Asos Rewards loyalty and engagement programme to be rolled out

Asos Rewards is designed to build engagement with consumers as well as encourage spending.

Users are rewarded for interacting with the brand, for instance, by posting an ‘As seen on me’ picture of themselves on social media, to win privileges such as free next-day delivery and birthday discounts.

Retailers are increasingly seeking to build more personal relationships with customers in the hope that deeper understanding will result in an enhanced relationship, greater loyalty and willingness to spend.

Marks & Spencer last week unveiled its Sparks membership programme as part of a drive to better engage with customers.

Asos Rewards was piloted among thousands of UK customers and will be rolled out nationwide during the next six months. It will likely be launched in international markets too.

The provision of ‘engaging content and experience’ is one of Asos’s four strategic pillars, alongside others such as ‘great fashion, great price’ and ‘awesome on mobile’.

Full-year results

Details of the roll-out came as Asos issued full-year results.

Full-year pre-tax profits edged up 1% to £47.5m as the etailer invested in its customer proposition, warehousing and staff.

UK retail sales jumped 27% and international retail sales increased 11% in the year to August 31. Total retail sales grew 17% to £1.12bn during the period.

Chief executive Nick Beighton, who took over from founder Nick Robertson after he stepped down in September, said the results “show encouraging progress”.

He said: “We are attracting more customers with a continued expansion of our delivery proposition and mobile offerings. Customer engagement has been exceptionally strong, with increases in average order frequency, basket size and value.”

During the year Asos invested £50m in its warehousing and technology and expects to invest a further £80m in the current financial year.

The investments drove down gross profit margins by 10 basis points, although that was offset by stronger full price sales and less reliance on promotions.

Active customers increased by 13% to 9.9 million over the year.

Sales at Asos have been driven by adoption of mobile technology. At the year-end nearly 60% of the retailer’s traffic came from mobile and 44% of orders were placed on mobile devices.