asos... nosedives

[Ultralife]

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remember BOO.....

[aotagain]

Gavin,
If you are still watching...

The 'got shareholders to answer to' is just flannel. So Fidelity are telling you how to run your business - I think not.

"work closer with our top affiliates..."
Don't forget, the grotty little backroom workers might have become top affiliates, but won't now.

"I'd be happy to discuss...in private".
Erm, that's not the way aff. marketing works.

"...it appears that it has been very easy to promote ASOS, so much so, that we have been, in effect, paying twice for a single customer"
What you mean you've been paying out double commissions ?!!!

Why is it that two of the biggest corporations on the planet, with daily and even hourly changing stuff for sale still run affiliate programs ? And even people who just generate a bit now and again are still included.
( ebay and amazon )

[Barry]

Now I wasn't that annoyed when I had the mail through TD as I use good old POR.

Now I have had the same mail through POR (as sort of expected)

Now I am making about £100 a month through them - I am not a spyware company - I am not a scamster - I am not using static banners - I am not misrepresenting their products - I have a good description of their site on mine - I do not backfill with rubbish - i do not spam the serps

I also detect that the mail may be a circular?

Its like having a boss bulling you at work all over again - putting you in situations that may lose you you livelyhood unless you do what they say - and no time to plan or restructure. Just a 7 day notice on what I think should be 30 days.

I feel for any employee of ASOS who is being told to do this - this is the wrong way to approach reasonable people - this is our job you are messing with here - you know we earn money to feed our kids (or plan for them!) and pay the rent - and the restructuring of your company effects our ability to earn directly.

I just that glad that I don't have my eggs in one basket.

I am not at the point of dropping the program quite yet - just wait and see if I get accepted again and then I may start to have a bit of a benny (or at least use some of the suggested merchants recommended in this thread)

[aclarke656]

This ASOS debacle is just a too perfectly crafted Ratner moment, I can only think that the MD wants out from the company and is seeking a quick golden farewell, or wants to take the company private again and would like a share price drop.. there has got to be a hidden motive behind this, nobody can be this stupid.

[woutermols]

Barry,

Someone quite close to this forum actually resigned over a similar situation as this. For the simple reason that senior management interfered in an area of which they have no in depth knowledge, understanding or expertise. They also do not know the people that are promoting them or even how they are promoting them. And all that while the revenue stream of it is:

1. Quantifiable to the last penny.
2. Profitable.
3. Relatively cheap (considering the merchant gets to keep the customer into their database and can email that customer to get them back into the merchant's shop long after the cookie has expired, even with a 60 day cookie).

Put on top of that the free brand awareness (it can drive a relatively unknown company into the spotlight, so much so that they become number 2 in Hitwise).

It says to me they are slowly killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

[drivetowin]

Barry

I'm tempted to say "wake up and smell the coffee".

My personal feel is that anyone who continues to promote ASOS or reapplies to them after this debacle deserves what they get - if someone can treat you with so little respect why oh why oh why do you still want to deal with them? - I'm sorry but to me it just shows you have a very low opinion of your own worth.

Of course the email is a circular, you dont really think Gavin sat down and wrote hundreds (maybe even thousands of emails) individually.

If Gavin has actually looked at all of our affiliate sites I will publicly eat my hat - if he had bothered to look at the sites he would not have removed half of the sites (in fact probably 75% of the sites) from the programme.

All he has done is a number crunching exercise - this would explain why some affiliates have found the same site rejected on TD yet approved on POR or vice versa - it depends which link they put most business through.

I'm sorry but I don't have any sympathy for Gavin - the email from Nick Robertson the CEO of ASOS read quite clearly to me that this was Gavin's invention, and if Gavin is taking any comfort from Nicks statement that he has the full support of the board then let's hope that Gavin has never been the manager of a football club!!

Gavin and ASOS had the perfect opportunity today to admit they had scored a major own goal, eat humble pie and retract the emails (or even prevent the POR ones being sent out)

They chose not to do that and in doing so have dug their own grave.

Oh and Gavin - some career advice for you - the phrase for your next job is "would you like fries with that?"

[OLBG]

Personally I feel theyve been in a downward spiral since Jon Kamaluddin replaced John Morgan as FD. They seem to have become very uncommercial and cost focused, probably driven by their warehouse problems (again doh!) but also from what appears to be a complete lack of undertanding of how imternet marketing works.

[aotagain]

Will we wake up in the morning to find its all a nasty dream - because that's what it feels like ?

Incidentally, does anyone think those emails had the 'corporate' feel of TD - they just remind me of the emails that I've had (3 months after applying to the odd program) that say declined/disapproved - please feel free to reapply.

Then when you phone the merchant directly and say hey, look at our site - they go "yeah that's a great site - we'll switch you on".

[Stuff4nowt]

Sales jump for online fashion retailer

Online fashion retailer Asos expects to meet market forecasts for pre-tax profits, which will be "not less than £1.05m."

The online fashion retailer, which specialises in duplicating styles popularised by celebrites, issued a pre close trading update ahead of full results for the year to March 31.

