Fashion retailer and marketplace Asos sells fast fashion from over 850 brands. It was founded in London in 2000, originally as an acronym for ‘As Seen On Screen’ with the tagline ‘buy what you see on film and TV’ – the retailer initially sold imitations of famous onscreen items. Its primary target market is young adults, including its own-label women’s range launched in 2004 and men’s range in 2007. The retailer launched its independent boutique and vintage section Asos Marketplace in 2010 and now represents sellers from 800 labels worldwide. Asos operates a number of dedicated websites and ships to 196 countries from fulfilment centres in the UK, the US and Europe. It employs over 4,000 people across six locations. The retailer has a strong digital presence, implementing influencer marketing, an Instagram purchase function and its own app, which was downloaded 10 million times in 2018. In 2019, Asos announced a change to its returns policy in a bid to block “serial returners”.
The barrister running an independent review into Boohoo’s Leicester supply chain, Alison Levitt QC, has made a public call for evidence.
As modern slavery allegations blight the world of fast fashion and the world pauses to think about the impact of consumerism in lockdown, is this the turning point to change the fashion industry for the better?
Online fashion trailblazer Asos’ trading update this week was a sparkling exception that proved the generally dismal rule that the retail industry right now is under the cosh as never before.
Asos has posted a jump in sales during the coronavirus lockdown and said it expects to deliver “strong profit growth” across its financial year.
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, customer needs and behaviours have shifted rapidly in just a few months.
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