Asos goes from annus horribilis to the height of fashion
Online clothing retailer Asos has seen a major turnaround in its fortunes over the past year.
Despite being hit be several profit warnings and a major fire at its Barnsley, Yorkshire, depot, retail sales for the four months to the end of June increased 27 per cent in the UK, while international sales were up 16 per cent.
Asos is now on course to being at the higher end of its sales projection for 2015.
It appears that the business is building momentum and exciting investors, while offering a clear service to customers.
A warm British summer has helped, with sales of the sunny season’s dresses and holiday wear helping to boost profits.
Part of Asos’ appeal is rooted in its range of products, affordability and frequent reduced price offers, all of which appeal to the younger age bracket – the online retailer’s main demographic.
YouGov’s BrandIndex data show that the younger age groups are most enamoured with Asos.
Its Purchase Consideration metric score (whether you would consider buying a product from a brand) is 8.1 per cent among all respondents. However, among 18-24 year olds, this rises dramatically to 35 per cent.
YouGov has also found that younger women are more likely to make their purchases from Asos than men.
This is replicated in Asos’ Value score. There is a relatively normal score of 4.1 among all our respondents yet among 18-29 year olds this rises to 14.8.
According to our profiles data, the Asos demographic is female, 18-24 and said it is important to look physically attractive and use beauty products to make themselves look better.
This has helped Asos to separate itself from competitors in the past year, carving out a niche within the market.
Asos needs to now widen its appeal to other age groups, while continuing its expansion in mainland Europe.
Whether its heavy discounting will be reconsidered as growth continues is a matter for company bosses to consider.
Stephan Shakespeare is the chief executive of YouGov.