Why Asos should be wary of banning customers returning unwanted goods
- Written by Nic Sanders, Senior Lecturer in Management and Marketing, University of Westminster

Shopping for clothes online is a risky business. How do you know if that top will be a good fit, or those shoes will definitely be the right colour? One popular solution to this predicament is to order lots of tops and lots of shoes, try them on at home, and send back all the ones you don’t want – often at no cost.
But that tactic can be expensive for the fashion retailer, which needs to pay for all those deliveries and returns. And now Asos, which sends millions of shipments every month, has started banning some customers for over-returning items – prompting something of a backlash[1].
The response by the retail giant, which says it wants to maintain[2] a “commitment to offering free returns to all customers across all core markets”, also raises questions about the sustainability of the online fashion business model which Asos helped to create.
Many online retailers rely on the emotional highs of shopping[3]. The excitement of placing an order, the anticipation of delivery, and the dopamine hit of unpacking a purchase is central to its popular customer experience.
For example, retailers such as Zara and H&M, with a business model which mixes online convenience with a high street (or shopping mall) presence, offer the option to order online and then return in person.
This hybrid (or “omni-channel”) model appears to be driving consumers to physical shops for a blended experience[12] which provides convenience and helps reduce return costs.
For Asos, doing something similar would require major investment (in bricks and mortar) and increased operational costs – so is perhaps an unlikely solution for the company.
But to balance sustainability, cost and customer satisfaction, Asos could explore other options. These might include clearer, more visible communication regarding “fair use” policies and their consequences. It could aim for more human interactions and better dialogue with customers it plans to ban.
Offering physical retail locations or return collection points to simplify the process and reduce the environmental impact and costs will provide customer flexibility. Overall, these areas will help create a better customer service experience[13].
Ultimately, Asos and other similar online clothing retailers must evolve. With changing consumer expectations, a challenging economic climate and rising operational costs, the model that defined these retailers’ early success cannot remain unchanged.
If they make adjustments, they may emerge stronger. If they do not, they risk sparking a customer exodus that would be hard to reverse.
References
- ^ something of a backlash (www.retailgazette.co.uk)
- ^ says it wants to maintain (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ emotional highs of shopping (doi.org)
- ^ Sign up to our daily newsletter (theconversation.com)
- ^ routinely returned items (link.springer.com)
- ^ encourage multi-item purchases (doi.org)
- ^ buying behaviour (www.diva-portal.org)
- ^ more likely to buy something (doi.org)
- ^ say they were confused (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ challenge these decisions (doi.org)
- ^ A08/Shutterstock (www.shutterstock.com)
- ^ for a blended experience (uk.nttdata.com)
- ^ better customer service experience (www.forbes.com)