Asos blazes a trail with Facebook store

Asos.com, the trailblazing online fashion brand, has once again beaten the competition to try out the latest online engagement methods by launching a Facebook store before anyone else.

Asos will be among the first to launch a fully transactional store on the social network allowing shoppers to buy its wares without having to leave Facebook.

Not only is this another revolutionary step for Asos, it’s the next step in Facebook’s total domination of the internet.

Facebook is making itself a portal, it only needs the addition of search and then users will have no reason to use their browser for anything except visiting Facebook – everything else will be done from there.

Within my circle of friends, the computer has long been dubbed the Google-machine, as the Google brand became ubiquitous with going online.

With moves such as this one from Asos, I’m sure we’re not far away from calling it the Facebook-machine. Until that happens, however, Asos is taking a slightly brave step in cutting its own website out of the loop.

If the Facebook store takes off, a portion of its users will be diverted away from Asos.com impacting its web traffic, sales conversions, unique users etc.

However, while most retailers are still in the business of chasing web traffic, Asos has stepped out of that arena and decided that it doesn’t matter where consumers’ engagement with the brand comes from. As long as it is doing its utmost to be available on every possible platform its customers might want to find it, Asos is doing its job.

True to form, Asos isn’t afraid to go out into unchartered territory, to see if a new platform will work.

Last year the online retailer launched its Marketplace platofrm, allowing consumers to sell their own clothes through online boutiques. It has also appointed a head of editorial content to lead its content strategy.

Its forward-gazing approach is clearly helping the company’s bottom line. UK sales grew 23% over the Christmas period while its international business recorded 156% growth. Asos launched US, French and German sites last year.

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