Online shoppers have one unique benefit, which is access to product reviews before making a purchase.
Now, it is one thing to access product reviews, it is another for those reviews to be right. That’s because reviews are mainly based on unique interactions with a brand. And reviewers are likely to express their opinions from emotional standpoints.
How do you sort through this big mass of online reviews to get objective opinions? Trustpilot alone features more than 8,200 reviews on ASOS – comprising negative, positive, and neutral reviews on the ASOS brand.
This post adopts an objective approach to bring you all you need to know about the ASOS brand – to guide you in making informed decisions on dealing with the online retail store.
The main topics covered in our ASOS review include:
- A Brief Overview of ASOS
- About ASOS Marketplace
- Concerns Raised on Trustpilot
- Product Prices on ASOS
- Shipping and Order Deliveries
- Product Quality on ASOS
- Handling of Returns
- Pros and Cons of ASOS
- Conclusion
A Brief Overview of ASOS
ASOS is an e-commerce platform that was launched in 2000 as an online fashion store for young adults. The company which is headquartered in London has since grown to cover over 200 countries around the world.
ASOS online presence includes the online store and marketplace. While this section deals with the online store, we will cover the ASOS Marketplace later in this review.
The popularity of the ASOS brand stems from the company’s focus on high-quality products, fashion, and cosmetics that cater for young adults and a wide range of clothing, shoes, and accessories from known brands.
The product brands you are likely to find on the ASOS online store include Nike, Levi’s, Adidas, and Calvin Klein. Other popular brands are Juicy Couture and Hugo Boss. There are actually more than 850 of these brands available on the ASOS online store.
Despite its higher prices compared to other fashion stores, ASOS has continued to grow in popularity among online shoppers. The online store currently has over 19 million followers on its social media profiles, more than 4 million active customers, with 69% of its traffic coming from mobile users.
The products on sale at ASOS include clothing, shoes, suits, jeans, sneakers, sportswear, and perfumes. Thousands of these products include some of ASOS private label brands and independent boutique labels that are featured in the marketplace.
About the ASOS Marketplace
The ASOS Marketplace was kicked off in 2010 having only 20 sellers on the platform. Due to global acceptance of the quality brands and products featured on it, the marketplace has since grown. It is now arguably the number one online platform for fashion brands and also vintage boutiques.
A typical browse through the different product sections will reveal a vast array of clothing on the marketplace. It is a one-stop fashion destination for the young and trendy where you will find lots of suits, shoes, and jeans to suit different body sizes and shapes.
ASOS features products with high-quality images of its shoes and items of clothing. The product descriptions are very detailed and convincing, including sizing, measurements, and materials used. For those who are skeptical because of their body shape or sizes, ASOS includes videos of its clothes worn by models. So you can see all details of the clothes from different angles.
The ASOS online store or marketplace isn’t the place to visit if looking for cheap prices. The best that a shopper can get is a discount on products purchased. ASOS is all about quality clothes and cosmetics by quality brands.
ASOS has been a subject of reviews since its inception and has continued to attract more reviewers.
Our post is a result of carefully sifting through online reviews, to bring you objective details about ASOS. Trustpilot contains more than 8,200 of those, and from our analysis, we present you with our objective verdict. I expect to be very useful in arriving at your own decision.
Concerns Raised on Trustpilot
Like most online stores, customers always measure their experiences based on their initial expectation. And when their experiences don’t measure up, you find the customers unsatisfied. The main issues about the ASOS online store and marketplace are the prices of products. Why are the products on ASOS higher than those of typical e-commerce stores?
When I buy products from any of its stores, how long does it take for the products to be delivered to me? Why are my orders not delivered within the agreed time frame?
Other concerns center on the product quality, handling of returns, types of clothing, and refund policy.
We will cover in detail the major concerns and complaints made about ASOS.
Product Prices on ASOS
ASOS positioned its brand as an online retailer of quality fashion and cosmetics for young adults. And because of this, a low price has never been one of its selling points.
ASOS thrives on the individuality of its customers and tends to express this through its products. It believes that fashion empowers people to look, feel, and be their best at any time.
Well-known for its online promotion with the hashtag #AsSeenOnMe, customers are encouraged to snap and upload pictures of their ASOS style online. Others could find these styles on social media, share, or purchase them from ASOS.
If you are looking to get lower prices for your clothing, I suggest you look outside ASOS – except in cases where you obtain discounts on your purchases.
The theme here isn’t a focus on high prices, but on quality products for the individual.
If you fall into the category of young, trendy, fashionable, you will find ASOS your ideal fashion store.
But it isn’t all about pricing and quality of products as it is for shipping and order deliveries.
