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'Dopamine Dressing' SS/21 Trend
This Edited article gives an overview of the trend I have chosen to base my INP Range on. essentially, Dopamine Dressing is all about wearing clothing that reflect happiness and the theory that bright colours and patterns boost our mood.
The main characteristic of the trend is bold prints and colours that elevate our wardrobes and inspire happiness through clothing. It also mentions how the 'happy dresser' prioritises comfort so this should be demonstrated through the silhouettes and fabrics used in my range.

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The 70's print trend goes hand-in-hand with my happy dressing trend, as the bold and bright 1970's inspired prints inject positivity and happiness into any outfit. Some brands to note that have taken up this trend include Motel, Zara, Lazy Oaf and Paloma Wool.

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I began by looking into the idea of producing a range of adaptive clothing designed specifically for those with disabilities. I found inspiration for this idea from a news article I read a while ago about the lack of clothing ranges available for disabled people. This mentioned some of the issues faced by those with disabilities and how they are often disregarded by fashion brands.

I decided to choose ASOS as my brand that I will produce the adaptive range for. ASOS are one of the world’s leading online retailers and a lot of people resonate with their brand values. They currently offer extended ranges such as Tall and Petite however I thought that producing an adaptive range would broaden their target audience and prove to be successful amongst their younger customer base.

I created a mind-map of my initial thoughts and ideas for the INP and started finding articles and resources which could be useful to me throughout this project and uploading them onto the INP Padlet.

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In the second week of the INP I continued to research more into the adaptive clothing market before finalising my concept and creating the first draft of my business plan, which includes a weekly planner that breaks down the workload over the course of the 8 weeks we have been given. I then began research into my chosen brand, ASOS, and started my brand summary and timeline. I used the ASOS website for most of my research as well as articles from YouGov and Drapers.

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This week I completed the brand summary, timeline and started research into my customer profile. I also began looking into the swot and pestle analysis, and finding more relevant articles for my project.

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This week I completed my customer profile, swot and pestle analysis. I began looking at SS21/22 trends on edited and WGSN that I could use for my project. There are lots of different factors I need to consider when designing my range so I need to keep this in mind when choosing my trend also.

I drafted some questions I would want to include in my primary research survey and looked into some influencers I could contact through Instagram Direct Message. I found these through the modelling agency Zebedee and through instagram.

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For week 5, I completed my primary research and analysis, and finalised my chosen trend. I began creating my moodboard trend summary. I used images from Pinterest, WGSN, Edited and Instagram to help me create this.

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This week I finalised the CADs I wanted to use from WGSN and began looking into which patterns and colours I wanted to use. I completed my inspiration and colour palette sections on the presentation and began the process of designing my range.

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I completed my range this week, as well as showed the modifications of the garments and began the washing line, price architecture and colour/pattern mix. I enjoyed creating the range as I could demonstrate my creative skills and I believe that my trend allows me to be flexible with the colours and patterns I choose. I also began looking into the merchandising aspect and started filling in the Excel line plan.

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For this final week, I used the time to finish off any final touches. I finalised my merchandising range plan and my sourcing strategy, as well as complete my project evaluation and executive summary.

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This article talks in depth about  the adaptive clothing opportunity and how brands are missing out on this huge segment.
'The global market for adaptive clothing is expected to be valued at nearly $400 billion by 2026."
It talks about the Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive range which is one of the few high-end brands to release a collection for people with disabilities. It also has some first-hand experience mentions from people like Lolo Spencer, who is a disabled actress.

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When Selma Blair appeared at the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscars party months after revealing her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, she paired her strapless Ralph & Russo gown with a bespoke monogrammed cane. The actress has spoken widely about the struggle to find clothes that work for her new needs and her celebrity has helped make a case that differently abled people, who were often limited to utilitarian clothing options like sweatpants, have been trying to communicate to brands for years.

"We had to spend a lot of time, in the beginning, dispelling misnomers that people with disabilities don't care about what they look like," says Mindy Scheier, a former Saks stylist whose Runway of Dreams Foundation promotes inclusion in fashion.

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The $400 billion adaptive clothing opportunity

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Mass labels like Asos and Target are dressing differently abled people, but there is unmet demand for fashion-forward, professional styles.

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This is a really useful article which introduces what adaptive clothing actually is and also breaks down some ways it is used. It gives examples of existing adaptive clothing brands/ranges such as BraEasy, Zappos Adaptive and Nike FlyEase.

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Adaptive clothing makes getting dressed easier for the disabled

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Adaptive clothing is apparel designed to make dressing easier for individuals with physical disabilities, spinal cord injuries, and learning disabilities.

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This article talks a little bit about Nike's step towards inclusivity. It mentions the fact that the brand has invested in a company that makes hands-free footwear which will make putting on and taking off shoes much easier for people with limited mobility or fine motor skills, for example.

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This Edited article discusses the adaptive apparel market and how fashion brands are ignoring such a large demographic of people. It also gives some examples of adaptive clothing features like velcro and magnetic fastenings, hidden pull loops, tables and seamless fabric, elasticated waistlines and wider neck and arm openings.

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This article highlights some retailers who released inclusive campaigns in 2020. These include Missguided, Zalando, GAP and Kurt Geiger.

