“20% off everything” discount claim by ASOS found to be misleading (5 May 2021)

A complaint was raised in respect of a promotional email from ASOS to customers on the basis that it contained misleading discount claims. The subject line and first sentence of the email stated: “20% off everything + free delivery”. However, the offer excluded approximately 1,100 items. Although less than 1% of the products available on Asos.com were excluded and the offer was qualified by an asterisk and further text to clarify that some products were excluded from the promotion, the ASA found that the word “everything” was likely to mislead consumers into believing that the discount was sitewide and applied to all products when it did not. For these reasons, the promotion was in breach of the CAP Code.