Evaluate the effectiveness of Internet Marketing in Meeting Customer Needs for a ASOS (D1)

To provide effectiveness of internet marketing in meeting customer needs and wants ASOS has made many things available. These points have many advantages that satisfy customers but also have disadvantages that need to be taken into consideration by ASOS. Business constantly look for ways to provide goods and services for customer needs and wants and as an online business internet marketing enables them to use many methods of customer service below I will be describing the advantages and disadvantages and then evaluate the effectiveness of internet marketing in meeting customer needs.

ASOS like any other businesses want to be able to provide impeccable service to meet customer needs as this helps them gain more customers; retain customers; competitive advantage; gaining customer loyalty; more marketing through word of mouth etc; become bigger and better including improving business reputation etc.

Customer Needs:

- Easy access, easy browsing, good customer service

Advantages & Disadvtages

ASOS provides a clear website and uses internet marketing for them to provide customer with images, appropriate colours, appropriate text and fonts. Their website is easy to use especially for their targeted audience. They are able to provide their customers with a wide range of information so that customers do not get confused or feel like they are not getting all the information they should receive when purchasing a product. Their are many separate links on the home page that leads to other pages according to their topic such as proving a separate link for all the women’s sections, then the men, designer, beauty, outlet, kids and life. Customers can also click on the picture available that leads to the above links.

Above screen shot is of ASOS’s home page on their website. Customers like to find things easily straight away without having to search many areas before they reach their desired destination. This is why ASOS made it possible for them to access a range of sections easily. That screen shot taken was when I moved the mouse towards the ‘shop women’s’ which highlighted the picture and changed all the other picture contrast so that it allows to see what

you want to view. This provides the customers with good customer service and also enables them to cut view specific products providing customers with convenience. The other advantage internet marketing provides is that customers are able to sign up for their own individual accounts that will allow them to constantly sign in and out easily and pay straight away without having to retype in their personal details etc. The disadvantage is that their are customers with low confidence in payment security and internet marketing does not always prove that they are secure and protected. And customers will have to take the risk when purchasing goods online. Another advantage is that customers are able to use their account and history to track down their goods, it enables them to see where their delivery is and also choose what time, place they want it delivered. This is a way of satisfying customer needs as they have the opportunity to choose their delivery options that ASOS provides making it convenient so customers can be at that place and time for certain and they would not have to wait all day for their delivery, or miss their delivery. The disadvantage to this is that customers may find it hard to trust the business of providing the right information example showing on their track order that the customer’s delivery is at one place but may not even be there. Advantage may include that ASOS is able to ask for changes on delivery times according to some inconvenience and customers may feel better knowing that ASOS is thinking about them but it also leads to customers feeling frustrated etc. ASOS has constantly kept up with their delivery plan as they aim to provide impeccable delivery service. Customers are able to save/print their order incase of any misunderstanding.Providing customers with the option of signing in/creating a account before purchasing enable customers to have access to updates through email, offers, monthly magazines, events etc. This is an advantage as customers would not need to waste time looking for updates or waiting and checking online all the time for an offer to appear etc.On the ASOS website is also includes home, history, PDF, search engine, for international users you can change the currency that allows customer from outside the UK that does not have pound but for example euro can change the prices of goods into euro making it easier for the international customers to exactly know how much they are paying without having to guess or search on any other website or calculate etc. Their website also provides a customer care option where customers with any difficulty, any comments etc may find it easy to use customer care to get back information from ASOS that was needed. The disadvantage to this is that customers might not get the information they need, may be misunderstanding between the customer and business and also may take time for an answer but ASOS has always shown a good customer service and provide extremely good customer care as they reply with the right information straight away including few minutes gap.

Online business has some disadvantages, one of which is that they may lose customers as customers may not purchase a product as they can not touch, smell the product they have to use there eye and their own judgement if they want, need and like a product. Internet marketing has helped overcome this disadvantage in some ways as ASOS demonstrates...

As the screen shot shows, ASOS are able to provide customers with a 360o imagery, video of a catwalk, able to zoom etc.

the catwalk of one of the products. ASOS was the first online business to use this method and this helps attracts more customers to use ASOS as an online shopping experience than any other online business. Customers that are not much aware of fashion trends, or how to put an outfit together, ASOS provide links to ‘complete the look’ so that if a customer likes a dress and finds it hard to find a footwear to match ASOS gives them the option on links with pictures on the side of the product information chosen as also shown in the above print screen. The advantage of providing catwalks helps customer understand how the product will look like on a person even with accessories such as bangles they use images of model showing how it will be on a person’s wrist. This internet marketing strategy allows customer to feel they are virtually shopping from a high street store but with better service.