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This WGSN article talks about the range of methods that fashion brands can put into practice to demonstrate inclusivity. This includes things from adaptive clothing, inclusive store design, user-friendly websites, employee training and co-creation. These things are important to note because inclusivity does not just mean offering clothing solutions, it means ensuring that diversity is demonstrated on all levels.

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This article talks about adaptive store design and how it is beneficial to both the retailer and the customers. It discusses ways that stores can become more inclusive, for example sensory-friendly supermarkets, deaf-accessible stores, employee training and sensory rooms.

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This article focuses on inclusivity within the activewear sector however there were still some very useful points that are relevant to my INP. It talks about taking diversity beyond just body positivity and the ways brands can implement this in their marketing, for example inclusive store layouts and championing different abilities.

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This is a link to the ASOS corporate statement on inclusion found on their website.

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We're expanding transparency and human rights progress across our supply chain and setting new diversity, equity and inclusion goals for our business.

1. BE TRANSPARENT: By 2030, we'll have led improvements in supply chain transparency and human rights within our supply chain and the wider industry.

2. BE DIVERSE: We'll drive diversity, equity and inclusion across every aspect of our business, with a focus on leadership representation and ensuring every ASOSer can be their authentic self at work.

Achieving these goals will make us a net zero emissions business that embraces more circular systems and uses 100% sustainable and recycled materials in our products and packaging. Our progress will be driven by a more diverse team with equity and inclusion at its heart, leading a business where transparency and human rights remain central to our approach.

To find out more about Fashion with Integrity and how we'll be achieving our goals, click the buttons below.

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We're expanding transparency and human rights progress across our supply chain and setting new diversity, equity and inclusion goals for our business. BE TRANSPARENT: By 2030, we'll have led improvements in supply chain transparency and human rights within our supply chain and the wider industry.

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"Agile ASOS rides out COVID-19 storm"
This article highlights the ways in which ASOS have been successful throughout the pandemic and how they have managed to stand out amongst the heavy e-commerce competition.

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"Agile ASOS continues to shine bright throughout COVID-19"
Another really good document form Globaldata which mentions the success of ASOS throughout the pandemic.

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This document gives some useful statistics about ASOS's online traffic and marketing analytics.

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Total Visits 76.08M 15.42%

Avg. Visit Duration 00:06:23

Estimated Data Verify Your Website

Traffic Sources for asos.com

Traffic Sources Find out which are the main sources of desktop traffic for asos.com.
March 2021 analysis

asos.com's marketing strategy is focused on Direct with 48.12% of traffic coming from this channel, followed by Search with 40.65%

On desktop

Get Full Comparison with SimilarWeb Pro

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Asos.com Traffic, Ranking & Marketing Analytics | Similarweb

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Total Visits 76.08M 15.42% Avg. Visit Duration 00:06:23 Estimated Data Verify Your Website Traffic Sources Find out which are the main sources of desktop traffic for asos.com.March 2021 analysis asos.com's marketing strategy is focused on Direct with 48.12% of traffic coming from this channel, followed by Search with 40.65% On desktop Get Full Comparison with SimilarWeb Pro Outbrain has been using SimilarWeb for over a year and it's been instrumental for our ability to analyze our competitive environment, benchmark our performance, keep track of industry trends, and generate new leads.

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This WGSN article highlights some of the key prints and graphics for SS/21. It mentions the 'happy dressing' influence and how mood-boosting prints gain popularity as consumer's seek items that lift their spirits during this challenging period. It has given me inspiration for the types of prints I could include in my range.

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The Purple Pound Infographic is a really useful document which gives a brief insight into the spending power of disabled individuals.
-“Businesses lose approximately £2 billion a month by ignoring the needs of disabled people.

-More than 1 in 5 potential UK consumers have a disability.”

-“Taking averages per head, the online spending power of disabled people is estimated at over £16 billion.”

These statistics highlight just how much these companies are missing out on by ignoring this demographic.

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The Purple Pound refers to the spending power of disabled households. A disabled household is a household in which at least one of the members has a disability. Organisations are missing out on the business of disabled consumers due to poor accessibility (both physical and digital) and not being disability confident in their customer services approach.

1 in 5 - More than 1 in 5 potential UK consumers have a disability.

£2 billion - Businesses lose approximately £2 billion a month by ignoring the needs of disabled people.

73% - 73% of potential disabled customers experience barriers on more than a quarter of websites they visited.

£16 billion - Taking averages per head, the online spending power of disabled people is estimated at over £16 billion.

£17.1 billion - Estimates show that the 4.3 million disabled online shoppers, who click away from inaccessible websites, have a combined spending power of £11.75 billion in the UK.

14.1 million - The number of disabled people is increasing: From 11.9 million (2014) to 13.3 million (2020).

75% - 75% of disabled people and their families have walked away from a UK business because of poor accessibility or customer service.

1 in 5 - Nearly 1 in 5 working adults have a disability.

£274 billion - The spending power of disabled people and their household continues to increase and is currently (2020) estimated to be worth £274 billion per year to UK business.

