase.

The conceptual model is based on the two factors of the original Technology Acceptance model (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) augmented with additional seven factors namely: perceived risk, company and product attributes, media
influence, innovativeness, fashion consciousness, and two culture dimensions (uncertainty avoidance and individualism vs. collectivism).

Sixteen hypotheses were proposed and tested by using structural equation modelling after applying several confirmatory factor analyses. The factors (i.e., constructs) under investigation included 84 variables at first. Then, after applying the
confirmatory analyses including the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), Standardised Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Normed fit index (NFI), Goodness of fit index (GFI), and the adjusted goodness of fit index
(AGFI), 54 variables were removed and 30 variables remained. The structural equation modelling supported ten hypotheses out of 16 and suggested two new hypotheses, which were neither found in the literature nor suggested for the present study, namely:
uncertainty avoidance was found to have a direct effect on Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness. These two new hypotheses were proved through the further explanatory research conducted by the researcher. Thus, in total, twelve hypotheses are
supported.

Results indicated that seven constructs out of ten significantly affect the customer’s intention to purchase apparel products online, while the other three constructs are not significant. The significant constructs are uncertainty avoidance (UA), individualism vs collectivism (IVC), perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived risk (PR), and company and product attributes (CPA). The three insignificant constructs are fashion consciousness (FC), innovativeness (INN) and media influence (MI).