Internet for Business module assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Internet for Business module assignment - Essay Example To add to their product offering, ASOS began to sell shoes, accessories, beauty products as well as jewellery in 2004. In the same year they were named as the second online clothing store by Hitwise magazine after Next ("ASOS: Unique enough to outlast competition", 2005). Steadily, the sales of ASOS grew. Their biggest sale was recorded from November to December of 2005. This resulted to an increase in the operating profit of the company. A seventy-one point seven percent increased was noted, which resulted to 1.1M operating profit in 2004-2005. In the table below, it is noticeable that the growth of ASOS came only in the years 2004-2005 when there group operating margin was recorded at eight point two and seven point nine respectively ("ASOS: Unique enough to outlast competition", 2005). However, it was the company's belief that the sales could have been higher if only some problems were quickly resolved. One of those problems was the warehousing problem. The number of orders that flooded ASOS during the holiday season of 2004 required them to ship around 2,000 to 3,000 orders per day ("ASOS: Unique enough to outlast competition", 2005). ... In addition, any of the items that ASOS were not offered during that season. After the rush of Christmas shopping subsided, many items were not sold and this resulted to a loss in full price sales opportunity. Since the items left in the warehouse ware already out of season, ASOS did not have any other choice but to offer them at discounted price early in 2005. This loss is noticeable in the table presented above. In 2004, the group-operating margin of ASOS was at eight point two percent, while its group-operating margin for the following year was only at seven point nine. ASOS Objectives Being both in the fashion and retail industry, ASOS needs to be able to meet the requirements of both industries in order to succeed. In relation to the fashion industry, ASOS must ensure that the items they are offering are in season. Being up to date, when it comes to the latest styles, is crucial for the case of ASOS. This is due to the fact that they are capitalizing on the trends that celebrities start (eMarketer, 2000). If ASOS is able to maintain this ability then the retail industry requirement can also be meet since trendy or in season clothes are more profitable than those that are not. This has been proven in the case stated earlier where ASOS had to sell out of season clothing at a discounted price. With this in mind, it is the objective of ASOS to offer and deliver the trendiest in season collection to their customers. Another objective of ASOS is to provide a pleasant online shopping experience to their customer. It is important to associate shopping with being online for ASOS' case. It is a fact that being physically involved in shopping brings about a different experience compared to