In March, Asos downgraded profits forecasts to between £1.05m to £1.2m, blaming short term warehousing problems which had delayed stock appearing on the website.

The company estimates that group sales for the full year increased by 79 per cent to £13.4m, with over 580,000 registered customers, and 1m unique customers in March.

Chief executive Nick Robertson said: "The move to the new 70,000 sq ft warehouse has been scheduled for the first week in August. This has not, and will not effect current trading, as stock in the business is currently 30-40 per cent lower than pre-Christmas levels.

"I remain optimistic about the prospects for the year ending March 2006. Young fashion appears to be more resilient to macro economic pressures and the company will benefit from a full year of sales for the additional departments added throughout 2004."

hmmm. from a search on Google News.

1 million unique users in March.

Given this article is only 12 hours old i've taken the precuation of warning all the financial pages of newspapers that the downgraded forecasts about a warehouse might not be the only thing on the medium-term horizon.

Given the guaranteed loss of sales and exposure they might need to cool down the bigging-up in the financial pages with their readers money at stake - especially given the beating shareholders took today.

[morleymouse]

Its all about respect and reputation really, id never heard of this gavin chap before but thouhgt why not give hi ma chance, dropped him an email in first few days of is job to ssay hi and welcome him etc

now im off POR but still on TD.

Its obviously from the length of this thread, and the posters in it (affiliate of the year 2004 and 2005 as well as many runner ups) that this is not a good move for affiliates.

If you wre offering 12% to performing affiliates a few months ago why are you nocking them down to 10% of throwing them out completely now? They pay me **** at work but if they cut my pay id take a slash down the front door and go home.

last year (if i remember right) ASOS didnt pay dividents to its directors (or something like that, my dad & myself were going to invest in shares but i told him not to) bet they do this year.

Would gavin take a pay cut?

I think wouter's post regarding jess saying that gavin wasn't capable and then him taking the position anyway says it all. Ive worked with jess before, and as far as im concerened what she says goes. She knows her stuff, and is nice - hence an asset to anyone that knows her or works with her.

Ive nicely filled out my database with bone clothing and frank is frank feeds and jst need to update the main menu now to reflect this, this asos feed is so out of date its useless, my top 40 it now automatically generated and ill send gavin an email just before i leave fore crete (paid for by asos) saying that im terminating my partnership unless im put back on 12% and a 60% day cookie. And no i dont expect them to be forfilled.

I will actively work now to out rank asos on their keywords, i will bid on restricted terms and will work to push other fashion merchants.

Are asos looking to be bought out, all their pess seems to be on how much there making and what a great company they are, while all the time there cutting their costs.

[eliteshops]

[I]
Chief executive Nick Robertson said: "The move to the new 70,000 sq ft warehouse has been scheduled for the first week in August. This has not, and will not effect current trading, as stock in the business is currently 30-40 per cent lower than pre-Christmas levels.

I can picture it now Nick & Gavin rattling in the warehouse, surrounded by stock, shares busted, crying over coffee just wishing for a link from a website.

Unfortunately, if they want sympathy its in the dictionary between **** & syphallis

I agree with Kieth, this could only have been Gavins idea. If my boss came and told me to slash my affiliates and I was the affiliate manager I would be questioning my future as well. Can anyone be this stupid?

Unfortunately Gav, the e-commerce world is quite closely knit and when (not if) you become the scapegoat theres a nice hat waiting for you at KFC!! as no respectable merchant is going to want you as an affiliate manager

[Barry]

This thread just gets better!

Keith I don't mind being told to wake up and smell the coffee. Most of the time I get ripped off because I'm just to nice - normally its my wife that tells me to tell people to sling their hook! (I'm a bit gullible maybe even simple!)

morleymouse - I'd be there taking a slash with you! (well just after actually, i have always dislike the communial aspect of male toilets!)

eliteshops - although some of the top earner are on here, it is unfortunate that there are many affiliates who do not frequent this site - although I have the same picture of that warehouse as I speak! lol

[Barry]

Another thing - isn't it a contrast!

I mean asos with jess and without. Thinking about it I can't see this ever happening if jess was in control - so I think that some responsibilty for this fiasco has to be taken by gav - even if you just put it down to a bad experience!

We don't hate you gav (well I don't) but people are really offended by this restructure - if you want to try and save (it may be too late) your program - make some input and 'manage your affiliates exspectations' or whatever the buzz phrase is at the moment!

[stevenm]

They say Rome wasn't built in a day but it seems like it can fall in that time. The big question is, are the senior people at ASOS going to sit like Nero and fiddle while it burns to the ground or are they going to try to restore some affiliate confidence? Is it already too late?

Steven

[lakrasia]

people are really offended by this restructure

Personally, it's not the restructure that offends me. A drop in commission is always upsetting, but if a merchant apologises and gives a reason (unlike ediets - grrr), I can make my own decision about whether to continue.

What's offensive is being told that one of my sites is being dumped, without being told which one or why. If I'd been told - do this to such and such to comply with the new guidelines, I'd have no objections - merchants do that all the time (especially with ppc rules) and no-one complains to this extent.