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Bloomberg
Asos Plc’s domestic sales growth rebounded over the holidays as the UK’s largest online-only fashion retailer profited at the expense of store-based rivals.
Sales in the UK, Asos’s largest market, rose 23 percent to $429 million in the four months ended on December 31, the London-based company said. The shares rose as much as 1.3 percent, recouping early losses.
“ASOS is enjoying the kind of sales growth that traditional retailers would give their eye teeth for,†said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. The growth at Asos, which targets fashion-conscious twenty-somethings, is part of an accelerating shift online that’s hurting UK bricks-and-mortar retailers and their billionaire owners.
Philip Green’s retail chains, including TopShop, recently requested price cuts from suppliers, citing the increased cost of doing business online.
Meanwhile dwindling sales at New Look Retail Group Ltd., part-owned by South Africa’s Christo Wiese, has prompted the company to reassure
investors that it has adequate liquidity.
While things are tough for Britain’s town-centre retailers, competition is heating up online, too. Boohoo.com Plc
doubled its sales in the 10 months to December 31 and Amazon.com Inc. has made the fashion market a priority. To insulate itself, Asos has introduced same-day delivery and a service that allows shoppers to return unwanted garments free of charge.