ASOS boosted their digital marketing spend to raise brand awareness and increase traffic throughout lockdown. The fashion retailer raised its marketing spend to £108.9m over the 6 month period, £40m more than the previous year and boy did it show in their record results!
The brand is typically focused on buy now wear now products, a category that has been down since March 2020. However, they quickly expand their product categories, making a quick shift to meet consumer demands. With the trend changing from going out to staying home, the company made a pivot from selling fashion-forward products to categories such as activewear. The lockdown merchandise categories performed well including face and body up 114%, and with activewear and casual wear up 95% and 69% respectively.
By increasing its marketing spend in response to changing consumer behaviour as a result of the pandemic, the business aimed to raise awareness of the brand, drive customer acquisition and engagement, and increase traffic to the platform, prioritising its budget on “more efficient” digital and social channels.
“The last 12 months have taught us a lot and we have refocused how we do business which has triggered greater innovation from our teams.” – Nick Beighton, CEO.
ASOS achieved record sales in the six months to 28th February, capitalising on the Covid-driven shift towards online retail. The company’s sales soared by 24%, compared to the same period in 2020, reaching just under £2 billion in revenue with a gross profit of £890m.
The U.K.-based online fashion retailer experienced the strongest growth of 46% in its home country, with Europe and the U.S. markets up 18% and 16% respectively. Customer growth is also up 12% with an increase of 1.5 million new customers since the previous year, this was likely helped by their recent acquisition of Topshop, Miss Selfridge and HIIT, which on Launch Day saw a 226% increase in traffic to the site.
The retailers biggest result of their financial year was the huge 275% increase in profit (before taxes) and net cash ending at more than £92m!
“These record results demonstrate the significant progress we have made against all of our strategic priorities and the strength of our execution capability.” – Nick Beighton, CEO.
ASOS is continuing to follow the trends and market towards consumers’ demands, shown in their most recent marketing strategies. They currently have a discount on “going-out garms” preparing for the countdown to pubs and clubs opening, and an ‘April 12th’ section on their site marketing towards consumer’s first day back at the pubs.
Asos has pointed to its marketing efforts as one of the key drivers behind its substantial growth in sales and active customers over the period, alongside the integration of the recently acquired Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands. The retailer also noted that it had “undoubtedly been a beneficiary” of the shift to digital shopping as physical stores were shuttered during lockdown.
Alice Baker, Digital Marketing Executive, Sierra Six Media