Research has shown how various sectors lose money each month by not being accessible. A breakdown can be found below:
High Street Shops - £267 million Restaurants/Pubs/Clubs - £163 million Supermarkets - £501 million Energy Companies - £44 million Phone/Internet Providers - £49 million Transport Providers - £42 million Banks or Building Societies - £935 million

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The Purple Pound refers to the spending power of disabled households. A disabled household is a household in which at least one of the members has a disability. Organisations are missing out on the business of disabled consumers due to poor accessibility (both physical and digital) and not being disability confident in their customer services approach.

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"Why are there more clothing lines for dogs than disabled people?"
The headline of this article is extremely attention-grabbing and shocking. This highlights how marginalised disabled people are in the fashion industry.
This article talks a lot about designer Izzy Camilleri's adaptive clothing brand, IZ Adaptive, and about the inspiration and story behind the brand.
“Everyone wants to wear their favourite brand. People don’t want to wear a brand that says ‘I’m super-different from you’ in a negative way”

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Why are there more clothing lines for dogs than disabled people?

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For wheelchair users like me, who love fashion, 'adaptive' clothing has often been disappointingly dowdy. But Tommy Hilfiger and other high-end designers could change that

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Joyful Expression for AW21/22

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This is a really interesting article which talks about the theory of how colour affects our mood.
"Studies indicate that certain colours evoke a subconscious physical response connected to a primal instinct. For example, Professor Stephen Westland from the University of Leeds in the UK led a research team which found evidence that red light has the ability to increase heart rate, while blue light can lower it."
The article says that in the future colour will be used more consciously to communicate.
During this challenging period, bright and bold colours can boost positivity and optimism and this can be reflected through our clothing.

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While designing clothes for wheelchair users, it is important to consider the wear and tear caused by transportation. For instance, the sleeves of shirt and should be carefully designed as wheelchair arms cause heavy wear at particular points. But at the same time, seams should be durable enough to withstand tearing and breaking when subjected to tension.

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One of the main factors that restrict people with disabilities to buy adaptive clothing is the price. Most of those individuals do not have much purchasing power as they rely on security funds or similar source of funding. Resources are limited. So, while designing the functional adaptive clothing, the price component had to be considered.

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"The Fashion Industry Ignores Disabled Models. This Agency Is Doing Something About It"

This article talks in detail about Zebedee, which is the first-ever modelling and acting agency to focus exclusively on talent with disabilities in the UK. It talks about how Zoe Proctor founded the agency and the inspiration behind her idea.
It also introduces some of their models like Ellie Goldstein, Kathleen Humberstone and Renee Bryant-Mulcare and their experiences as disabled people.

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In February of 2017, London-based performing arts school founder Zoe Proctor was fed up with hearing that her students with disabilities weren't gaining access to opportunities in the same way that non-disabled people were in the modelling industry. Her sister-in-law, Laura Johnson, a social worker who often worked with people with disabilities, shared in her frustration. It was during their daily dog walk that the duo got the idea to do something about it. "I remember asking the question, 'How are people with disabilities ever going to have a chance at success if agents refuse to work with them?'" Johnson recalls. And just like that, a plan was set in motion: "It was a lightbulb moment. We went home and started the agency that day."

Zebedee is the first-ever modelling and acting agency to focus exclusively on talent with disabilities in the UK. Prior to founding her performing arts school, Proctor worked as a curve model. Meanwhile, Johnson has a daughter in the modelling industry. Their experience running a modelling agency stopped there. But an empty rolodex wasn't enough to stop them from pursuing their goal: to make fashion and beauty campaigns - which, as they stand, feature roughly 0.02% people with disabilities - accurately depict the population. "I would like that 0.02% statistic to turn to 21%," Johnson says, 21% being the population of people currently living with a disability in the UK.

Starting any new business is hard. Starting a business that's never been done before is near impossible. But despite the initial challenges, a few months after launching Zebedee, Proctor and Johnson could tell that it was working. Both founders worked for free for the first six months in order to get a handle on the industry and gather a list of potential clients, Proctor says. By late December of 2017 - the duo had officially launched in September - it was clear that there was momentum. "As a minimum, we knew then that we could continue as an agency, be it a small one," says Proctor.

Now, more than three years since its launch, Zebedee has worked on some of the biggest campaigns in adaptive fashion, including a 2018 River Island anti-bullying campaign, for which every model featured was represented by Zebedee. The agency's client list also includes H&M, Marks & Spencer, Primark, and Boden. Most recently, 18-year-old Zebedee model Ellie Goldstein with Down syndrome from Essex was chosen to be the face of Gucci's colour cosmetics campaign. "I couldn't believe that Gucci had chosen me," Goldstein says. "I was very happy indeed, and overwhelmed with joy." Immediately following the campaign's launch, Goldstein garnered international fame - her image raked in the most likes ever on a Gucci Instagram post, according to Johnson. It is currently at 850k likes and counting.

The model was one of the first to join Zebedee in 2017. A dancer and performer at Proctor's performing arts school, Goldstein saw an opportunity to follow her dreams of "being a model and appearing on TV" and took it. "I signed with Zebedee because they only have models on their books with disabilities or hidden disabilities, and this was important to me," Goldstein says. "Maybe I could show that having Down syndrome wouldn't stop my dreams."

