Asos defies the world

LONDON — ASOS.com, the London-based online fashion retailer, which made its name spotlighting celebrity-influenced looks, is setting its sights globally.

Asos has doubled its annual profit and is confident of another good year ahead, the firm said today in its financial results.
The company attributed the results to the successful launch of ASOS Outlet, Designer Brands at ASOS and Little ASOS, as well as significant expansion of its own-label, including ASOS Maternity and ASOS Black.

If we look deeper, the use of social media was also one of the highlights for the firm over the past year, with official pages being set up on Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.
“It is clear that the structural shift to online continues and I believe that Asos is ideally placed to exploit it,” said chief executive Nick Robertson.
With Twitter, the firm used a different approach, by allocating 55 staff members to actively talk to customers in addition to providing real-time news, offers and service updates. As a result, Asos now claims to have the largest Twitter following of all UK retailers.

Consolidation appears to be the trend among online retailers, with Asos amassing a huge number of brands to become a fashion portal.
It looks as if Robertson has bricks-and-clicks retailer Next in his sights — it has a seven per cent share of the online clothing market and Asos has nearly five per cent, more than Top Shop or New Look.

Smile girls, it is happiness…