![]() Surprisingly though, there wasn’t an explicit callout on returns when the presentation discussed new goals. The retailer’s latest results presentation (May 10th 2023) acknowledged that a small share of the customer base (6% of active shoppers) has a massively detrimental impact on profits, costing ASOS more than £100m in the half year, thanks to a toxic combination of high activity, “reliance on discounted product”, and “high return rate”. But, as we’ve seen with Premier delivery and the added asterisk of minimum order value, there’s room in ASOS’ philosophy to adapt its stance on returns to tackle edge cases that impact profitability. Despite the rise in return rates, ASOS has stood behind the statement that returns will remain free, for everyone. The other factor worth bearing in mind is that in a cost-conscious environment, returns rates typically creep up, something ASOS itself has already acknowledged, stating that return rates ‘have increased from May 2022 to levels close to pre-pandemic’ in its October 2022 annual report. Whilst online growth was booming, retailers were happy to accept this cost of returns as part of the online model, but as growth has slowed, we’ve seen big names like Boohoo and Zara introduce a charge for online returns for the first time within the last year. However, returns remain a fundamental issue for online retailers as a result of shipping costs, reprocessing costs, and the reduced value of returned items in a world of seasonal & fast-moving fashion cycles. ![]() If that happens, carriers and logistics providers should expect their merchant customers to be seeking help on returns too – and they’ll need sophisticated solutions to the returns challenge they find themselves in.Īs recently as June 2022, ASOS said “free returns are a core part of the ASOS offer and there are no plans to change this approach”. We see this change to the Premier delivery offering as a perfect exemplifier of a broader strategic shift from ASOS that makes us even more confident our prediction will come true. Premier subscribers will still receive standard delivery for free, no matter the basket size, but for orders under £15, shoppers will need to pay an additional £5.95 charge for next-day delivery.Īt the start of the year, we predicted that ASOS would make some changes to its return policy, moving away from the ‘free for everyone’ promise it publicly made and charging for at least some of its returns. ![]() UK fast-fashion ecommerce leader ASOS recently announced plans to alter the terms of its Premier next-day delivery subscription by increasing the minimum spend for eligibility from £10 to £15.
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