Online fashion retailer Asos has posted a sales leap for the four months to 31 December, as it emerged as a clear winner over the Christmas period.
The company, who has 7.9m active customers from 237 countries, posted a total sales rise of 38 per cent to £335.7m while sales in the UK – its biggest market – rose 37 per cent to £133.7m.
Nick Robertson, Asos‘s chief executive, said: “We have enjoyed another strong Christmas and made a good start to the financial year. Retail sales in the UK were particularly strong.
“These results were driven by significant improvements to our customer proposition, including better delivery options, additional payment methods and the rollout of our premier service in key international markets.”
The fast-fashion firm, which stocks over 850 brands and has an own-brand offering, joins John Lewis and Next – who focused on online operations – as clear Christmas winners after early high-street discounting hurt Debenhams and Marks & Spencer.
John Pal, retail expert at Manchester Business School, commented: “ASOS is showing many rivals a clean pair of heels when it comes to new ways of retailing. Not only that, but the retailer claims to be the second most visited fashion web site on the planet, so trade looks to be heading only one way – upwards.”
Asos, which was founded 14 years ago, is now valued at £5.8bn – just £2bn less than high-street stalwart M&S.
