In a trading statement for the three months ended September 2010, retail sales at ASOS soared 47 per cent year-on-year. UK sales rose 21 per cent to £43.7 million ($68.8 million) and international sales more than doubled, up 128 per cent to £26.0 million ($40.8 million) in the second quarter. Following the launch of its US website in September, London-based apparel etailer ASOS will launch its French and German-language sites by the end of October.
At Mothercare, a British retailer/cataloguer of nursery and maternity goods, overseas retail sales in the first half of 2010 exceeded UK retail sales for the first time. Total UK sales were down half a per cent in the 28 weeks ended 9th October despite direct sales delivering a 15.8 per cent growth in the first half. International retail sales rose 17.3 per cent during the period and chief executive Ben Gordon said in a statement that he expects to open at least 150 new overseas stores this year, that’s “fifty more than our previous estimate, increasing retail space by at least 20 per cent”.
International expansion is also on the to-do list at N Brown Group. Its chairman, Lord Alliance, said that the groups Simply Be Germany business “had a good season” in the half year to 28th August, “with lower costs per new recruit and high rates of customer retention.” Following this performance, N Brown plans to double catalogue distribution in the second half of the year. In the US, Lord Alliance is
optimistic for the prospects of newly launched apparel title Simply Be. “Our international strategy is to target the major home shopping markets in the world where we see the best opportunity to utilise the brands, products and creative assets which already exist in our business,” he said. To help keep costs down and minimise risk, N Brown will fulfil all orders from its UK distribution centres.
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