Asos has now launched an Australian version of their online retail website. It’s not massively different to their UK version with the main differences being that prices are now all in Australian dollars and returns are to a Sydney address not the UK.
Any clothing retailers that knew Asos would be launching should have been studying their site to see why they were popular and what changes they needed to make to their own site in order to remain competitive. It seems that hasn’t happened. Not yet anyway.
Being a pure-play online retailer means that Asos approach to their website is a lot sharper and more focussed on customer service than many bricks and mortar retailers who happen to also sell online.
What makes them so different? The key differential is that they are trying to create an offline experience through their website. They aren’t supplementing their retail outlets with an online site, their website is it, their only opportunity to make a sale and it shows.
What are the differences that sets Asos website apart from the traditional retailers’ sites?
- They have product care information – they explicitly state how to care for each item because they know customers can’t just look at the label themselves
- They offer multiple photos for each item – front, back and close up – all on a model. It’s important to see the shape of an item which is what you get when a product is photographed laid flat but customers also want to see how it falls and how it looks on.
- They say what size and height the model is that is wearing the item in the photos which lets customers see the length of an item and again how it fits, even if they aren’t the same size as a model. In some instances, they advise the product length, for example, they provide the inside leg measurement for trousers and jeans.
- They have a range of filters that can be applied making it easy to sort by colour, by product type, by brand, price range, style (things like sleeve length, skirt style, jeans style etc) making it easier for the visitor to see exactly what is on offer and find what they want quickly.
- Images are available for each colour choice.
- Where more than one colour choice is available for an item this is stated on the overall product page – in other words a customer doesn’t need to click on a choice to see what, if any, other colours are available, they can see immediately when a product is displayed if different colours are available.
- ‘Catwalk’ option allows customer to see the item modelled in a short video which again illustrates how the item looks when its being worn.
The emphasis is on making every effort to ensure customers are comfortable with their purchase before they buy. They know they don’t have a retail experience to fall back on. While bricks and mortar retailers seem to assume that customers supplement their offline purchases with online, that isn’t always going to be the case. This is especially true for interstate or country web visitors.
How does your favorite online retail store measure up?