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”.
Strategy directors are de rigueur, with Asos, JLP and M&S all making big hires. But are they “a fashion accessory”, as one chief executive claims, or a necessary exec role in today’s fast-changing climate?
As workers in China begin returning to work after the coronavirus-extended Lunar New Year break, experts are predicting modest supply chain delays but say there is no cause for retailer panic.
Asos was the last major retailer to unveil its Christmas trading yesterday, giving the industry a full picture of the festive period.
Asos has reported sales increases in all of its markets, which led boss Nick Beighton to hail an “encouraging start to the year” for the pureplay retailer.
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