Fashion e-tailer Asos has today reported a 45 per cent year-on-year rise in total retail sales in its third quarter, driven by strong international growth.
For the three months ended May 31st 2013, UK retail sales leapt 39 per cent year-on-year to £64.3 million as international sales rose 48 per cent, representing 67 per cent of total sales.
Retail gross margin increases by 10 basis points over the period and the e-tailer expects a further rise in the next quarter “which should result in a small improvement for the year as a whole”, according to Asos CEO Nick Robertson.
Last week, Asos announced that it has teamed up with fast fashion retailer Primark to offer the latter‘s products on its site and experts note that this is likely to drive further growth in the UK.
Anusha Couttigane, Consultant at analyst firm Conlumino, explained: “Asos caught the retail world unawares when it unveiled budget fashion chain Primark as its latest addition, two months after the chief executive of Primark‘s parent company ABF ruled out launching an online operation.
“A capsule collection of 20 womenswear products introduced to Asos‘ website earlier this month has already grown to over 60 menswear and womenswear lines.
“This move underpins ASOS‘ focus on expanding its value-level offer in the UK, having joined forces with New Look last year, which also offsets the premiumisation it has seen in recent times with brands like Antipodium.
“Its partnership with Primark comes as a testament to Asos‘s unfailing ability to surprise and also reflects its considered response to the prevailingly budget-driven nature of consumer culture in Britain.”
Asos launched a website in Russia at the start of last month, five months ahead of schedule, and is set to extend its online reach further in the months ahead.
Commenting on the strong performance, Robertson said: “Our UK sales grew by 39 per cent as our customers continued to respond well to our price investments.
“We continue to see stronger growth in those countries where we have dedicated websites and in-country teams, notably in the US, France, Germany and Australia.
“We remain positive in our outlook for the year to August 31st 2013 and expect our full year results to be in line with expectations.”
