Internet and Brand Outreach UK Case Study 2022

Running head: INTERNET AND BRAND OUTREACH
Internet and Brand Outreach
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INTERNET AND BRAND OUTREACH1
Right from sharing the images of campaigns to the controversy-courting catwalk
shows, internet and the online cultures has shaped the modern people’s reaction to fashion. It
can be said that internet has simply reacted with the fashion in order to transform the whole
fashion industry. Social media, in many ways, is democratising the fashion and is creating a
space for the online brands to cater to and flourish the incredible tastes of the customers. This
further has “opened up what was once a closed elite industry” (Rocamora 2017). This essay
shall elaborate on presenting a brief discussion on the topic- “Internet and Brand Outreach”,
while using different case studies of the UK’s fashion retailers. The main purpose of this
essay to analyse the influence of internet on the contemporary fashion retailers and their
overall business.
It is to note that the UK’s fashion industry plays a crucial part and contribute
significantly in the economy of the country. In the year 2017, it was about 29 billion pounds
(Ozdamar-Ertekin 2017). The two major reasons behind the growing demand for the clothing
that is made in UK are the increased awareness and the growing population. Over the past
five years, UK’s fashion sector has notably transformed and grown and at present, it is
considered to be the home to some of the top fashion designers of the world. According to the
recent data, at present, about 555,000 people are employed on the fashion retail and the
textile industry of United Kingdom and at the same time, majority of the jobs in the fashion
industries a are in the retail selling of clothing. This is why, the industry is highly important
for the economic growth and development of the nation. However, currently, the internet
revolution, along with social media is making the things easier for the fashion retailers of
UK. With the growth popularity of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc., customers
have changed their buying behaviour (Ashley and Tuten 2015). Both convenience and speed
have become more crucial for the modern customers and majority of them prefer shopping
sitting at their own place without much hassle of visiting stores. This is leading the fashion

INTERNET AND BRAND OUTREACH2
retailers to introduce their personal websites where they showcase all their products to the
customers to purchase and make transactions through their respective websites (Nadeem et al.
2015). This is further benefitting the brands while extending their opportunities for positive
brand experience, engagement, and customer outreach. It is also to note that the total online
spending of the UK population has reached to 19.73 billion Euros in the year 2019, which is
very high as compared to that it was in 2014 (13.81 billion Euros) (Martin, Mortimer and
Andrews 2015).
Case study of asos.com- asos.com is considered to be one of the leading online
fashion stores for men and women in UK. It was launched in the year 2000 and targets the
people from belonging to age range of 16 to 34 years (Drew and Sinclair 2015). There are
more than 9k products available for its customers on asos.com that they can access any time
of the day and about 450 new fashion items are added to the website each week. They include
menswear, jewellery, beauty products, women’s fashion and accessories. It is also to mention
that the brand attracts more than three million of unique shoppers each month and has more
than 1.8 million registered users. However, as stated by Learner and Storper (2014) “an
online service of this scale requires a substantial background operation to fulfil orders and to
provide customer service”. Just 5 years ago, the brand used to have just 550 square meters of
warehouse space. At present, for meeting the increasing demands, asos.com presently has
32,500 square meters of the warehouse space, equal to five football grounds. It is to note that
asos.com has started using internet as its primary tool for growth. It has tapped into a highly
expanding online retail market. It is to note that asos.com targets its offer at a particular
market segment of the young fashion-conscious consumers (belonging from the age range 16
to 34) (Chamberlain et al. 2017). Its total market segment now comprise of 20% of the total
internet shopping population in United Kingdom. As per Wu et al. (2015), the women who
are from the age range of 20 to 24 are more possibly than the other segment for spending

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their money on the footwear and clothing. The average spending per customer on clothing
has increased significantly for the part of asos.com as it offers a wide and extensive range of
products for the women and men, covering footwear, accessories, brand clothing etc.
Clothing ranges of the brand cater the narrow market segments. For example, for the petite
women. With the same, the company also entered into several collaborations with the
designer labels. Its online presence has also helped the company to provide some well-known
brands that appeal the modern customers and some of the examples of these brands include
Adidas, Fred Perry, Diesel, French Connection etc.
However, it is to mention asos.com would not have developed and grown so speedily
if it would have failed to offer pleasurable shopping experience to its customers. The
company ensured that its website is successfully offering something of real value to all its
customer that they could not obtain by visiting a shop or a store. It provided them with
convenience, competitive prices, interesting styles, choice and all of them complemented
with high customer service like reliable delivery, order tracking facility, online transaction
service, size and colour options, and wide range of brands to choose from and prompt
(Ashley and Tuten 2015). Along with this, it also did high investment in its website as well as
its underpinning technology. All these has positively impacted the brand experience of
asos.com’s customers.
Case study of Boohoo- Since the launch of Boohoo in the year 2006, the in-house
designing team of the company has created some directional collections that not only just
combined that incredible value, but also the cutting edge style (Sobande 2019). Thousands
new pieces of products are uploaded by Boohoo every week, along with recommendations
from the stylists, all available with exactly next day and the international delivery, bringing
out the latest styles and fashion direct to the door of the customers. The website of the
company include menswear, jewellery, beauty products, women’s fashion and accessories. It