According to an UKRepTrak list published on Thursday, ASOS has been named as the country’s most reputable fashion retailer.
The list is compiled by the Reputation Institute, and is based upon responses received from around 5000 interviews with the general public. The list measures company capability to deliver expectations across several key areas including: products and services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership and performance.
Companies are then ranked on a score of 0-100 based on their overall reputation. The scoring system ranks as: Excellent (80+), Strong (70-79), Average (60-69), Weak (40-59) and Poor (below 40).
ASOS secured the top place with a score of 80.4, followed by Laura Ashley (77.8), Debenhams (77.4), Marks and Spencer (77.0) and Next (76.3). Interestingly, despite a strong overall result, ASOS is the only fashion retailer categorised as ‘Excellent’.
Reputation Institute executive partner Kasper Ulf Nielsen said “It is intriguing that an online-only retailer has achieved a stronger reputation than the old high-street favourites,”
“This not only reflects the shift in shopping habits of the UK general public, but it also underlines the point that you can build a high degree of trust, respect, and admiration without the face to face experience.
“With only one retailer breaking through the ‘excellent’ barrier, many within the sector need to do more to cement and build upon their reputations.”
This follows recent figures from the Office for National Statistics that revealed the surge in online shopping this year. Online shopping is up 9% since March and online stores now account for 13.2% of all retail sales.
ASOS sells over 850 brands as well as its own range of clothing, shoes and accessories. Revenue for the financial year ending 31st August 2015 was £1,119.9 million and as of the same date, ASOS PLC has net assets of 237.3 million.