Kathleen Humberstone, another model represented by Zebedee, got her start in a different way, according to her mother Denise. "I tried to contact big agencies, but the application process couldn't even be completed online as they were asking for school education, a clever way to sift out people like Kathleen," says Denise. "She then came across Zebedee by chance and couldn't believe they were exclusively representing people with disabilities." As the mother of an aspiring model with Down syndrome, Denise was wary about choosing just any agency to represent her daughter, but, soon after meeting with Proctor and Johnson, her worries were diminished. "I knew Zoe and Laura had their hearts in the right place and that their daring enterprise was not so much about money, but about representation of people like my daughter," Denise says.

Of modelling and being in front of the camera, Kathleen says that it "makes [her] feel free, special, powerful, loved, and sexy." Her dreams are to be a professional model for big brands and walk in runway shows in all four major fashion capitals. "I want to be on the covers of big magazines and on billboards," she adds.

Denise is grateful for the opportunities her daughter has been given in the modelling industry. "Whenever I am privileged enough to watch Kathleen at a photoshoot, I see a completely different character," she says. "It's just Kathleen taking the reins of her life and becoming who she is meant to be."

Goldstein and Humberstone are joined at Zebedee by Renee Bryant-Mulcare, a model and stylist living in Birmingham. Bryant-Mulcare has paraplegia and is a full-time wheelchair user. "When I was younger, I never thought it could be possible to be doing what I'm doing now," says Bryant-Mulcare. "I never saw anybody that looked like me - in the media or fashion industry. So, to have a whole agency that is based on embracing those who have disabilities, I think is truly amazing."

In addition to her involvement in the fashion industry, Bryant-Mulcare is following in her mentors' footsteps by opening a business dedicated to helping those who, like her, have a disability. "I will be starting my very own yoga, fitness, and well-being classes for other individuals who have disabilities," she says. "This is something that I came up with after thinking to myself, What was missing for me growing up with my disability? What could have perhaps made it easier for me to accept myself? " Her answer: representation.

But too often, young people with disabilities - including Down syndrome, Muscular Dystrophy, ALS, and Multiple Sclerosis, and amputations - aren't given the chance to prove themselves in the modelling industry, among other industries. "People with disabilities need to be recognised and represented in the best possible way because historically people who have a disability have been left out of the diversity debate," says Proctor. "People with disabilities are still the largest and most underrepresented minority group in the media and fashion industries."

Proctor and Johnson point to a couple of reasons for why they think that is. "It seems to be the last thing that casting directors and brands think about," says Johnson. "Sure, companies want their campaigns to be diverse. They want them to be inclusive, to represent the population. But still, disabilities don't show up on people's radars, which I think is more of a long-term, systemic problem." Other reasons that Proctor and Johnson have encountered are that some brands think customers don't want to see people with disabilities in campaigns or worry that if they do include people with disabilities in their campaigns, that they'll be criticised for tokenising them or perhaps get the language and imagery wrong. "They worry that it might affect the money that they bring in, too," says Johnson. But the biggest issue of all is that many companies, according to Johnson, have never had models with disabilities put in front of them. "For a long time, we thought, What are we doing wrong? " she says. But after submitting their models time and time again for potential projects, as well as cold-calling and emailing casting directors to insist that they let Zebedee models and actors audition, directors finally started to give in. "I think they just got sick of us," Johnson says. "But also, I believe that brands are finally starting to realise the value in including people with disabilities in their campaigns."

In the US, the collective spending power of people with disabilities is $490 billion (£379b), according to Vogue Business. But economic value isn't the only reason why brands should consider hiring models with disabilities. In her experience, campaign viewers want to see real people - "people who they can feel some affinity toward" - in campaigns, even more so now than before the pandemic. "Ever since the COVID-19 crisis, people are re-evaluating what is important in this world," says Proctor. "Kindness and inclusion are becoming more and more important."

Proctor is right, and there's proof in the positive response to Goldstein's viral Gucci campaign. "Can this be our new normal?" Amber Shirley wrote in a comment, to which another user, Nikki McBride, responded, "I couldn't agree more." Media outlets ranging from Vanity Fair and to the and The Today Show praised the campaign for its inclusivity. "I uploaded an Instagram post about Ellie and it's gone absolutely viral," says Johnson. "There have been no negative comments."

Of course, one campaign isn't going to change the world. Proctor and Johnson know that. "We go through phases," Johnson says of getting excited about the future and being frustrated with the present. "The important thing, though, is to continue moving in the right direction." And while 850,000 people liking an Instagram post might not be the end of discrimination against people with disabilities entirely, it's made one hell of a difference for the movement that Zebedee Management is at the helm of - not to mention what it's done for Goldstein and those like her who, for far too long, have gone without seeing their own reflections in the media. "I see myself on YouTube, in the papers and magazines, and in the news now," Goldstein says about her experience post-Gucci. "It changed my life."

Voices of Disability is edited by Kelly Dawson, a disability advocate who was born with cerebral palsy. She has spoken about her disability on the popular podcast Call Your Girlfriend, and written on the subject for Vox, AFAR, Gay Mag, and more. Find her work at kellymdawson.com.

