![With its affordable price range, ASOS will makes it easier for American millennials to stay trendy. [Image via Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/8/9/660x290/b_502x220x82/photo-via-pexelscom-creative-commons-license-cc-0_1498813.jpg "With its affordable price range, ASOS will makes it easier for American millennials to stay trendy. [Image via Wikimedia Commons]")
Fast Fashion brands, H&M and Zara, need to pick up the pace in the U.S. Their market shares are dropping, and it will only get worse with the arrival of ASOS, the largest online fast fashion company in the UK.
Fast fashion isn’t fast enough
Gone are the days when looking fashionable cost you an arm and a leg. Consumers are trading in their loyalty for brands like H&M and Zara for the fastest supplier around. Are U.S. companies prepared for this new kid on the block?
J. Crew and Gap, for example, are already facing challenges from Everlane, a San Francisco-based e-commerce site that’s creating preppy alternatives which American Millennials love, as is evidenced by a 200 percent increase in sales between 2013 and 2014.
It won’t get any easier for these companies once ASOS officially arrives. This fast fashion company makes it even easier for the struggling millennial to stay up to date with trendy, yet affordable pieces. According to Goldman Sachs, ASOS can design and deliver new items quicker than Zara, which ships new pieces to international stores every single week.
ASOS is a favorite among American millennials
ASOS isn’t new to U.S. consumers. Young shoppers already spend their paychecks on ASOS, where they have access to approximately 4,000 new pieces on a weekly basis. ASOS is spreading more quickly in the U.S. than in the rest of the world, with a 50 percent increase in sales during 2016 alone, compared to 28 percent in Europe and 9 percent in the rest of the world.
ASOS directors see a U.S. home base as a very lucrative investment for their growing company - $40 million, to be precise. Furthermore, a U.S.-based center can also help to assuage drops in the European market following Brexit.
ASOS builds new fulfillment center near Atlanta, Georgia
At just half the size of the main warehouse in Barnsley, England, the new fulfillment center, based near Atlanta, Georgia, will only have space for 10 million items.
But it’s a good enough start and will deliver quicker shipments to fast fashion fans.
Why Georgia? Brent Dorfman, ASOS Vice President of Logistics, says that “Atlanta is an ideal location for us, it is vibrant and growing international city with a diverse culture. We will use the region’s transportation network and deep pool of talent to deliver ASOS’ best-in-class service to US customers.”
Who benefits from ASOS' move in the U.S.?
It’s estimated that ASOS’ transatlantic voyage will provide more than 1,500 new jobs to people living in Georgia. Let’s hope that the American employees fare better than British laborers, where rumors of exploitation are surfacing, along with accusations of poor working conditions, and a 2014 fire to boot.
