Asos is using marketplace technology to expand its ‘partner fulfils’ programme, as it continues its strategy of reducing the amount of stock it holds in its warehouses.
The fast fashion retailer is working with the Mirakl marketplace platform to expand the programme through which brands fulfil orders placed on the Asos website and app directly. The approach both enables Asos to offer a wider range of its partner brands’ products for sale – without in-stock issues – and to reduce the amount of inventory it has to hold itself.
Currently, Asos works with 23 brands in the UK and Europe that fulfil orders directly – up from two at the outset. Now it says the use of Mirakl technology means it will be able to add more brands more easily, including localising its range in key territories by working with smaller partners.
Cliff Cohen, chief technology officer at Asos, says: “The Partner Fulfils programme is a key tool to enable us to offer our customers better product availability and product width, with minimal impact on our own supply chain operations. Mirakl was the obvious choice for us as a partner that has the expertise and first-class technology we need to power a fully flexible partner fulfilment system together with key fashion brands.”
Sophie Marchessou, executive vice president customer success at Mirakl, says: “Partner Fulfils is key to Asos’ ambition to grow internationally while delivering highly localised customer experiences. We are delighted to be able to support them with our expertise and marketplace technology to diversify and strengthen their supply chain and better serve their customers.”
The announcement comes soon after Asos and Secret Sales announced a partnership that will help the retailer clear excess stock, reducing the level of markdowns that it makes.
The fast fashion retailer said last week that it will use the marketplace to meet its plans, set out at the time of its full-year results in October, to right size its stock portfolio.
In October the retailer reported growing revenues of £3.9bn but a bottom line pre-tax loss of £31.9m in the year to August 31 2022, and said that its operations needed to become more efficient after years of high growth. It said it would write off stock worth between £100m to £130m in order to reduce costs and to increase its logistical flexibility, while changing the way that it holds stock. It envisaged holding less stock in its fulfilment centres through steps including working on a ‘partner fulfils’ basis with more brands, while also introducing more ways to clear products earlier in their lifecycle. That, it said, would reduce markdowns and increase the proportion of full-price sales.
Asos will start to sell through Secret Sales with up to 1,000 products from its in-house brands including Asos Design, Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge. It then plans to refresh its inventory every fortnight while increasing the choice available.
Asos is ranked Top500 in RXUK Top500 research.