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The Fashion Industry Ignores Disabled Models. This Agency Is Doing Something About It

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In February of 2017, London-based performing arts school founder Zoe Proctor was fed up with hearing that her students with disabilities weren't gaining access to opportunities in the same way that non-disabled people were in the modelling industry. Her sister-in-law, Laura Johnson, a social worker who often worked with people with disabilities, shared in her frustration.

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"What turned ASOS online store into a global e-commerce giant?"

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ASOS: British online retail giant

ASOS, a British fashion giant, is classified as the best online shopping site inthe UKand overseas. Positioning itself as a "global online community of fashion lovers", it has built a loyal customer base across the world.

The source of ASOS' success, a global ecommerce company, lies in:

ASOS' global strategy was spot-on. An irresistible part of its value proposition was free worldwide shipping and free returns.

The company expanded internationally at an impressive rate within a short period of time.

Warehousing and delivery solutions have been ASOS' priority. Distribution efficiencies and delivery options enabled the company to ship to numerous international destinations across the globe within 48 hours.

Sometimes it was quicker than domestic retailers in some countries.

Further, ASOS understood the importance of adapting their website and activities to local markets.

For instance, after launching a dedicated Russian website in May 2013, ASOS observed subsequent strong growth in this territory. Local language customer care, social media activities and a dedicated express delivery solution were factors that helped to build a strong position onthe Russian marketplace.

Expanding your ecommerce brand internationally: going through ASOS reports

The reports published on ASOS' website, dating back to 2007, are evidence to the company's spectacular growth on international markets.

According to the Chief Executive's Statement from ASOS' Annual Report & Accounts (2007), international revenues grew by 158% in the year to £4.5 million, accounting for 10.5% of sales.

On the basis of the report from 2010, over the course of 2009/10, international sales are said to have increased by 95%to £63 million. The company shipped to 167 countries globally from its distribution hub.

According to the 2013 report, ASOS delivered to 237 countries and territories.

Its international strategy included:

dedicated websites in strategic country markets (e.g. the UK, US, France, Germany, Australia and Russia)

in-country teams and locally-relevant product offers

payment methods

currencies

delivery options.

Much of its growth was driven by strong performances in the countries where ASOS had dedicated websites, for example in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

When it comes to 2014, international retail sales went up by 22%(UK retail sales up 35%). International retail sales accounted for 61% of total retail sales.

The company continued expanding their reach by improving the ASOS experience internationally. The main focus was put on removing barriers, e.g. related to delivery speedand payment methods.

Among the many improvements and additions to international delivery solutions were:

4 new international carriers set up for shipments to Germany, Australia and a few other countries

a new French returns solution via LaPoste

fully tracked drop-off at more than 13,000 post offices and outlets

a new warehouse in Germany to serve local buyers.

ASOS continued logistics investments in their international warehouse infrastructure. Later on the focus was also put on improved technology platforms, especially local language mobile sites.

ASOS: the ecommerce success story in a nutshell

Free worldwide shipping, distribution efficiencies, ecommerce localization and the overall international online sales strategy have turned ASOS into a truly successful online store on a global scale.

ASOS' success story has a powerful takeaway for online retailers who wish to expand their business on international markets:

Serving international buyers a feel-at-home, localized buying & shipping experience is a golden recipe for the successful expansion of an ecommerce brand.

Taking care of your international ecommerce buyers

ASOS has proven that one of the key elements of international ecommerce success is a good shipping strategy. Efficient logistics positively impacts pricing, order quantities, customer loyalty and average order values.

A good shipping strategy equals:

shipping solutions efficient/cost-effective for the retailer

shipping options/costs attractive for the buyer.

High shipping costs are a valid reason why buyers are not happy with their online shopping experience and decide toabandon their shopping carts. This is how a bargain can turn into a bad deal, putting potential buyers off.

Glopal has observed that if the shipping price is too high compared to the product price, it's not likely to sell.

For example, if the buyer orders £10 worth of goods and has to pay £5 for shipping, shipping is 50% of the order price! The total price may still be attractive, but a lot of psychological resistance is likely to arise.

Shipping prices can be genuine deal killers, even in the case of the most attractive prices. Hence, consider how much of the shipping cost you can put into your product price. Free shipping is all the rage and ASOS made the most of it.

But it may not always be easy to ship items for free everywhere. Compared to shipping within your domestic market where free shipping can be offered more easily, waiving shipping costs for your international customers can be more of a challenge.

But the good news is that you can still offer very competitive shipping rates and optimize your international shipping.

Glopal 's ecommerce localization

At Glopal we offer an ecommerce solution that enables you to offer a fully localized buying experience to your international customers. The solution translates & localizes your online store for international markets, improves your buyer acquisition & conversions and ensures you're compliant.

provides you with the high quality translation & full localization of your ecommerce store

helps you drive & convert international buyers

offers a fully localized, secure and hosted international checkout process that enables you to accept payments in 25 currencies

reduces shipping friction & delays

helps you stay on top of customs compliance, tax & duty calculation and customs documentation

improves the efficiency of your workflow & your customers' experience.

