Lessons in Agility from ASOS’s Drop in Profits

ASOS, a leading online fashion retailer, experienced a significant decline in profits due to major IT issues. Investing over $900 million in digital stocking and order fulfillment did not lead to the anticipated success, and major fulfillment issues affected delivery times and customer experience. Expansion posed major risks, as processes that worked in their UK centers did not necessarily translate easily to different work cultures. The lesson here is to assess the risks of widespread digital or automated processes, to use business agile methodologies, such as constant testing and assessment and to recognize the fundamentals of one's business.