 |
| John Mooney, Head of Menswear Design at ASOS |
What is a typical day like as Head of Menswear Design at ASOS?
Busy….ha! Though it feels like everyone here is busy these days, which is definitely linked to being online only, with all our focus being on global. The internet never turns off and around the world, someone is always awake and placing an order on our site. With that in mind, we're constantly getting another stack of analysis that could potentially shift and change the shape of our range. In my experience, at ASOS, we get data instantly, with immediate sales analysis, which creates the twists and turns in our seasonal calendar and the expectation of what the day will hold. We have key periods of peak development, where we develop our new seasonal trends, travel, develop product across the globe, etc. but the day-to-day is also full of surprises. My role currently is split between Design, Creative and PR: working with the team on the key trend and commercial product we have in the range (we’re currently expanding all ranges massively), talking to our creative team about how we should message it and then looking from a PR perspective at what events we should have in place to promote the line and where/when we should be giving it visibility. Again, I think it's just the nature of online retail and being global…the whole team is busy, but enjoying the journey.
Do you find yourself designing with more men in mind as ASOS gains momentum in the online retail industry? (I.e. Do you design for a wider menswear customer to reach a broader audience as the site expands in the US?)
Yeah, most definitely. I've been at ASOS for three and a half years now and the range has greatly changed. We have a bigger workforce that is able to drive innovation as our consumer base continues to grow. With the wider (global) customer base we are obviously open to much greater influences. We definitely don't want to be and don't think we can be everything to everybody, though we can curate the best selections that we think have the broadest global appeal. Menswear trends are definitely more global and we find the drip-feed nature of trend from country to country happening at a far more accelerated rate than before. That said, not every guy wants trend, which is something we need to appreciate and ensure that our range has the correct balance. We also benefit from having no space restrictions. Our store doesn't have walls and we're not limited to the stock we can hold; we can therefore hold both Summer & Autumn and Winter & Spring at the same time, which is key since many of our markets have opposite seasons. While brick & mortar retailers have to move stock out to bring new season stock in, we can sell both.
How do you design for a demographic that you don’t physically see walking into a store? Agreed, we don't see them…physically. However, imagine a customer going into a store and making a purchase. Then a month or so later, he goes in again and makes another purchase. These purchases are not linked – some might be paid on card, some as cash, some on gift card, etc. – the retailer has no idea what that shopper’s habits are, though yes, they can see them. For us, as you log in all that data is stored and we can see how an individual's shopping habits have changed - what they looked at before they purchased, if and what they added to their basket then removed. The reality is that we can’t see them yet we probably know them better than any other retailer. This is definitely the future and the way forward - to treat all shoppers as individuals and know what their likes and dislikes are. Oh yeah, and now because social media is so important, our shoppers actually show us what they look like. You've only got to look at our Instagram page to see how they look. Win win.
