Introduction

In this entry we will be presenting our research findings on an eCommerce website. The terminology, eCommerce, basically means to transact electronically of the exchange or buying and selling of commodities which involves transportation from place to place.

With progressive Information Technology (IT) advances over the years, not only has the internet become an indispensable tool, it also presents new business opportunities to companies that seek to reach out globally. Amazon.com is probably one of those virtual storefronts that you will be familiar with. Our research is also about a virtual storefront except it is all about fashion!

About ASOS

The ASOS is a UK online fashion store launched in year 2000 by Nick Robertson, the great-grandson of the founder of the one time major UK high street tailor chain Austin Reed. ASOS stands for "As Seen on Screen", but this meaning is no longer widely used. Despite deprecating its original meaning ASOS is still written in as an uppercase acronym; the exception to the rule being the new company logo introduced in 2008 where it is stylistically shown all in lowercase.[1]

Website purpose

Clearly, having an online storefront yields substantial benefits. As such, facilitating market processes 24/7 (i.e. 24 hours, 7 days a week), greater efficiency and accessibility, promote disintermediation and simplifying processes. The traditional “brick and mortar” method pales in comparison. The power of Information Systems has made ASOS the largest online fashion and beauty store in the UK and attracting over a million visitors a week.

Features

ASOS is a Business to Consumer entity where the main head quarters is situated between Camden Town and Euston, London, UK, in a building known as Greater London House, and its main fulfillment centre is in Hemel Hampstead.[1] Unlike most fashion lines, ASOS does not have an outlet. The general public may only purchase their merchandises through their online storefront.

Key Characteristics

ASOS has a vast range of products that may well satisfy a “shopper-holic”. The fashion products encompass almost all that can dress and groom you from head to toe or inside-out. To name a few of their categories, there are dresses, tops, bottoms, shoes, accessories, lingerie, swimwear, suits, make up, skincare, styling tools, etc.

Marvelous website wouldn’t you say ladies? For gentlemen out there who are enticed as well, fret not. ASOS caters to men as well and it has just as many categories as for women! Due to its coverage and development, ASOS has gained acknowledgement and won numerous awards.

Design

To view the homepage of ASOS click here.

The above is a diagram we have drawn to illustrate the layout of the homepage. As the homepage alternates between the categories we have decided to choose the women category which has a similar layout as the men.

The website has a clean layout and is well-organized. The top right-hand corner with label “A” shows your virtual shopping bag with the number of items in it and the total price for it in sterling pounds. There is a currency option where you may change into five different currencies which will be shown for all products. The other links at A are a How to Shop guide, to Sign up/ Sign in, Track order and Help & Contact. A is permanent in the layout.

B is a row showing the main categories: Women, Men, Beauty, Red and a search engine. This is also permanent in the layout.

C is a column stating the sub-categories of the main category. Sub-categories include the types of clothing and accessories which are differentiated comprehensively.

D is links illustrated like advertisements that the company wishes to accentuate to viewers.

E is ASOS Today where they update viewers with the latest fashion news. It is shown in a row with scrolling posts.

F is where viewers may sign up for their style news by entering your email address and then select women or men news. F is also permanent in the layout.

G shows links: A-Z/ Directory, Terms & Conditions, Accessibility, Investor relations, Careers, About us. This is permanent in the layout as well.

The homepage is vibrant in the sense that the skin changes according to seasons or new promotions, hence it appeals to viewers. Yet the webpage is kept simple so information is easily deciphered.

Strengths

They have clear and comprehensive phraseology and presentation throughout the website. Be it guides on how to start a member account or instructions on how to handle the clothing or their delivery or returns policy. The payment is safe and secure as well.

When viewing a product under the sub-categories, column B’s content will change to show sizes, colours, prices, brands, styles or celebrity styles where you can select and it will only show you your selections. Furthermore, instead of viewing the products of each sub-category page by page (i.e. at most 20 styles per page) you can actually select to view all the styles at one go. With these options, viewers can easily compare and view the range of products at a glance. Upon the selection of the merchandise, we can view the item at all angles (front, back and sides) thanks to the availability of a video which plays a model doing a catwalk with the product on; We can even zoom in to view the details of the merchandise with greater clarity. The images are of great quality and may even be viewed in the colours available for it. There is also a detailed size guide available so it solves the problem of not being able to try the products on physically. Despite the vast amount of information displayed, the webpage loads at a remarkably fast speed.

Being able to browse through the products at such great detail prevents the "lost in the shop" syndrome which some shoppers might experience where they would not know where to start looking first in an outlet store. This saves e-shoppers a lot of time and effort. Shoppers do not have to squeeze in the crowds and do not have to wait for the sales assistant to check for the availability of whatever you may require. Such services are made available through the selections method mentioned above where you may do it with just a click. Just like the service you receive when you shop physically, they also have recommendations to go with the selected item. For example, they provide recommended accessories, handbags, shoes, etc for the whole look.

In addition to that, they even have a sub-category catered to the price-sensitive consumers, the clearance section! And what any shoppers hate the most when there is a clearance is to have to squeeze in crowds packed like sardines in a can. But this is obviously avoided and shoppers may shop in comfort just that they have to check the website frequently as products are swept away quickly in that section.

In essence, it is hassle-free.

Suggestions for Improvement

Minor problem faced at the Sign up stage, the billing address upon the confirmation did not state if the telephone number needs to include the country code, which a conscientious shopper maybe concerned.

In addition, despite the currency option being available, the sum of items in the invoice of the overall bill is still shown and calculated in Sterling pounds. Also, there are only 5 other currency options in their homepage (i.e. USD, SEK, NOK, DKK and EUR). If they do intend to reach out globally or to more of the Asian countries, we suggest that they might want to include more currency options so that it would be more user-friendly to Asians.

Special Highlights

The Complete the Look section to the right of each products view is a great service offered to shoppers where it recommends matching products to the item you are viewing. They have even gone the extra mile in their service to categorize their clothes to the various styles of the celebrities. Thus, giving their customers more varieties to suit their preference and this is a service that is not given on the other virtual fashion or clothing storefronts.

Under the Accessibility link under label G, viewers can see their accessibility statement where ASOS strives to provide the best online shopping experience they can give to shoppers.

The Career link also under G expresses their expectations in their employees and also what developments they provide for their staffs. Their values and their website deeply convey their passion for this industry as they relentless seek to push boundaries with their innovation and at the same time providing marvelous services.

Critical Analysis

We can see that ASOS is constantly improving over the years and has become a highly developed website. Many areas have been improved on, for example the size guide which use to be brief, added the currency options to cater to diversified shoppers, a new main category Red where it has discounts on popular brands, etc. ASOS do have the factors that can make them an internationally renowned brand. That will be after they have secured shoppers from the US and European regions (which they are doing currently), Asia will probably be their next target.

ASOS do have a logo to represent themselves but we feel that the impression made it not impactful enough. Nike has their famous tick, Abercrombie & Fitch with a Moose, MacDonald’s celebrated letter M, etc. We feel that they might be more recognized should they have a more distinct logo of their own.

References

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASOS.com

Images in courtesy of asos.com