Asos reopens French office to bolster local marketing strategy

By

Anaïs Lerévérend

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Feb 24, 2017

Asos has been in business for sixteen years, and this is the second time it has opened an office in France.  The British fashion e-tailer, after closing down the Lille office in 2014, has now set up a branch in Paris, to bolster its marketing efforts in the country.

After shutting up shop in Lille, Asos managed France through a team from London and some local collaborators in Paris, led by Lisa Marçais, France Country Manager for the last two years and now in charge of the new office, which will be focusing chiefly on marketing activities.
 
The new Paris offices are home to a team of ten, double the size of the previous France team. Asos now has a local branch in four countries outside of the UK, the others being the USA, Germany and Australia. The investment in France will bolster Asos' local and overall growth in 2017, as the e-tailer is forecasting a revenue increase between 20% and 30%, up from the €1.7 billion recorded in the last fiscal year.

The main focus of the Paris office will be marketing, specifically concentrating on delivering timely and France-relevant editorial content, on managing local social media, especially the highly popular Snapchat, and finally on working with the French media in order to establish strong links with local influencers.
 
Another key mission for the Paris team will be scouting French brands for inclusion on Asos' marketplace, as explained by CEO Nick Beighton: "Together we will keep an eye peeled for the best in [French] fashion, in order to add local labels to our range. (...) If we find any brand truly appealing, our objective will be to showcase it worldwide."
 
France is indeed a key market for Asos, the third worldwide besides the UK. "In France in particular, fashion e-tailing still has room to grow. For example, 15% of apparel purchases are made online in the UK, while in France I believe the figure is less than 10%. The market with the highest share of online sales is South Korea, where e-tailing accounts for 35%, so there are indeed growth opportunities still [in France]," said Beighton in his interview to FashionNetwork.com, which will be published in its entirety on the FashionNetwork Premium French-language newsletter.