Festive success for ASOS and others

Thursday, January 16, 2014 - 09:55 by Simon Crisp

Yet more retailers dealing with safe shopping online have announced that they enjoyed promising sales in the run up to and over the course of Christmas 2013, according to the Guardian.

Sales at fashion outlet, ASOS, were up by 37 per cent in the final third of the year in the UK and, internationally, it saw them increase by 38 per cent, which indicates that it is managing to penetrate markets in the US and China.

British consumers alone contributed ?134 million to the company's coffers as Christmas drew near, with ASOS chief exec, Nick Robertson, stating that the persistent and regular improvements which have been made to the site over the past decade have allowed it to remain relevant and successful.

This year the distribution centre which ASOS operates in Barnsley will become twice its current size and it will also be expanding into the European market with increased fervour.

Elsewhere in the market for shopping online, it was announced that fashion outlet, Karen Millen, had seen a 12 per cent sales increase in the final month of 2013, with insiders contributing this impressive performance to e-commerce activity rather than high street success.

Kantar Worldpanel revealed figures this month which showed that grocery sales were up by almost a quarter over the same period, which indicates that British consumers are still keen to make the most of the food shopping solutions which are available to them, which has helped to increase online purchases.

There have been suggestions that the best way to leverage the current market is by taking a multichannel approach and operating both online and on the high street. However, pure play e-commerce retailers are showing that it is possible to succeed without any real world presence of any kind.