ABSTRACT DISSERTATION/THESIS/RESEARCH PAPER/CREATIVE PROJECT: A CONTENT ANALYSIS FOR EXAMINING CRITERIA OF A SUCCESSFUL ONLINE RETAIL STORE STUDENT: Brittany Temme DEGREE: Master of Arts COLLEGE: Family and Consumer Sciences DATE: December, 2011 PAGES: 67 This study has examined 27 websites for functionality and design using a questionnaire using a Likert Scale called WebQual and developed questions. Nine websites from each of the Fortune 500 List, the Internet Retail Top 500 List, Unproven Websites were evaluated by the researcher. Multivariate tests show there is a significant effect amongst groups (p < 0.05). Descriptive statistics revealed that the companies in Internet Retail Top 500 List had the highest means thus correlating a higher success rate amongst the other two groups in most of the question categories. By exploring the relationship between successful websites and relevant factors, companies and website developers can then use those insights as constructs to develop their own website in hopes of capturing their same successes.