How To Shop ASOS Like A Pro: The Tips And Tricks To Save You Time (And Energy)

With non-essential shops still closed for the foreseeable future, we’ve all had to get used to navigating the world of online shopping. But reflecting on the past few months, here’s an interesting question: are you a good online shopper or a bad online shopper? Take Christmas. How many hours did you spend scrolling? How many parcels arrived after the big day because you didn’t check the delivery times? And finally, how many presents did you have to return because you got the sizing wrong?

If you’re feeling a little hot under the collar, don’t panic. The world of online shopping can, frankly, be both mystifying and mind-boggling for the most seasoned scrollers. But with our shopping habits likely to be changing for good - with the pendulum swinging even more towards online as opposed to shopping IRL - isn’t it time you honed your skills, eliminating the time wasted on endlessly searching and emerging with an edited basket of what you actually need?

As one of the biggest e-commerce platforms, ASOS is the online shopping world’s Everest. And with last month’s news of its buyout of Arcadia’s Topshop and Miss Selfridge, it’s about to cement its status as the ultimate destination for affordable fashion. But with 5,000 new items going live every week, how do you even start to scale its dizzying heights? We went straight to the source, asking ASOS for all the insider tips you need to shop the site like an absolute pro, as well as our very own panel of experts (AKA, Grazia’s fashion team).

Download The App

The number one tip from ASOS HQ? Downloading the app. Not only is it easier to shop from, but you’ll be the first to know about flash sales, promos like free next day delivery and new brand launches. The app also gives shoppers access to exclusive features such as Style Match, Your Edit and Back In Stock (more on this below) notifications.

Get To Grips With Filters

Instead of trying to ‘complete’ ASOS, apply filters to make your searches more targeted. ‘Before I start scrolling I filter everything starting with brands I like, then I do sizing and price range if I don’t really know what I am looking for,’ says Sophie Henderson, Grazia’s senior fashion market editor. Charlotte Pavitt, fashion assistant, agrees. ‘I always head straight to the ‘New In’, ‘Back In Stock’ and ‘Trending Now’ sections to see what’s been popular, and I always head to dresses and filter by ‘New In Asos Design’. They’re always so good and affordable.’

Keep Your Eye On Back In Stock Notifications

On ASOS’s app, you can choose to be notified if an item you’ve saved has sold out. If you can’t wait, however, it serves you suggestions of similar items (‘You Might Also Like’).

Shop Smart To Minimise Returns

The goal with online shopping is obviously to not return anything so, while it might be tempting, try to do your due diligence first. A great tip for working out whether something will fit is to look closely at the model’s height and what size they’re wearing. If they’re 5’10 and their skirt’s hemline skims the mid-thigh, it will be closer to your knee if you’re 5’6, for example. Also make use of Fit Assistant, a tool that takes information you provide and tailors it to what similar shoppers have bought. The idea is that you’ll get recommendations that aim to be as accurate as possible so that you don’t have to go down the ordering four sizes, knowing that you’ll have to return at least three, route.

Take Advantage Of The Technology

If you spot something you like on Instagram, say, you can now use the app’s photo search technology, Style Match, to find similar items on ASOS. Simply snap and upload an image and it’ll show you all the brand’s closest matches. If you’re mulling over potential purchases, and want to make sure they complement one another, experiment with the app’s shared boards in Saved Items, which allow you to curate your own looks/edits.

Don’t Forget To Check Out ASOS’s 850 Other Brands

As well as its own labels - ASOS Design, ASOS Edition, ASOS 4505, ASOS Luxe - ASOS has 850 fashion brands, and 240 face and body brands. ‘I think people forget they stock some great mid-range/occasionwear brands like C/MEO Collective, Faithfull The Brand, For Love and Lemons and Simonett,’ says Pavitt, who also swears by its beauty offering. ‘They have such a good beauty edit so I always end up slipping something new from brands like Dr Dennis Gross, Ouai and Sunday Riley into an order,’ she says. ASOS Marketplace is a great resource for independent and vintage boutiques (it started in 2010 with just 20 sellers and now has more than 1,300), and also has a section for charity boutiques, where 100% of purchases go towards charities such as Cancer Research, Save The Children, Oxfam, Royal Trinity Hospice and The British Red Cross.