Retail Theory and Practice: A Case Study of ASOS Plc

Retail theory and practice
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Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Introduction to the Company:......................................................................................................3
Relevant changes within the retail businesses: Macro environment...........................................3
PESTLE analysis: .............................................................................................................4
Relevant changes within the retail businesses: micro environment.............................................5
Strategies and tactics that can be used by ASOS Plc:..................................................................6
Recommendations:.......................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Retailing refers to the sale of goods or the services from a business to a consumer for
their own use. It is the sale made to the end consumer of the product. A retail business handles
the small quantities of goods which are sold to the ultimate consumer (Souiden, Ladhari and
Chiadmi, 2019.). A fashion retail is that part of retailing which acts as an intermediary between
the manufacturer and the ultimate consumer. ASOS Plc is a British retailer which is specialized
in fashion clothes, accessories, shoes, jewellery and the Cosmetics products most of which are
under its own label. It operates on digital platforms (ASOS plc, ASOS.L, 2021). This report will
discuss the key changes within the UK fashion retail, the relevant changes of retail industry
within its macro and micro environment with the help of PESTEL analysis. The strategies and
tactics that company can use to address the issues by providing some recommendation will also
be explained.
Introduction to the Company:
ASOS Plc is an online fashion and cosmetic retailer who ships its products to around 196
countries across the globe. It operates as an investment company who is engaged in online
retailing. ASOS stands for As Seen On Screen which distinguishes it from the other competitors.
The company sells over 65000 branded products as well as with their own range of clothing and
accessories. It offers women's wear, men's wear, jewellery, accessories, footwear and other
beauty collections. The company uses the tag line of “Buy what you see on TV and films”. It is
one of the leading online fashion platform and it is listed in one of the top five online stores in
the clothing and shoe segments. The company use online business model and caters to a global
audience only (ASOS Plc., 2021).
Company offers thousands of high street, designer and vintage products with addition to
its won brand fashion and beauty products, which the company supplies from the manufacturing
countries all around the world. Its prime target customers are the population between 20-30 years
of age. The company is engaged in charities too. It donated 100% of its lipstick sales profits to
charity.
Relevant changes within the retail businesses: Macro environment
Every market influences changes with the passage of time. The UK retailing sector have
also seen such changes. The companies involved in fashion retailing sector needs to under the
changing dynamics of market and focus more on offering the products and services to the
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customers which the customers want (Tuan and Tram, 2021). As a part of UK retail company
ASOS have also been influenced by such changes. The company have undergone some drastic
changes to survive in the market. To understand more about these changes the PESTEL analysis
of ASOS is as below:
PESTLE analysis:
PESTLE can provide the details about the upcoming and current external environmental
challenges (Perera, 2017). These factors can help the company in operating hose challenges in
macro environment.
Political factors: Political factors are the changes implemented by the government that can affect
the working of a business. ASOS is operating in almost 196 countries and that put it on an
political environment risk. The implementation of Brexit policy and various other digital sales
tax policies in the country as affected the sales of the ASOS plc. The company is continuously
reviewing its prices and prepositions to make sure that they can provide competitive prices on all
the brands and offer the best services.
Economic factors: The economic factors like COVID-19 global pandemic have put the economy
on high alert and instability. The pandemic, poor weather and dented market demands have
slowed the sales of the company. However, the company offers sale on online platform which
helped it in trading through the pandemic lockdown while the physical stores were forced to
stop. The labour market conditions also affect the company. ASOS should analyse the
availability of human capital prior to take advantages when the markets are flexible.
Social factors: Social factors refers to the factors related to population and customer
demographics which can affect the business (Aithal, 2017). The company's presence on social
media have proved to be a great advantage as the shop-able social media posts are gaining huge
popularity. Social media's have helped the company in forecasting the demands of its customers.
ASOS should analyse the demographic features in choosing the right market segment with high
growth potential.
Technological factors: The factors related to technology and innovations are included in
technological environment. The constant changes in technology and the rise of digital platforms
in the market have affected the company on another level. The company needs to consider the
investments made by its competitors like Zara and Boohoo to understand the technological
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