ASOS (retailer)

ASOS was established on 3 June 2000, by Nick Robertson,[7] Andrew Regan,[9] Quentin Griffiths and Deborah Thorpe. In 2001, ASOS was admitted to the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on the London Stock Exchange.[10] In 2003, ASOS shareholders agreed to change the names of AsSeenOnScreen Holdings PLC and AsSeenOnScreen Limited to ASOS plc and ASOS.com Limited. In 2004, the company reported a maiden profit, with sales almost doubling in its first half.[11] In 2004, ASOS introduced their own label for women's clothing.[11]

In 2005, the Buncefield Fuel Depot explosion led to the closure of the business for six weeks and £5m of stock was lost.[12] In 2008, ASOS debuted kidswear on its site, however the branded market subsequently suffered declines at the expense of fast-growing own-label kidswear offers. In 2010, ASOS announced it would no longer offer kidswear, to concentrate on its core young adult fashion market.[13]

In the final quarter of 2010, ASOS launched three international online shops in France, Germany and the US. In November 2010, ASOS launched its marketplace platform for boutiques, vintage collectors, individuals and designers to trade from virtual market stalls to customers globally.[14]

In September 2011, they launched three more sites in Australia, Italy and Spain.[15] In 2012, ASOS opened its first international office in Sydney, Australia, followed by an office in New York.[16] Later on, the company launched its first drama-game show series, called #DIGIDATING, starring AJ Odudu. It was billed as an Internet dating show with backstage drama.[17]

In 2013, ASOS opened its first office outside the South East, in Birmingham.[18] Later in 2013, ASOS recalled belts contaminated with radioactive cobalt-60.[19] ASOS Russia and China were launched in the same year.[7] In 2014, a fire in their Barnsley warehouse caused them to stop taking orders for almost three days.[20][21] During the 2014 Formula One season, ASOS was a sponsor of the McLaren Formula One team.[22][23] In 2015, ASOS had over 4,000 employees and was the UK's largest independent online and fashion beauty retailer.[24]

In September 2016, an investigative report from Buzzfeed News alleged poor working conditions at ASOS' warehouse. However, company spokespersons contended that the isolated complaints reported in the Buzzfeed article were not reflective of the general working conditions there.[25][26]

In April 2019, ASOS informed its clients through email that the company is looking into ways of changing its easy returns policy, after research showed customers were manipulating the easy return process. The company also admitted that the previous return policy was environmentally costly.[27]

In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, ASOS was accused by some staff and workers unions of "playing Russian roulette with people’s lives" by failing to adequately enforce preventative measures in their Grimethorpe, Barnsley site.[28][29][30] It was claimed that the warehouse staff could not safely operate whilst maintaining social distancing, that the staff felt unsafe and that ASOS's product was not actually essential, thus not meeting the UK Government's recommendation that only essential workplaces remain open.[31] The company refuted these claims, claiming they had sufficiently changed their operation to comply, Barnsley Council also inspected the site and found that the company was complying.[32]

In October 2020, ASOS Marketplace announced that it would not be charging commission rates on small business transactions to provide support through COVID-19 pandmemic for sellers. [33]

In February 2021 it was announced that ASOS was to acquire the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands from collapsed Philip Green's Arcadia Group. On the 4th February the three former Arcadia Group brands became wholly owned subsidiaries of ASOS along with 300 head office staff members from Arcadia and Topshop/Topman Limited. ASOS has noted that they are not against retaining the iconic 214 Oxford Street Topshop/Topman store. However, CEO Nick Beighton noted to the press that ASOS is "not a store business" and that it was not a priority for ASOS at the current moment.