Asos - Fast Fashion for Fast Consumers - Assignment Example

? “Situational Analysis” Introduction to ASOS Pg 6 Situational Analysis Pg 6-9 Segmentation Pg 9-10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ASOS is the largest UK bases website that sells products related to fashion and beauty. It sells both branded goods and has become popular not only in UK but also other countries. They have different departments and wings such as their discount wing and their aim is to keep their customers happy. The success story is due to their placement to the right customers at the right time and by the best possible way. They have had some failures such as targeting to kids; however, they have managed to take that in their stride and now are a bigger and better company than before. Conducting a situational analysis A marketing plan is used to convey the attributes and benefits of a product or service to its potential customers. It comprises of seven steps and one of them is conducting a situational analysis after the introduction stage. This step is one of the essential steps in creating a long term and successful relationship with customers. (Cohen, 1995) Introduction Introduction comprises of the company’s products, prices, placement etc. and what sort of products or services a company sells; essentially the background of the company and what it stands for. (Cohen, 1995) ASOS.com is a UK based website which is the largest online store for beauty and fashion products. It is only online, and it sells its own goods as well as branded goods. Sales have been on the rise since the company started, with profits before tax jumping from 15.7 million pounds to 30.3 million pounds in May 2012. The target market is mainly men and women between the ages of 18 and 34. ASOS headquarters is Camden Town, located in the North of London in a building called the Greater London House. It offers 500,000 product lines ranging from menswear, women’s wear, jewellery, beauty products, accessories and even footwear. The websites target not only UK though, they target other areas such as USA, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Spain and Australia as well and ships these products to many more countries from UK, which is its central distributor and origin and that is where the headquarters are located. A 2011 report shows that 13.6 million different visitors visit the website every month and there are registered users as well as active users and customers. The fulfillment centre for ASOS is in Yorkshire. ASOS was developed in 2000 in June and its founders are Quentin Griffiths and Nick Robertson. It is UK’s biggest retailer of fashion and beauty products online with more than 2000 employees. The acronym ASOS stands for ‘As seen on Screen’ and it changes stylistically to showcase the image of the brand. It has faced some issues as well, but overall the website has seen success stories. It also developed holdings in 2001 which became part of London Stock Exchange and 2006; it was also the pioneer of online stores launching a catwalk. In 2007, ASOS introduced its ASOS Magazine and it grew to become a lifestyle, and a store as well as launching a mobile and expanding to other areas and eventually opening a new office in Australia. One of the features that ASOS provides its customers is the facility of looking for content on their website with videos of catwalks and pictures and videos of the clothing items. It also runs a fashion blog simultaneously which have articles posted which are related to fashion and beauty topics; such as celebrities and their lives as well as entertaining news and the clothes which they are wearing and available on the site are then provided with links on the blog which leads customers to the main retail page. ASOS also has an outlet which is the discount portion of ASOS and the products that are coming at the end of a line or are from a previous season are at glorious discounts of up to 75%. It is connected to the main site and it is basically a competitor outlet with E-tailers and other discount stores. ASOS also provides the facility of fashion finder which takes customers to fashion trends not available on the ASOS page and one which the competitor is selling. This allows for greater usage of the website and they can build their whole outfit or wardrobe from the brands they like and the videos they like as well. Little ASOS was also launched in 2009 for babies and little kids of ages two till eight years. It offers high fashion labels as well as independent and smaller labels like Cath Kidston. However, the team of ASOS realized that Little ASOS wasn’t making any profits and so it was removed from the program in 2011. ASOS has become more communicative over the years, especially with the launch of ASOS life in 2009 due to which consumers can communicate with each other on a public forum such as twitter or Facebook. It also leads to personalization and connectivity with ASOS since visitors are supposed to have a username and ID. The Magazine also has circulation all around UK and for those who don’t receive the magazine can check it online. It has been known through the years to be the best e-tailer. (Limited., 2000) Situational Analysis A situational analysis takes into account the environment in which an organization operates, what are the threats, weaknesses and strengths of the organization and what are the competitors doing that the organization isn’t and should inculcate in its vision. It is the best tool to predict the future and the trends that shape the market and how consumers will behave to a certain change in the present and the future. Basically, it is used by many marketers to get some answers as to what they should do to be on the top of their game. ASOS can either use the 5C model, or the SWOT analysis or Porter’s Five Force Model to carry out its situational analysis. The first step of a 5C model is to look at the company itself. As aforementioned, it involves ASOS’s goals, mission, performance and the product lines of the company. (Clarke, 2005) A competitor analysis will identify who the competitors are for ASOS and these are other online stores such as the ones ASOS outlet as well the main branch of ASOS such as e-bay. Another dimension is to assess what their mission and vision are such as giving discounts, giving a smooth online experience in shopping etc. And finally ASOS needs to predict what new move the competitors will establish and then take part in it or view it as against their mission and vision. Such as their venture into the Children’s section failed because they didn’t notice that the market wasn’t moving in that direction at that particular point in time. Consumers are the third C and they are difficult it analyze however a demographic analysis gives a good picture. It’s a fast moving company for the fast customer who utilizes products and then gets over them and therefore the product lifecycle is very short. It rapidly moves from growth to maturity and then decline and that is why last season stocks are usually on great discounts. It also caters to the masses while at the same time catering to each individual consumer and therefore it is a unique online store. The aspiration is to be a coveted 22 year old which is the average age of the shoppers on the online store. There are three groups of customers: the people who are trendsetters are called the ‘Fashion Forward,’ the followers are called the ‘passengers’ and the people who aren’t that conscious or aware of fashion trends are called a category of ‘Functional Fashion.’ (Barrett, 2011) They are also targeting youngsters who stumble upon things on websites and social networking tools such as Facebook and twitter which actually makes them consumers of social marketing. The Collaborators join the entire process together and they include the suppliers and retailers and a strong supply chain is necessary to keep consumers happy and keep things happening in a timely fashion. They are a retailer business. The Climate is the situation of the economy be it political, social, technological etc. UK has a great deal of fast tracked and fast forwards consumers and ASOS caters to that. And it has also been observed that even in times of recession, the online businesses have been expanding and booming, and therefore ASOS has a lot to gain from that advantage of convenience and variety as well as customers who are pressed for time and yet want the shopping experience as well as want to stay in fashion. Fashion retailers have become more popular over the years where as online stores started with books only. The delivery that they offer is also free which is one the strengths of ASOS. They also have a huge variety of products from their own labels to small as well as luxury brands ad well as upcoming trends and designers and therefore customers can pick and choose their entire wardrobe from there. They also offer accessories so this is like a one stop shopping solution for customers. However they wrongly forecasted the need for the Children’s extension and had to slash it. And their positioning strategy is also one of their strengths as they rightly target to a market of customers which is tech and internet savvy and will be able to access and use the site. The site is also simple and easy to use and therefore even someone new to online shopping will find it easy to use it. They also send emails to customers on their website. More mails are sent to women than men because women are the primary consumers of the website; about 80% consumers and women and the rest are men. This mailing system keeps the customers posted and up to date about the happenings on the website. It also keeps an eye out for its competitors such as Marks & Spencer, NEXT, JP Boden, New Look and Topshop which are also retail outlets It serves fewer segments and can thus be focused on them, and it offers celebrity wear at good prices so it has a market edge. Consumers may still want to try on what they purchase in terms of fashion and beauty and so the internet store may not be their favorite option. Also, retailers have a bad name in the market as being late deliverers of products so that perception needs to be changed. Lastly, ASOS cannot offer any guarantee on the price of the product and the importance of the brand in the market. The opportunities of ASOS have been outlined above as being the fact that the importance of online retailers are increasing and more people are pressed for time and cannot go to shops. However, due to globalization, global sites are invading the market, and branded apparel are common and wanted in the market as well so people wouldn’t want to go to online stores. And even though the recession hasn’t negatively affected consumer spending on online stores, this may not be the scenario in the coming years. (Bergin, 2011) Segmentation The market for ASOS consumers can be divided into three groups: 18-22 year olds who are the ‘Fashion Forwards’ and who want to be trend setters in the world. They are tech savvy and internet savvy and most of them are women who have lesser and lesser time and greater needs for customization and unique needs of standing out. For these consumers, the positioning strategy is the most important for ASOS because they form the bulk of the consumers. For them ASOS should offer the USP of a fashion finder that gives them ideas and even acts as a guide in respect of what they cannot find on the website. They have all sizes of brands and all kinds of fashion and beauty products to mix and match a perfect outfit for everyday. They are endorsed by celebrities and the upcoming brands and the next big thing on their website is also a unique selling point which could be part of their positioning strategy. (Barrett, 2011) 24-35 years of age and they can be further divided into 24-29 and 30-35 years of age brackets who are the followers of fashion. They will only try the brands and products that have already been tried and will not try something new and fresh; they like to stay safe and within limits. For them the upcoming trends and brands will not be appealing but rather the endorsements and the catwalks; signs and symbols of people already having tried a particular dress or a brand. This would be the positioning strategy for this market segment. 36-42 years are usually the functional fashion people who aren’t that interested in the latest trends but will stay within a comfortable fashion zone and will not go out of the way to look fashionable. For them a pari of comfortable jeans at a discount price or even last season’s products at good discounts would be appealing and that is why the ASOS outlet is a good positioning strategy for this segment of the market. (Frank, et al., 1972) Conclusion ASOS has always targeted consumers at the right point and at the right time; such as offering good discounts during holiday seasons which has increased sales. They have also provided top quality management and good customer care which keeps their customers happy. References Barrett, C., 2011. Fast fashion for fast consumers. Financial Times. Bergin, O., 2011. Why no one can compete with ASOS. Telegraph UK. Clarke, A., 2005. Situational analysis : grounded theory after the postmodern turn. s.l.:Sage Publications. Cohen, W. A., 1995. The marketing plan. s.l.:Wiley. Frank, R. E., Massy, W. F. & Wind, Y., 1972. Market segmentation. s.l.:Prentice Hall. Limited., A. S., 2000. UK retail stars. ASOS.. Allegra Strategies.. Read More