ASOS using previous, existing customer details of email address etc, they are able to attract their attention by providing emails on the latest products, events, offers etc. As they are constantly adding new brands customers expected them to be updated with the information. ASOS also uses there previous purchases to judge what they more like to be interested in and send them those so that if customers were to get emails of products they did not like constantly, they may stop checking them whereas if they liked the new products or offers on goods they prefer ASOS will be able to retain their customers and also customers will be getting what they need. As ASOS provides many convenience for their customers when browsing their website they are able to give customer needs. An easy to use and navigate through website shows customers that they only need basic skills to search through the website. Also the information is straight forward and helps people with difficulty in reading the basic but vital details. Customers will end up enjoying browsing and shopping on ASOS website as it is simple with reasonable colours and understandable. They will enjoy the experience which will meet the customer needs. I have come to an conclusion with a rating score of 10 out of 1-10 as their are more advantages then disadvantages and also that ASOS has mostly overcome the disadvantages that may occur within their website. Also this is because customers can only purchase ASOS products off their website and also that they have made it easy for customers to navigate through their website and also its simple to use and looks attractive meeting customer needs and with feedback from customers enables good customer service as they are asking for feedback and opinions etc interacting with customers is another way of meeting customer needs.

- Providing delivery options/service

Advantages & Disadvantages

One of ASOS’s aims and objective include providing impeccable delivery. This is why they have given many options for delivery so that customers are able to choose. This is a way of meeting customer needs as customers will be satisfied to receive their delivery at their chosen time, place, date etc. Also depending on the price amount spent purchasing on ASOS they allow a delivery discount which customers always looks out for. The only disadvantage to this is that customer may get carried away and regret it after also may buy something extra just to get to that price limit for delivery discount etc.With a wide range of options for delivery customer expectation are high on the business to deliver within their option, if not it can damage business reputation and also trust may go down of customers. The methods of delivery that ASOS provide are shown in the images below.

Etc.

This shows that ASOS are thinking about customer needs and provides these options. Again i would give this method of customer need a rating of 10 from a scale of 1 – 10, the reasons being that customers will only received their purchased goods through delivery as they would not be able to pick it up, or go buy I from somewhere else. Providing it with many options best suiting customers helps meet customer needs. Again explaining that if a customer worked most of the day and had a specific day that they did not work, they would be able to use the delivery options of choosing when they would like their delivery at their door, because if she was not there to receive it, it may cause problems such as waiting another day, getting stressed and worried about their goods and also if it was for a occasion and not able to wear it may lead to low customer satisfaction. This is why ASOS has given the opportunity for customers to use delivery option to choose for customer satisfaction, for higher reputation, for attracting more customers and meeting customer needs. This provides an easy and enjoyable customer service due to able to track down delivery. This will enable more marketing such as customers recommending it to other potential new customers; to retain customers as they enjoyed it the first time they will return for more gaining trust etc.

- 24/7 presence

Advantages & Disadvantages

Customers are constantly waiting for high street stores to open, rushing to by something, waiting in queues that waste their time etc. However internet marketing enables customers to gain access to ASOS website any time of the day. The disadvantage to this is that customers have to have access to a computer that has internet access to. Customer needs to be able to sit down at one area and shop for many things at once and also without having to carry the load. Shopping online saves customers’ time, and also money as most online business products are less than high street stores depending on the brand and good. Because there is no time limit at ASOS, customers are able to freely take their time to choose a product and also make the purchase. Also another advantage is that customers are able to compare prices through comparison websites. Customers therefore find it much more relaxing when shopping online without the worrying of closing times and do this when they want, pleasing them to shopping whenever it suits them.

The conclusion i have come to for this customer need is that i give this a rating of 10 from 1 -10 as it is the best customer need met by internet marketing. Customers would no longer have to wait for a store to open or rush when a store will close. They would not have to set aside other work or time to shop on the high street that mainly have opening times from 9/10am – 5/6pm. ASOS therefore has this advantage of being open 24/7 so that customers can buy anytime making them more available for customer meeting their needs.

- Updating website

Advantage & Disadvantage

The advantage that internet marketing provides for effective customer needs is that they are able to update their website according to the latest fashion, with new offers, with customer feedback etc. At all times ASOS is abe to update their website they also use social networking such as Facebook that is being updated with vital business information, offers, events etc. This is meeting customer needs by providing them the opportunity to find out more things about the business, to purchase more new and different products instead of

searching through the same old products every now and then. ASOS as research shows has always kept their website and profiles updated, they constantly provide emails of updated factors to customers and also they maintain their website perfectly and with any customer ideas and feedback they use on their website showing that the customers are part of ASOS which meets customer needs. If a customer was to search constantly to find out the new trend it will waste their time, become unpleasing for them etc. However, Customers of ASOS don’t need to wait or search as they know they will be updated nearly every day. This is why i give this advantage a rating of 10 out of 1 – 10 as the reasons mentioned clearly above.

