Lush on ASOS
On 7th June 2021 we will be launching 17 Lush product kits, plus 4 shampoo bars, for sale on ASOS. ASOS is a British online fashion and cosmetic retailer. The website sells over 850 brands as well as its own range of clothing and accessories, and ships all over the world. This will be the first time we’ve partnered with another company to sell products and reach potentially massive new audiences. Our boxes will be available to ship to all countries except for MENA and partner market countries.
A year in the making, this collaboration aims to help put Lush where the customers are, and leave them loving Lush and embracing the products and ethics that drive us.
Why ASOS?
We’re all familiar with the Secret Lush Masterplan, and we all know we want to be number one in every category, help create a cosmetic revolution and Leave the World Lusher than we found it. But we also know we cannot do that alone, by growing a network of people and brands we will increase our reach and our ability to achieve our plan.
Active users on ASOS amount to over 24 million, compared to Lush’s 1.5 million. Like selecting a prominent high street or shopping centre, we know ASOS is a prominent digital platform where customers in their millions are shopping, so we wanted to sell a selection of our hero products, and those items we know should be hero ones, on there. The aim is to introduce the ASOS audience to wonderful, effective Lush products and hopefully make them curious to learn more about our other products and us as a business. As Mark has previously stated: “For the sake of the environment, we NEED to be number one” in the cosmetics industry.
Ethical Consumer gives ASOS an Ethiscore of 8. This was one of the highest scores of all clothing brands in their report. ASOS is in the top 10% of UK companies who have a handle on what’s happening with their supply chains. In comparison John Lewis clothing gets a 5, M&S and Next get a 6, Zara gets an 8 and Patagonia at the top of the table gets a 12/13 (Lush is rated a 12). We consulted Ethical Consumer for their opinions on this partnership and Lush is currently having conversations with counterparts in ASOS to see if the two companies can learn from each others’ strengths and best practice across several areas:
ASOS is recognised as a leader in this area, and cutting edge when it comes to its stance and how it encourages third parties on its site to adhere to it. We want to continue developing our policy on modern slavery, so are talking with ASOS’s responsible sourcing team (who work closely with human rights NGOs as experts in the area) to strengthen the work we have already done.
ASOS states the following in its animal welfare policy in regards to animal testing: “In accordance with the EU animal testing ban that came into effect on 11th March 2013, brands selling cosmetic products in the EU through any of ASOS’ websites must comply with the requirements of EU law. Some beauty brands sold through ASOS.com, who also sell their products through other channels, may still be testing on animals if required by local market regulations. ASOS is committed to working with the industry to achieve a worldwide ban on animal testing.”
Our teams are currently in discussion with ASOS to discuss ways we could use our extensive knowledge in this area to help them with this.
- Discussing with ASOS our organic and sustainable sources of cotton supply in case they wish to further expand in this area, building on ASOS’ cotton sourcing policy and commitments to source 100% more sustainable cotton by 2025.
- Packaging – learning about Lush’s packaging solutions and innovations from our inhouse teams. ASOS is also innovating in the packaging space with up to 90% recycled content in its bags, and has signed up to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, making a number of pledges on its packaging. Read more here.
- Charitable giving – for 10 years The ASOS Foundation has provided infrastructure, training and support to enable disadvantaged young adults to reach their potential. Mainly focused on projects in the UK, they’ve recently expanded this to include projects in India and Kenya – to encompass the communities closer to their supply chains. Our teams have been discussing the potential to introduce ASOS to some regenerative groups from our networks.
The retail landscape has changed over the past year, with online retail soaring in popularity – as millions of shoppers have realised they prefer the convenience of shopping from the comfort of their own sofa, we too have to adapt. We have invested in improving our own infrastructure and are launching our new website and commerce app on 7th June (iOS and Android) – with improved functionality and shopping experience. However we want to increase our reach beyond our current audience.
We are selling on ASOS to be able to provide its 24.9 million customers with ethical effective cosmetic options, as part of its wider Face & Body offering. We always choose our shop locations in the highest footfall areas, and we’ve made this decision about an online retail partner in the same way. There are many websites that we will not sell through, because of their ethics – however we chose ASOS for this partnership as we feel it is more active in trying to mitigate and reduce its impact through its Fashion With Integrity programme. We did seek independent advice on ASOS’s ethics and were reassured to hear about a lot of the impressive work being done, especially in eradicating modern slavery, not just in their own supply chains but also the industry as a whole. See Ethical Consumer’s report here
Even if we only turn 1% of ASOS’s unique users into Lush customers, that’s hundreds of thousands of new people using our wonderful, effective Lush products with embedded values. This would enable us to further our cosmetics revolution and invest in more regenerative projects around the world, leaving more of the world lusher than we found it. We want to create a revolution in the cosmetic industry and we need a bigger slice of the industry to do that.
Although this is a new direction for Lush, we remain committed to being a truly regenerative business. We are driving towards having a carbon positive supply chain with 3 aims: protect, restore and regenerate, whilst remaining committed to removing palm, ending animal testing and being truly accountable for the end of life of our packaging. These commitments won’t change.
Staff updates
As a staff member, you will also have received an email sharing various questions and responses on this collaboration. If you have not received the email, dated 2nd June 2021, let your manager know.
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