Shipping and Order Deliveries
Although the main location of ASOS headquarters is in London, the company has multiple fulfillment centers around the UK, Europe, and the United States. Orders made on the ASOS online store and marketplace are processed and shipped from these centers to customers.
ASOS has the main advantage of free shipping for shoppers who purchase its products up to a certain amount. This is a great benefit to regular shoppers who make higher purchases in the store.
To also ease the use of its platform for customers, the online retailer maintains multiple websites in some geographic locations. These country-specific sites include the United States, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Australia, UK, and Greece.
If you’re using any of these websites, the product prices are denominated in the country’s currency.
The shipping cost for products depends on the final destination. For the purpose of this review, ASOS shipping cost makes use of the United States shipping rates.
For the standard click and collect shipping, the rate is free for orders above $50 while a fee of $4.99 is charged for orders below that amount.
For the express click and collect shipping, the cost is $7.99.
ASOS claims that the delivery of its products takes between 3 to 6 business days, but there are numerous cases of orders taking as much as 2 – 3 weeks.
The company owned up to some issues with long shipping delivery, which it claims it has worked on.
ASOS offers a service called Click & Collect to facilitate order deliveries. This service comprises Standard Click & Collect, and Express Click & Collect.
ASOS Standard Click & Collect is designed to deliver orders to a UPS collection point. The time frame for Standard delivery is within 6 business days while the Express Click & Collect service delivers a customer’s order within a time frame of 2 business days.
For regular shoppers on ASOS, an ideal delivery option is the Premier Delivery Program that costs $19. Through this program, you get access to unlimited 2 days shipping the whole year.
Product Quality on ASOS
It is an established fact that the ASOS brand is founded on quality products. It remains to be seen if the online store has stayed true to that promise.
First, the feature of reputable fashion and clothing brands is a strong signal that only quality can be found on ASOS.
Secondly, is the high premium that the brand places on items used for products descriptions? The images are of high quality, and the product descriptions give you all the required details of what you are buying. For some items like suits, ASOS has videos of models displaying all the features, shapes, and sizes.
Its attention to detail indicates a brand that pays utmost attention to the quality of products.
All these positive statements come from our focus on ASOS. But let’s look at what customers are saying online about the product quality.
On Reddit, Styleforum, and Trustpilot, most reviews about the product quality were positive, while very few complained either about suit quality, or they did not fit well.
The major complaints that shoppers had about product quality was the way customer service responded. My guess is that they expected better responses from the customer service after making their complaints.
In general, ASOS maintains a high product quality for all categories of its clothing and cosmetics.
Handling of Returns
What are the issues that customers have with ASOS handling of returns?
Without trying to make a case for ASOS, most online stores are not as enthusiastic about returns as they are about new orders – while customers expect them to handle returns and new orders with the same enthusiasm.
The simple logic is that new orders put money into their pockets, while returns take money out.
An issue that aggravates most online shoppers, including those on ASOS is when they try to initiate returns. It seems like the response from the online store is taking forever, or that the shipment will never arrive.
To help you reduce the occurrence of returns, ensure you have a very good understanding of ASOS sizes. Its large size may fall under the medium category for some other retailers. Find out if what you are buying is the best fit for you, before placing that order.
ASOS provides product videos that help shoppers in deciding the right sizes and shapes of clothes. Take out time to watch the videos yourself, inspect the items on display to know if it is for you.
Without having the right info about the ASOS refund policy, you may find it impossible to get a full refund on your returns.
You can only access a full refund if you return the products within 28 days of delivery. Then ASOS makes a refund into your payment method. If the order stays longer, you will only get an ASOS gift voucher.
Also, make sure that you choose the right color and size before placing the order to avoid going through the stress of returns.
Pros and Cons of ASOS
Our ASOS review cannot be termed objective until we have looked into its pros and cons.
Pros of ASOS
- Access to thousands of high-quality clothing and cosmetic products and brands
- Great store that caters for the fashion needs of young and trendy adults
- ASOS offers free shipping for its customers that buy products to a certain amount
- The brand has a strong online presence in major social media networks through which it engages customers
- ASOS is a company that maintains a strong corporate responsibility while embracing green initiatives that are friendly to the environment
Cons of ASOS
- The prices of products on ASOS are on the high side.
Conclusion
Why was it necessary to provide you with this review on ASOS? There are thousands of reviews on Trustpilot about ASOS, both negative and positive.
ASOS is a global brand that features high-quality fashion products on its online store and marketplace. The products are designed for the young and trendy young adult.
The ASOS store features prominent brands such as Nike, Adidas, Hugo Boss, and Calvin Klein, and several other thousands.
The products on the store are displayed using great quality images, and detailed descriptions. ASOS also provides videos of models showing you details like sizes and body shape.
To enable you to have the trouble of going through returns, ensure you know the sizes of what you are buying.
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