- A Wide Range of Products

Advantages & Disadvantages

ASOS’s one aim is to provide many products and brands for customers to choose from. This meet customer needs as customers would not have to shop for a certain product from on online store to another, and also purchasing all from one online business saves them having to send out their personal details to many different websites. even though their targeted audience is mostly women they also provide products for men that include mostly everything as shown below.

They provide many brands...

This is just few of their products that include brands of Bench, Humour, and Hugo Boss Red etc. They approximately provide 30,000 options of different brands of products all located on their website. If it was in a store, most of them might not fit in a shop floor and may be say at a stock room where customers would not be able to see or purchase this is why i believe this is another effectiveness of internet marketing that meets customer needs for ASOS as a business. The only disadvantage to this is that some customers may find it overwhelming to have so much to choose from and also may find it difficult to know what brand is worth.

In conclusion i give this a rating of 10 from 1 – 10 because they provide many options for customers such as footwear, men, women, summer, winter seasons etc, clothes, jewellery, cosmetics etc. By providing a wide range of products it attracts more customers. Customer with different financial situations can buy from ASOS as they provide cheap to expensive product so that all customers are satisfied and able to purchase high quality clothes at the reasonable price which meets customer needs. They also have enabled to add on ASOS outlet which is an advantage to customer needs as it includes end of line and previous season products at discounts up to 75% off. This can be seen on the ASOS main website or also on the social networking site. The only way they can make a profit or even get income, customer needs to purchase goods from ASOS. Making more available products and brands boost customers satisfaction as they can find anything they like as ASOS provides many options, also in many sizes and also in particular price range. Customers will not have to search elsewhere as they would if there weren’t many options that may lead to not finding something they want or not having the size etc. This definitely meets customer needs.

- Social networking, feedback etc

Advantages & Disadvantages

Communication is vital for businesses. Communications with customers enables a better understanding and gives the opportunity to satisfy customer needs and wants. As ASOS is only based online they have the opportunity to use free marketing such as Facebook, Twitter, and Bebo etc which is mainly used by their targeted audience. Using this network website they are able to have constant communication with customers and customers are able to add comments and leave feedback on their website. This is a great advantage as it helps meet

customer needs. Developing a relationship will gain customer trust, and have customer more aware of the business. Also with a quick response by ASOS customers will be more satisfied and feel that they are being listened to and make them want to communicate more which may attract them to being their most online shopping customer. Providing customer service for any problems helps build understanding and gives the opportunity for ASOS to mend any problems and apologise, which is again meeting customer needs. Also these social networking sites had thousands and thousands of people that are using it every second which enables customers to have a conversation with ASOS staffs and attract more customers.

- Shopping Online

Advantages & Disadvantages

As mentions before shopping online have many advantages such as online presence of 24/7, able to purchase many things at once without having to wait in queues, able to purchase something and then sign in to purchase something else without having to retype in all the personal details such as address. But as research shows there are also disadvantages such as not able to leave items in a shopping bag for a long time at ASOS.com. This s a disadvantage for customers as they will might forget what they put in their shopping basket and also as it will waste time leading to customer dissatisfaction and also customers will stop using ASOS for online shopping. Some customers may want to add something to their basket as a reservation and come back later to purchase it but won’t find it to be there. I recommend ASOS uses this opportunity of reply to the comment made about this ensuring then that they update their website by using a separate link for them to save the items as this may also cause problems for the business. I rate 8 out of 1 – 10 as this is a miner issue that can be resolved and because the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Conclusion:

As mentioned above the effectiveness of internet marketing in meeting customer needs have more advantages for customers than disadvantages and those issues raised can be sorted immediately and easily with the technology used in this 21st century. I have come across many methods that are used by ASOS that help maintain customer needs making them enjoy online shopping experience and make them happy. They provide customers with delivery choice, impeccable customer service, have a good attractive website etc which all customers needs when browsing to do some online shopping. The easy access and viewable images and videos are all advantages that meet customer needs. Feedback is vital method that ASOS has used professionally and gave the customer satisfaction. Keeping regular contact with updates, providing a whole 30,000 range of products showing how much they care about customer service which customers like to see and making it convenient to shop at ASOS.

Comparing both advantages and disadvantages, there are more advantages then disadvantages showing how effectiveness internet marketing is for ASOS to meet customer needs. Internet marketing offers customers many options to satisfy their needs and wants. With any disadvantages mentioned ASOS are able to fix them using few simple online methods. There are more and more customers converting to online shopping because of the exceptional offers that help meet their needs.