Asos Outshines High-Street Rivals As Online-Only Model Bears Fruit

Originally launched as As Seen On Screen, Asos should perhaps now be known as A Scourge Of Shops. The Aim-quoted online retailer is enjoying sales growth that its high-street rivals could not even dream of. This week, the company said retail sales were up 30 percent in the four months to June, compared with a year earlier. Customer numbers hit 12m — a quarter higher than in 2015. Twenty-somethings may not be saving up for a deposit on a house or paying into their pension, but they sure seem to be shopping at Asos. The company’s recent performance is in stark contrast to bricks-and-mortar rivals. Primark’s like-for-like sales growth has averaged 4.6 per cent over the past 15 years, according to Morgan Stanley. But it slowed last year, then fell 0.7 per cent in the first half of this year. Read more at Financial Times.