ASOS BOUNCES BACK AS IT POSTS STRONG DECEMBER TAKINGS
ASOS, the online fashion retailer, kicked the retail gloom to report a 46 per cent rise in sales in the third quarter boosted by rapid growth overseas and a solid performance in its domestic market.
UK sales growth bounced back to 10 per cent in the second quarter from one per cent in the previous quarter, when founder Nick Robertson conceded the group “took [their] eyes off the ball a bit.”
“We had launched three international websites, we had moved warehouse and launched our new buying and merchandising system. Were we firing all gas cylinders? Probably not,” Robertson told City A.M.
The retailer shipped 3.2m units of clothing and accessories to over 190 different countries in December, driving international sales up by 93 per cent in the period.
This was just slightly below analyst forecast of 100 per cent, however, growth was expected to slow compared with the previous year when they got a boost from introducing their global free shipping initiative.
Asos, which targets women aged 16 to 34, sold 16 dresses a minutes during its busiest period from mid November to mid-December. Their peak day was Sunday 11 December with the launch of “Savvi Sunday” when the website received 2m visits.
On Christmas day, 19 per cent of the traffic on ASOS was via a mobile device.
Robertson, who was made an OBE in the Queen’s 2011 Birthday Honours List, said he doesn’t intend to launch further websites this financial year but will improve current platforms.
Shares rose by 17.96 per cent to 1,760.00p yesterday.