It was once the go-to fashion website for millennials - saving them from a chaotic Saturday at the local shopping centre, where they'd try, and likely fail, to find a last-minute outfit for their fast-approaching night out.
But ASOS was the solution, often holding the answer to any fashionista's prayer - with an overwhelming amount of stock, fast deliveries and easy returns.
However, it's popularity in the 2010s has seemingly run its course. Sales dropped by nearly a fifth in its first half, as the strugglingonline retailer ramped-up discounts in efforts to reduce stock levels.
ASOS, which is clearing stock as it transitions to a new operating model from next year, saw revenues fall by around 18 per cent in the six months to 3 March, worse than market forecasts of a 13.5 per cent drop.
The London-listed company blamed the fall on overhaul efforts, having cut its stock in-take by about 30 per cent year-on-year to 'right size' stock levels and despite the sales plummeting,Asos sharesrose by 5.6 per cent to 365.4p as the retailer maintained guidance for the year.
One TikToker who goes by @thethriftythinker asked 'Is this the end of Asos?'
But in November, the fashion firm reported a 10 per cent drop in turnover to £3.55billion as cost-of-living pressures led to its young consumer base cutting back on clothing purchases.
Revenues in the UK were further affected by poor summer weather and substantial discounting by rivals, which are also attempting to clear excess stock.
Here, FEMAIL reveals where it's seemingly going wrong for ASOS - from designs that are 'too youthful' for its millennial customers and competition from SHEIN.
DESIGNS TOO YOUTHFUL FOR MILLENNIALS
After a brief scroll through ASOS, the clothing trends booming among Generation Z, from extra short crop tops to mini cargo skirts and longline shorts, will quickly become apparent.
While these styles, however short or daring, will likely appeal to the Gen Z demographic, they are unlikely to do so for millennials.
ASOS has seemingly geared its designs exclusively towards young people, meaning they've effectively minimised choice for 30 to 40-year-olds and, therefore, likely reduced the appeal of its website.
And while ASOS's collections, such as ASOS Design, are geared towards Generation Z, a significant portion of the labels stocked on the website follow a similar objective.
With brands such as Jaded London, Juicy Couture, and The Ragged Priest taking spots on the website, the target audience exclusively seems to be fresh-faced teenagers searching for extra short mini skirts and diamante-encrusted tracksuits.
Another, who goes by @catherinejade901, explained that she's having issues with ASOS at the moment
As a result, the generation that initially shopped at ASOS in its heyday has undergone a style evolution with age that the platform appears to have failed to accommodate.
Millennial consumers, therefore, no doubt feel they are left with little choice but to look elsewhere for designs appropriate to their age group.
The brand further isolates millennials by showcasing their designs exclusively on Gen Z stars, adding reason for them to think that their clothes are indeed only for the younger demographics.
For example, their most recent campaign, Unreal Finds, employed TikTok-famous influencer Madeline Argy, who grasps a teenage demographic but is practically unknown by older social media users who choose platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
GEN ZS PREFER SHEIN
TikToker Alex Gray complained that the quality of ASOS products was poor and on par with Boohoo
Despite ASOS pulling out all the stops to attract a Gen Z audience, from teenage influencers to youthful designs, it seems to have struggled to secure their interest.
Pippa Stephens, senior apparel analyst at Global Data, saidit's because they're flocking to more affordable options, according to JustStyle.
She said: 'Alongside the ongoing inflationary pressures, the retailer has seen its Gen Z customers shift towards more agile and affordable competitors like SHEIN.'
SHEIN is popular with Gen Z audiences thanks to following and responding to trends at lightning speed, all while keeping its prices low.
It's a feat that ASOS has been unable to keep up with, and while they release collections, such as Collusion, geared towards a Gen Z audience, the designs often come in at a slower rate than competitors.
On top of this, once ASOS comes around to introduce trending items, they sell at a higher price compared to its competitors.
SHEIN deliveries take about eight days, but its Gen Z fan base seems sanguine. The brand offers prices such as a dress for £4.24 from Missguided, the UK business that the company bought last year from Mike Ashley's Frasers Group.
Such rock bottom prices have assured Shein's ascent under its secretive founder Sky Xu. Sales rose from $1.3billion in 2018 to $22.7billion in 2022, accelerated by the pandemic shift to online shopping.
In a video, thethriftythinker account explained that ASOS is struggling because people are turning away from online shopping and returning to the High Street
A figure of $60billion is projected for 2025, explaining why Chinese fashion brand SHEIN has caused disarray at ASOS and Boohoo, the UK's top fast fashion names.
Now, ASOS is making changes to be more agile and quick to jump on fashion trends, with moves to bring 'high-fashion product from design to site in two to three weeks, increasing our agility in responding to rapidly evolving customer demand'.
Jose Antonio Ramos Calamonte, chief executive of ASOS, said: 'ASOSis becoming a faster and more agile business, aided by the incredible work of our teams to speed up all of our processes to deliver the fashion, quality and prices that our customers want, when they want it.
'I'm excited by the performance of our new collections, while we have also made great progress in monetising inventory that built up over the pandemic and in improving the core profitability of our operations.'
SHOPPERS FATIGUED BY CHOICE OVERLOAD
One of the reasons ASOS has seemingly lost its fast-fashion crown to SHEIN could be because of the overwhelming amount of choice customers have to deal with when using its platform.
When it first began, ASOS waspioneering with the number of options it had on offer for its fans - but now, thatavailability has resulted in 'fatigue' for shoppers.
Searching for a little black dress on ASOS will get a customer 5,438 styles, with 14 filters to confuse the research further.
But on SHEIN, for instance, looking for a 'black dress' will lead shoppers to a filter section where options are narrowed down into easy-to-pick-from sections, all illustrated with a helpful image.