In a nutshell

ASOS has become a true ecommerce success story. An efficient worldwide shipping strategy and ecommerce localization have played a major role in ASOS' global expansion.

For global-minded ecommerce brands it's important to adapt global versions of their stores to local markets, offering the buyer a localized buying experience.

This way, they can increase their level of competitiveness to that of local retailers. Using an experienced cross-border partnerdefinitely facilitates achieving that.

Refine you international expansion with our country reports

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What turned ASOS online store into a global ecommerce giant?.

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ASOS, a British fashion giant, is classified as the best online shopping site inthe UKand overseas. Positioning itself as a "global online community of fashion lovers", it has built a loyal customer base across the world. The source of ASOS' success, a global ecommerce company, lies in: ASOS' global strategy was spot-on.

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I put together this survey using questions about the individual's personal experience with adaptive clothing and the kind of challenges and difficulties that they have faced. The answers I receive will help me when building my range as it will show me which factors are important to consider and what I need to prioritise.

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The responses to my survey have been extremely helpful and insightful. I am able to use these answers to help support me with the rest of my project as these are all first-hand experiences of people with additional needs.

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This article was really interesting and very relevant to my area of focus. It compares the consumer behaviour of both Millenniasl and Gen Z and gives some really good statistics which will help me with my project.It discusses things like the brands they shop with, key influencers that they look up to, their favoured social media platforms and their core values.

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Gen Z and Millennials 2020
This is an extremely useful and insightful article/document which shares statistics about Gen Z and Millennial consumer behaviour in 2020. It analyses how they shopped in this year and also how their shopping habits have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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"56% of Gen Z are more likely to try a product or service if their favorite online influencer recommends it."
"68% of Gen-Z expects brands to contribute to society."
This article gives some really good statistics about Gen Z consumer behaviour which will help me with my INP.

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Posted: 08 Feb 2021 Contributor: Candice Groves

Generation Z includes anyone born between 1995 and 2012 and makes up a quarter of the U.S. population. As digital natives, Gen Z has grown up scrolling, and with 24/7 access to online resources, they are fast becoming the most well-educated and self-reliant generation yet.

Eight seconds is the estimated attention span of a Gen Z, but this doesn't mean they aren't analyzing at a meaningful level. Instead, this hypercognitive generation can use their digital filters to quickly access whether a brand, product, or TikTok reel is worth viewing further. What does Gen Z want from brands? With their early exposure to brands digitally, this means that marketing to Gen Z in 2021 and beyond needs to be strategic, relevant, authentic, and engaging.

Why is Generation Z important to marketers?

Considering by 2025 it is estimated that 29% of the U.S population will be Gen Zers, it's crucial to understand Generation Z consumer behavior to gain this demographic's trust. This generation is more ethically conscious and ethnically diverse than previous generations. They look to brands that ensure sustainable sourcing, production, and labor. They prefer content that has real people, real sizes, and mixed cultures.

Authenticity and community-orientated attributes are important to Gen Z, with 85% of the generation using social media to learn about brands and products. Is it too late to become an influencer as a brand on platforms such as TikTok? Certainly not. Marketers need to be at the forefront of emerging trends if they want their brands to capture the attention of Gen Zers.

Below are 15 essential gen z stats marketers should know in order to win their trust in 2021. Understanding this generation's influence in the consumer market and implementing a marketing strategy with them in mind is vital to converting Gen Z into loyal customers.

1. 88% of Gen Zers prefer omnichannel branded experiences.

2. 61% of this generation are willing to pay more for products that are produced with ethical and sustainable methods.

3. Gen Z are at the most diverse generation yet: 52% are non-Hispanic white, 25% are Hispanic, 14% are Black, 6% are Asian, and 5% are one or two more races.

4. 56% of Gen Z are more likely to try a product or service if their favorite online influencer recommends it.

5. 68% of Gen Z usually consider delivery times and options prior to completing an online purchase.

6. Gen Z will make up 30% of the US workforce by 2030 and is estimated to increase their per capita annual expenditure by 70% between 2020 and 2025.

7. Gen Z's annual purchasing power is estimated as high as $323 billion in the US, with researchers believing this can grow by more than 4X when accounting for Gen Z's influence within their household.

8. At 59%, Gen Z have the highest rate of advertising recall.

9. 66% percent of Generation Zers in a McKinsey survey believe that communities are created by causes and interests, not by economic backgrounds or educational levels.

10. 68% of Gen-Z expects brands to contribute to society.

11. 66% of Gen-Z says that product quality matters most to them when making a purchase.

12. 64% of Gen Zers will pay more for eco-friendly products, and 49% prefer to buy from local or independent retailers.

13. A National Retail Federation survey found that 36% of Gen Zers would create digital content for a brand, 42% would participate in an online game for a campaign and 43% would participate in a product review.

14. The same report discovered that 62% will not use apps or websites that are difficult to navigate and 60% will not use apps or websites that are slow to load.

15. 58% of Gen-Z is willing to pay more for products that are targeted to their individual personalities.

Expert Tips for marketing to Gen Z in 2021

Now you have seen some of the significant statistics that reveal just how much the Gen Z consumer will influence the future of marketing, let's highlight some key tips for Gen Z marketing:

When working with influencers, you must ensure that the chosen influencers share similar core values to your audience, as well as advocate for similar causes to your brand's mission statement. This way Gen Z can relate and aspire to be like the influencer.

