How to sell your fashion brand to ASOS wholesale
There are 2 ways to sell your fashion brand to ASOS; via marketplace or wholesale.
Selling into ASOS marketplace can be achieved fairly easily and with less preparation than wholesale. To learn more, visit this link.
However, if you wish to sell your fashion brand to ASOS via wholesale this will take a lot more time and preparation of which I’m going to help you with.
In this post, I am going to share my wholesale trade secrets built up over 10 years of working in fashion wholesale. These secrets will teach you exactly how to sell your fashion brand to ASOS as I know exactly what they are looking for…
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To succeed you need to understand the wholesale buying calendar as timing is everything.
ASOS buying calendar differs from other platforms, as they buy to the true weather seasons as opposed to the retail seasons. Therefore ASOS seasons are:
- March – August = spring summer (SS)
- Sept – Feb = autumn winter (AW)
However other major fashion platforms like Zalando, NEXT, Selfridges, follow the traditional retail seasons, that being:
- Dec – May = spring summer (SS)
- June – Nov = autumn winter (AW)
Now you understand ASOS selling seasons, you need to know when they start planning and buying for each season.
Why? Because you need to be ready to pitch your brand to ASOS when they are planning the season to ensure you secure some wholesale budget. And you need to know when ASOS starts buying the season to ensure you reach out and book an appointment in time.
When does ASOS start planning and buying each season?
I can tell you that most platforms will start planning each season at least 6 months before that season launches and will start buying that season a minimum of 4 months before the product launches.
Looking at ASOS planning and buying timings, this is what their SS season looks like:
- SS season starts in March 2022.
- Planning will start in October 2021.
- Buying for the 1st drop (spring) will start in December 2021.
Therefore for you to sell your fashion brand to ASOS in wholesale you need to be ready to approach them and pitch your brand in October the year before you aim to gain a wholesale order.
Now you understand timings, let’s get into the nitty-gritty -> How to sell to your fashion brand to ASOS.
What are ASOS requirements for fashion brands?
Do you have 50K + IG followers?
ASOS wants to buy into brands with a presence, with a following. They are not looking for startups just breaking into the industry. Therefore before approaching ASOS for wholesale, work hard on your PR and social media strategy at least 6 months before pitching your brand. Try to increase your collaborations and product features to hit that magic number of 50K+ followers.
"To sell your fashion brand to ASOS in wholesale you need to be ready to approach them and pitch your brand in October."
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Do you have competitive price points? Are you aligned with ASOS customers’ wallet size?
ASOS is known to be a lower price point platform. Therefore if you are to pitch a higher price point product vs your competitors in that market you would need a compelling reason as to why? What makes your brand better than X and what their reason for buying you over X etc
Ahead of pitching your brand to ASOS, we suggest that you analyse your current RRP vs your ASOS competitors, to find competitive price points that still hit your profit target.
To understand this further; ASOS current ASP as of 2020 was £22.63, with an average basket size of £77.
Ask yourself – what are ASOS really looking for?
The only way to answer this is to hire inside help like a wholesale consultant, that will have insider knowledge from the buying team at ASOS. This will ensure that you have the competitive edge, as well as the right suitability for them.
Aside from this if you choose to DIY, I suggest that you follow ASOS news updates very closely for the few months prior to pitching, to ensure your brand answers to their current pain points by offering a solution.
To do this read ASOS Plc updates along with the fashion news on BOF, Guardian and Glamour.
Looking at 2021 as an example, what can the news tell us?
ASOS acquired Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Topman earlier this year. Why? Because these brands resonate strongly with ASOS loyal customer following as iconic British brands meaning ASOS can leverage this and capitalise on their continued sales.
How can you interpret this?
ASOS are clearly looking to work with known brands. Brands that are established and have a solid brand story to tell. This is what both ASOS and their loyal customers want, therefore you need to work extremely hard to build your story to convenience ASOS that you’re worth it.
The US market is a priority for ASOS.
ASOS has partnered with Nordstrom to strengthen its US presence. Therefore if you are to work with ASOS in wholesale you need to be set up and able to sell into the US.
To note ASOS is a global brand. They sell in numerous countries around the world. They are more than a British platform.
To learn more about selling into new markets like the US read this post.
ASOS actively seeks overseas talent.
ASOS started out as a British fashion platform, but that soon evolved.
Last year ASOS brand online/retail partners were a 50:50 mix of UK:International which is a huge switch.
ASOS target audience is younger than you’d think!
The ASOS customer is young, aged between 16-25 and they really focus on the younger audience when buying their wholesales buys.
Therefore you need to edit your collection to suit this audience and a way to do this is to ensure you open your lookbook with ‘ASOS appropriate’ styles first. First impressions count, so make the right impact from the offset and cater to their needs.
To sell your fashion brand to ASOS you have a few choices:
- DIY – choose to do all the hard work yourself
- Consultant– choose to invest in someone with direct ASOS contacts who has a wholesale relationship already
- Trade fairs – invest in a stand at a trade fair that you know ASOS visits
For the remainder of 2021, you pretty much only have 2 options, they are DIY or using an agent due to COVID restrictions.
So what are you waiting for! Either get in touch today to see how we can help or get going and plan your DIY approach … as you don’t have long till that planning season starts!
