Review of the ASOS Site Refresh

ASOS have recently launched a significant site refresh, with improvements to the look and feel, navigation, landing pages, features and functionality. Despite some glaring usability issues in the checkout process, ASOS is already perceived by many to set standards in online retail user experience, offering  a  vast range of products with well developed methods of filtering, sorting and viewing. They were also one of the first fashion retailers to successfully integrate product videos on a large scale throughout their site. Many smaller brands aspire to ASOS’s standards – the recent changes pushing that goal slightly further beyond their grasp.

So what have they changed?

Added Home to the navigation: A standard navigation item previously missing, ASOS have ticked another usability box by introducing it, choosing a familiar ‘home’ icon which gives the navigational benefits without losing valuable space.

Section landing pages given priority over homepage: Rather than cramming multiple offers and features into a single page whilst also attempting to appeal to all the strands of their diverse audience, ASOS have left their homepage as a simple signposting page to the different sections of the site, giving the section landing pages dedicated space to explore the full breadth of the features and offers they contain. The existence of homepage-esque section landing pages also gives an SEO benefit. Depending on search terms, they allow user groups to see the relevant section landing page as a default rather than the homepage, immediately showing the most relevant content.

Extended content areas on the landing pages: The section landing pages now scroll left and right on hover over. This unusual new feature slickly extends the central content area enabling ASOS to showcase more features upfront. This is likely to be a feature best suited to the returning visitor who is more likely to notice it and become familiar with it on future visits. I must admit, I missed this on my first visit since the change.

Given greater prominence to delivery information: Delivery information is featured below the main navigation, giving it a greater priority. Showing delivery information sooner rather than later is desirable. It answers a key user question that will otherwise be raised in the checkout process later (or could even influence whether a user ever progresses that far). The new prominence appears to be related to the introduction of the ASOS ‘Premier’ feature, allowing users the option to pay an annual fee to receive unlimited next day delivery for a year on all their orders. This is possibly a reason why, frustratingly, the site does not explain how much delivery costs are normally until the checkout, referring only to the minimum order values required to receive free delivery.

Design refresh: The most obvious change is to the design. The previously black background is replaced with white, giving a brighter, cleaner look overall. The navigation is also updated and appears to be clearer and larger in format.

Improved trend pages: Trend pages seamlessly blend imagery and video to create an impressive display of related, seasonal products. They each link directly to a page listing all items within the trend. This is a great way of offering a different method of shopping, recogising that not all users want to shop by product type and may be looking for some inspiration first. Another benefit is that they encourage multiple purchases across product types by selling a style that is achieved by purchasing a mixture of products. Topshop are renowned advocates of this approach.

Improved product detail pages: Already well developed, this hasn’t stopped ASOS from finding room for improvement. Carousel controls have been introduced to the product image to allow easier navigation between multiple images.

Speed of site: The site seems to perform quicker, loading videos and images in an instant. Site performance is often overlooked but is vital to providing a successful user experience.

ASOS are a great example of a brand committed to constantly evolving and improving their website. They are now a credible fashion retailer in their own right, switching their brand to focus on fashion and designer brands and gradually removing all associations with celebrity culture which was previously their raison d’etre.

Unfortunately, ASOS have not made the much needed overhaul to their checkout process which is a major let down in the otherwise impressive user experience. Requiring registration to purchase, requesting unnecessary information and jumping the user out of the checkout process after logging in are just some of the usability issues in this journey. Solving these issues are likely to instantly improve their conversion rate.

Another surprising omission is the lack of a mobile friendly version of the site. This is something alluded to across the ASOS forums by frustrated customers who struggle to use the site interface on their mobiles. In fact, the site is unusable on mobiles as the navigation simply does not work on an iphone.

With increasing numbers of online sales taking place on mobiles, it is a surprise that ASOS are missing out and it is my guess that this will be the next evolution we see from the brand.

~Jen