Storytelling must be authentic, informative, and engaging. Gen Z can see through staged material and thus feels it is false and ultimately not helping to build an affinity with the brand.

Create content with an 8-second attention span in mind. This doesn't mean your content should only last for 8 seconds, because if you can gain the attention of a Gen Z in that timeframe, they will be happy to continue viewing/reading for much longer.

An omnichannel experience is desirable for brand awareness and engagement. Be active on popular platforms such as TikTok and Instagram and keep up with trends, experimenting with content creation to gauge traction from Gen Zers.

Be vocal about your brand values and ethical and sustainable practices, with opportunities for Gen Z to engage with your initiatives.

Final Thoughts

It is a misconception that the short attention span of Generation Z means they are not making pragmatic, meaningful decisions. This generation has lived a life of hybrid-connectivity between the physical and virtual worlds. They can identify authenticity, navigate platforms, and source information faster and more accurately than any other generation. Their moral compass embedded in them from previous generations, along with their interest in the future of the environment and equality for all people proposes they lean into brands that align with their values. Do you have any interesting Gen Z observations? Let us know in the comments below.

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15 Essential Statistics About Gen Z That Will Help Marketers Win Their Trust In 2021

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Generation Z includes anyone born between 1995 and 2012 and makes up a quarter of the U.S. population. As digital natives, Gen Z has grown up scrolling, and with 24/7 access to online resources, they are fast becoming the most well-educated and self-reliant generation yet.

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"Rising Prosperity"
This document taken from Acorn highlights the characteristics of my target demographic. It mentions the typical areas and regions they live in and their priorities in terms of technology use. I used this to help support my customer profile.

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Aspirant
This analyses the consumer behaviour and characteristics of ASOS's typical target customer, which I used to help support my customer profile.

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Living for the moment, Aspirant Tribes know the look, music and lifestyle they want - and will spend big in order to get it! Attuned to what's happening in Leading Edge circles, it's about keeping up with what's cool but without all the hard work of creating it themselves. These Tribes will be found in Student Unions across the UK, from UE to Loughborough.

Social butterflies, they are spending summer holidays hitting the festival circuit - from Bestival and Secret Garden Party in the UK to Croatia's Outlook and Serbia's Exit festival. Whether it's the latest pop-up, food truck, concept store, art gallery or nightclub, they want to be the one to have seen it first - and post it on social media. Experience seeking drives the Aspirant segment, and introducing the newest fashion and music to their friendship group motivates Tribe members.

From the ubiquitous gap year alpaca jumper, to the MacBook Pro, Ugg boots and Hershel backpack, Aspirant Tribes are big consumers with strong brand affiliations. Brands trying to crack the Aspirants need to work hard to prove their cool credentials. They need to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right people - although appealing to them may be challenging, those who do are rewarded with surprising brand loyalty.

Trendies

Trendies are driven by beautiful things and beautiful people, Trendies love fashion and are always looking for the next big trend!

They're the biggest outwardly 'brand-me' Tribe - they're universally aspirational in fashion and music, both offline and online.The rise of Mainstream Brand Me behaviours and fast fashion means the Trendies are still going strong and are one of the biggest Tribes on the map in 2015. Their influence is if anything growing, as more and more Trendies lean towards vlogging and sharing their super-soft-focus, Instagrammable lives online - inspiring younger teens to live a perfect life.

Vloggers
Vloggers and Bloggers are at the heart of today's Tribal map - inspiring a whole generation how to live.
In 2012 Tumblr Kids joined the map - by 2015 Vloggers are one of the most familiar and famous Tribes in the UK. A catch-all Tribe to describe young people that are vlogging, blogging, tweeting and instagramming their lives, attitudes and values online; they aren't creating culture and new social norms (bar those with 1M+ followers!) but are having a huge impact on youth culture today.

New Casuals

New Casuals are football mad lads with a love of underground club music and understated fashion - but will move to the next thing once it becomes predictable...

Hypebeasts

Urban and Skater inspired, US-rooted breed of New Casual - who love Hip-Hop and electronic, niche knowledge, luxury sportswear and limited editions.

Hypebeasts are a new breed of New Casual/Hipster- obsessed with the aspirational Urban lifestyle and the brands that go with it. With a thriving online culture, key icon products and their own language (Bump, OG, Grail, Wavey...) they are thriving - but bitchy too!

New Casuals
The New Casuals are unchanged on the map - think twenty-something, understated lads that consciously maintained low-key style from Norse, APC and Folk.
Their hate of hype and broadcasting their lives makes them polar opposites to the Hypebeasts! While they share a love of music, festivals, fashion and footy - the Hypebeasts are all about niche language, products and 'getting in there first'.

Hipsters
It's been a long time coming - but the Hipsters are firmly out of the Leading Edge, and are getting younger by the year.
Poor Hipsters! Since 2012, they took over being the vilified Tribe from the Chavs - synonymous with being 'try hard' and vacuous at a Tribal level, but receiving derision from wider British culture too (even your dad knows what a Hipster is in 2015!).

