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ASOS expands shopping platforms via app

British online retailer ASOS is expanding its mobile commerce reach with an iPad, iPhone and iPod touch application that lets consumers shop the company’s full range of products.

The brand is furthering its mobile plan after seeing more than 10 percent of traffic coming in via mobile. This is the retailer’s latest mobile push, which also includes a tablet magazine and a commerce-enabled HTML5 site.

“Mobile is one of the fastest-growing industries, and we always want to be a step ahead,” said James Hart, ecommerce director at ASOS, London.

ASOS is a fashion and beauty online retailer in Britain.

The app is powered by mobile solution Usablenet.

Quick stop
With the ASOS app, users can search by three product categories – clothing, accessories or by designer.

Consumers can buy directly from their handsets from more than 40,000 product lines.

Additionally, the company claims to add approximately 1,500 to 2,000 new product lines weekly.

Shoppers can view products from multiple angles before they buy it.

The app features similar promotions from the retailer’s Web site.

For example, the retailer recently promoted a line of denim on its Web site and made the same offer available on the shopping app.

Consumers can view and shop promotions via the app

The app incorporates GPS to let users find local drop-off locations for returns.

Shoppers can sign in with their accounts and view and store items across the brand’s three channels  via the app, mobile site or Web experience.

According to Mr. Hart, ASOS decided to focus on Apple’s platforms because he says it is the most popular mobile point of entry.

“On Apple devices, we believe the best experience at the moment is via native apps,” Mr. Hart said.

Global reach
In addition to the shopping app, ASOS rolled out a mobile site in the past year.

The retailer also recently launched a tablet magazine that let consumers shop select looks and view editorial content (see story).

International retailers similar to ASOS have also been tapping into mobile to reach a broader range of consumers.

For example, British retailer New Look recently launched a commerce-enabled mobile site  that pushed the company’s full range of products. (see story).

The ASOS news also reveals a deeper worldwide mobile trend – consumers want and need to be able to purchase products directly on their handsets.

Particularly, the mobile industry is seeing a trend from consumers to purchase larger-ticket items, such as clothing, from their mobile devices.

“We always strive to make the ASOS experience perfect for each and every customer,” Mr. Hart said.