ASOS launches 'sample sale' website as it right-sizes its inventory

ASOS has launched a dedicated pop-up sample sale site with all items priced at just £5, representing in some cases a discount of 90%, as it looks to clear excess inventory.

The website will be live for a limited period only at asossamplesale.com offering a selection of over 2,000 Womenswear and Menswear products from ASOS-owned brands like ASOS Design and ASOS Edition.

Products made available for sale on ASOS Sample Sale will not be available on the main asos.com website and the site is only open to UK customers with delivery and fulfilment handled using ASOS’ existing fulfilment infrastructure and capability, including packaging and shipping.

Delivery is priced at £3 while returns are charged at £2. Customers will need to create a new account, separate from their existing ASOS account, to use the Sample Sale site.

Unsurprisingly much of the stock has already been sold but new drops are promised soon.

An ASOS spokesperson said of the move: “ASOS Sample Sale is a dedicated pop-up website for our UK customers to buy a selection of recent ASOS fashion at sample sale prices for a limited time only, with everything available for just £5. This is part of our plan to right-size our stock portfolio, as announced in our full-year results last year, and gives us another route to clear stock in an effective and efficient way.”

ASOS revealed its intention to 'right-size' its stock portfolio when it announced its full-year results in October 2022. In its most recent trading update on 15 June ASOS reported that it was on track to deliver a 20% year-on-year reduction in stockholding by the end of its current financial year, with inventory in P3 down by around 15% on FY22.

The online fashion giant also struck up a deal with off-price site Secret Sales at the start of the year to clear excess inventory, with sales via that channel also fulfilled by ASOS.