A 2018 study revealed customers can suffer with 'choice overload', after finding that people struggle to make decisions when they are given too many options because their brains don't want to put the effort in.
The mind's decision-making system is based on getting the best reward for the least work, scientists claimed.
California Institute of Technology researchers mapped exactly what happened to the brain when a decision is made.
Too many choices leaves the brain with too much work to make it worth the pay-off, whereas not enough makes it less likely the reward will be as good, the researchers said.
Study author Professor Camerer's findings were published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
Alex Gray told her viewers on TikTok why ASOS profits are going down the drain, also citing poor quality
TOPSHOP 'FAILURE'
When ASOS bought Topshop in 2021, it seemed to suggest that the popular brand believed it could revive the millennial-loved label enough to ensure it was once again a staple of wardrobes across the country.
But in October 2023, it was reported by Sky News that ASOS was exploring a sale of its Topshop brand - after it failed to reach the successes it used to enjoy (including a feature on theLondon Fashion Week schedule).
Growth eventually decreased in the UK andflopped in North America, according to The Guardian.
The report said that, according to City sources, it was unclear whether any talks were already taking place with potential buyers.
An ASOS spokesman told Sky at the time: 'ASOS as a policy does not comment on rumour or speculation.'
The British online retailer bought the Topshop brand from the administrators of Philip Green's collapsed Arcadia group, along with its Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands for £265million.
ONLINE-ONLY SHOPPING IS OUT OF FASHION
In November, it was reported that there aregrowing signs that sales at online-only companies like ASOS and Boohoo may have peaked as customers return to the high street.
Internet shopping boomed during the pandemic when lockdowns shut non-essential shops and working from home saw demand for new clothes, especially dresses and suits, fall off a cliff.
But the end of Covid curbs has seen a reversal of fortunes, with high street stalwarts such as Next and Marks & Spencer enjoying a significant revival.
These companies have been more successful at balancing online sales through apps and websites with having bricks-and-mortar stores.
It came after Next increased its full-year profits guidance – its fourth such upgrade in six months – while ASOS said it was mothballing a giant warehouse as sales slumped and losses spiralled towards £300 million.
Experts told This is Money that clothing retailers are having to adapt to the shifting behaviour of customers.
'The way people shop has changed,' said Tamara Sender, fashion and retail director at research group Mintel.
'While there has been a shift back to visiting stores to buy clothes and footwear in the last year, heightened engagement with online has persisted.
'People are using smartphones to check stock availability and compare prices whilst browsing in a physical store,' she added. 'Consequently, more retailers are moving towards a hybrid approach.'
Catherine Jade also complained about the quality of the products sold on ASOS
The comments came after online womenswear retailer Sosandar unveiled plans to open physical shops for the first time. The Aim-listed company noted that around 60 per cent of sales in the £55 billion clothing market are still in-store, with the rest online.
'Our customers like shopping online and they like going to the shops so we've got to do both,' said co-founder Ali Hall.
Analysts say established retailers are well placed to benefit as shopping habits change. Next noted that online sales had risen by 6.5 per cent in the three months to October compared to last year, while store sales dipped 0.6 per cent due to unseasonably warm weather.
UNDER FIRE OVER 'GREENWASHING'
Last month, ASOS joined Asda and Boohoo in promisingto ensure customers are given accurate information about how environmentally friendly their clothes are after a 20-month regulatory probe.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had secured agreements from the three companies that commit them to informing their customers properly in the future.
The CMA launched an investigation into potential greenwashing at the firms in the summer of 2022, claiming it was concerned some clothes in the companies' ranges did in fact not meet green criteria.
The watchdog said at the time that it might take the businesses to court if their claims did not 'stack up'.
But last month it announced it had come to an agreement whereby none of the firms admit any wrongdoing, but promise to follow a set of rules.
ASOS has a 'Responsible edit' range, Boohoo sells clothes under 'Ready for the Future', and Asda has 'George for Good'.
ASOS, Boohoo and George at Asda make over £4.4billion annually from UK fashion sales, the CMA said.
In future, the criteria for inclusion in these ranges must be 'clearly set out and detail any minimum requirements,' the CMA said.
The thrifty thinker questioned if this was the end of ASOS
It added: 'For example, if products need to contain a certain percentage of recycled fibres to be included in the range, this should be made clear.'
Going forward, products must meet all criteria to be included in one of the ranges.
The CMA said the firms must stop using terms like eco, responsible or sustainable, which are vague, and instead use words with more concrete definitions like organic or recycled.
Even then, the firms in question cannot use those words unless certain criteria are met and the proportion of recycled or organic fibres in a garment must be easily displayed.
If a company has some kind of green accreditation, it must also make it clear whether that applies to an individual product, or its wider practices.
ASOS said it welcomed the CMA's commitment to ensuring equal standards are applied across the industry.
Boohoo and Asda also said they were pleased to have mutually agreed the voluntary undertakings with the CMA.
An Asda spokesperson said: 'We have proactively engaged with the CMA throughout this process and are pleased to have mutually agreed the voluntary undertakings.
'We support any measures aimed at improving consumers' understanding of environmental claims and providing clear and consistent guidelines to the fashion industry as a whole regarding the future use of such claims.'
CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said: 'Following our action, the millions of people who shop with these well-known businesses can now have confidence in the green claims they see. This also marks a turning point for the industry.
'The commitments set a benchmark for how fashion retailers should be marketing their products, and we expect the sector as a whole – from high street to designer brands – to take note and review their own practices.'
The regulator has issued an open letter to the sector advising all fashion retailers to review their claims and practices.
Regulators are increasing scrutiny of companies which may be exaggerating their green credentials in an attempt to woo climate-conscious consumers, as well as billions of dollars from environmentally focused investor funds.
