We at ASOS value all our freight services as it allows the consumers to receive our fabulous products. We use three of four freight services available which are air, sea and road freight. We think about the cost, speed, efficiency, reliability, environmental issues and time as we seek to please our customers. However, all come with disadvantages that we take into consideration within our distribution process. We manufacture our products in numerous locations such as China, Turkey, India and Brazil.
ASOS is a strictly online retailer meaning the cost of distribution is one of the major factors of selling our products. Distributions acts as a ‘middle man’ as we do not have a bricks and mortar store. Sea overall is the cheapest option for transportation with crate costing £52.27 allowing us as a retailer to ship large quantities of product. However, the weather is an unstable factor of sea freight as bad weather would slow down the process of distribution. Road freight has no fixed cost, it’s depending on the amount and weight of the products which leaves us at an advantage as the lighter the products, the lower the cost. Road freight is also often used for short distances so the shorter time travelled, lower fuel consumption and the cheaper it is. Air freight however, is one of the most expensive type of freight. Charged by weight and having to do long journeys which increase its cost.
Cost
We look to provide a service to ASOS customers with the upmost speed. We order all our products in advance due to the time and speed of our transport. This depends on the distances of our destinations, the products need to be ready to be sent via air freight to the UK as our distribution centre is in Barnsley, North London. All our products on the last step of the distribution centre (warehouse to customer) is distributed via road freight by Hermes. We value all our freights although road and air freight both have their disadvantages. Speed/time for road freight has restrictions, the national speed limits, the unpredictable weather and possible breakdown of the vehicle. Also, traffic will cause delays and road accidents may cause damage to stock. However, air freight can hold large amount of products but it takes 12 hours to be received from China. Our sea freight is only used for basics as this freight is unable to react to fast fashion as it take 3-6 weeks for arrival of products but with fast items they would need to order in advance.
Speed & Time
Reliability and efficiency are important for us to provide the best service to our customers. We leave enough time for our products to arrive on time with tracking options for all our products once it has reached the warehouse. If there are any delays in the distribution production we inform all our customers via email and social networking sites. For our plane freights, we ensured that we have reliable departure and arrival times if products are 'over-late' customer will receive compensation. Road freight also has priority at night as other individuals are otherwise busy or sleeping. All our freights also have day and night shipping and low theft rates. However, there is a possibility of weather delays.
Reliability & Efficiency
As a company, we look to take care of the environment, measuring our carbon footprint allows to find a way of reducing it. It's important as we have had rapid growth the last couple of years. We use three freights in consideration as we want to produce low emissions. Our flight freights transports large quantities with high emissions but overall transports more than other freights. Road freights are used for short journeys therefore producing less emissions than other freights. However, one train equals 40 trucks leaving us to consider train as a freight due to the amount of exhaust fumes. Sea also transport large amount but contributes to global warming. That's why we use all in turn to allow us to keep our carbon footprint down.
Environmental
ASOS Distribution of Products