November 8th, 2023, Janice Fernandes
In February 2021, when online fashion retailer Asos bought Topshop, the women’s fashion brand almost instantly switched to online only. But now as Asos looks to offload Topshop, how much value remains in the brand?
Looking specifically at Topshop’s main target customers (18-29-year-olds), data from YouGov BrandIndex from six months before the brand was taken over (1 August 2020) to date (31 October 2023), shows that the retailer’s Index scores (a metric that conveys overall brand health using the average of Impression, Value, Quality, Reputation, Satisfaction, and Recommend scores) slipped from 12.4 to 8.8 on 1 February 2021 when it was acquired. The brand’s health momentarily improved in early 2022 only to crash again. As of 31 October 2023, it stood at 5.4%.
Digging into media metrics reveals that Topshop’s Awareness score among young consumers has stayed consistently in the 80-90 points range even after the takeover. Its Buzz scores, a way to measure sentiment behind what people have heard about a brand, sank from 0.3 six months before the takeover to a low of -12.0 on the day (1 February 2021). But these have since climbed again to the most recent score of 0.5, marking a full recovery.
What effect is Topshop's online-only presence having further down the purchase funnel?
Topshop’s Consideration scores (which is a measure of the share of consumers who would consider purchasing from the brand the next time they are in the market), fell by 6.2 points going from 20.1 on 1 February 2020 to 13.9 on 31 October 2023.
Similarly, Topshop’s Current Customer score has fallen steeply among young consumers. However, data reveals that this decline started before stores closed and during the pandemic – going from 14.6 on 1 March 2020 to 6.5 on 1 February 2021 and posting a score of 3.6 on 31 October 2023.
Data reveals a significant decline in Topshop's brand health and customer engagement, raising questions about its remaining worth as Asos seeks to offload it, with the once-iconic fashion brand facing considerable challenges.
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Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. A brand’s Index score is an overall measure of brand health, made up of General Impression, Customer Satisfaction, Quality, Value, Corporate Reputation and Recommendation and delivered as a net score. Its Current Customer score is based on the question: Do you currently have a car or truck from any of the following car makers? Data from surveys of adults aged 18 years and above residing in UK from 1 January 2019, and 31 October 2023. The figures are based on a 8-week moving average. Learn more about BrandIndex.
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