As authenticity became a key tenet of youth culture and the Hipster look was disseminated to teens via Primark; the iconic skinny jeans, glasses and obsession with Bergheim made the Hipsters a stereotype and an insult for the original Hipsters (most of whom have now aged out of the Tribes model).

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Living for the moment, Aspirant Tribes know the look, music and lifestyle they want - and will spend big in order to get it! Attuned to what's happening in Leading Edge circles, it's about keeping...

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In October 2018, ASOS was announced as the Marketing Week Masters ‘Brand of the Year’. This YouGov article discusses some of the factors contributing towards ASOS's success.

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How can e-commerce be more inclusive
This is a really great article which talks about some ways that e-commerce can be more inclusive, for example including closed-captions/subtitles for hearing impaired users or bold and large text for visually impaired customers, and using size visualisation across all sizes and product categories to encourage the brands to become more transparent about their sizing and diversity.

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Fashion is making great strides toward inclusivity. As models of all sizes, ages and ethnicities walk down runways across the world, it's more clear than ever that inclusivity and diversity aren't merely buzzwords -- they're the norm.

However, the same has not translated into e-commerce, which is surprising, given that retail is the natural extension of fashion. It is especially significant given that we live in this time of social media where consumers are more vocal and vigilant than ever before. Here are three ways in which retailers can enable inclusive experiences for their online customers.
Size Visualization For Fashion Retail
Most female editorial models are 5 feet, 9 inches tall and quite slim, whereas the average American woman is about 5 feet, 4 inches tall and veers between size 16 and 18. When consumers are shopping online and see these tall and thin models, one of two things happens. They may shop aspirationally, which often leads to returns because of fit problems and costs e-commerce retailers a lot in return shipping and restocking. Or, the consumer refrains from making the purchase. Many times, had she seen the garment on a model of her size, she may have actually been convinced to buy it by the way it looked.

Size visualization is when the same garment can be displayed to shoppers across a number of different sizes, and if your e-commerce platform isn't practicing it, you should consider the impact it could have on your bottom line. Everlane, for example, shows garments in four sizes: 0, 2, 6 and 10. Universal Standard sells and photographs garments on models in sizes ranging from 0 to 40.

The Good American is another example of a brand that does size variation well and has a more diverse range of models too -- here, shoppers can see models of sizes 0, 8 and 16. It is worth mentioning that Khloe Kardashian, who is one of the co-founders of the brand, announced only this month that the brand was making more efforts to make its e-commerce experience more inclusive by casting real women across all sizes instead of models for its denim. Inclusivity has been the brand's anchor from its inception, and it has firmly stuck behind it -- resulting in sales that crossed $1 million on its first day and making it the biggest denim launch in history.
Personalizing For LGBTQ+ Consumers
LGBTQ+ consumers are largely neglected as a separate consumer group, which is shocking given that their combined spending power would represent the fourth-largest economy in the world. A whopping 60% of tomorrow's most powerful consumers, Gen Z, will shop across gendered sections, and 1 out of 10 millennials identify as gender nonconforming.

However, most retailers' personalization strategies continue to be binary as we move along into an increasingly nonbinary world. Consumers continue to be forced into choosing genders, even if they may not conform with them, and are b shown products that aren't relevant.

There are a number of ways in which retailers can enable inclusive retail experiences for the LGBTQ+ community, but if retailers are to truly cater to this largely ignored segment, then they must look to incorporate inclusivity from the ground up instead of throwing in buzzwords on their sites. Something as simple as extra options that include "gender nonconforming" when collecting data can be as effective as offering products that are unisex. By offering these options, retailers can not only provide inclusive experiences, but they can also collect accurate and effective data that will, in turn, help them offer tailored, personalized and bespoke experiences at scale.
Making E-Commerce Accessible
The internet has revolutionized the way we shop, but consumers with disabilities continue to be ignored. Websites aren't designed with disabled consumers in mind, and that needs to change. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 19% of the population has a disability, totaling to 57 million people.

Designing websites that are accessible and disability-friendly ensures that your e-commerce experience is seamless for all consumers. The fixes that retailers have to make sure are in place are simple for the most part. For example, you can make sure that there are captions for videos so consumers who are hearing-impaired can watch them. Additionally, you can implement a design that incorporates bold typefaces and larger text for visually impaired users and put together an easily navigable website for users with dyslexia.

Designing for accessibility and embracing inclusivity is vital for retailers to both survive and thrive in today's environment. It may very well be the difference between a customer adding a product to their cart and checking out or leaving your website altogether.

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Council Post: How Can Fashion E-Commerce Be More Inclusive?

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Fashion is making great strides toward inclusivity. As models of all sizes, ages and ethnicities walk down runways across the world, it's more clear than ever that inclusivity and diversity aren't merely buzzwords -- they're the norm. However, the same has not translated into e-commerce, which is surprising, given that retail is the natural extension of fashion.

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This article is very relevant to my INP and discusses Gen Z Priorities. These include things like climate change, radical inclusivity, savvy frugality, authentic engagement and protecting mental wellbeing. This is important to note as it highlights the things most important to ASOS's target audience which should be considered and reflected throughout my project.