Asos aims for 90% of sales overseas in 5 years

By

Anne-Sophie Savenier

Published
Apr 10, 2014

Asos, whose turnover is expected to exceed one billion pounds sterling in 2014, has made numerous logistical investments in recent months, thereby reducing its profitability in the first half (ending in late February). But in the long-term, sales should be strengthened by these investments, particularly in China. "We hope that in 5 years, 90% of our sales will be international. Given our growth strategy, we are investing heavily today so that we will be ready tomorrow," said Shaun McCabe, International Director at Asos.

And so, the 81 million euros invested this year should allow Asos to double its sales capabilities through various reinforcement measures: ie, strengthening performance of their UK warehouse, a new Eurohub in Berlin, expansion of its logistics center in Ohio and finally, and most importantly, the launch of a new hub in Shanghai.

Indeed, Asia is an important part of the British e-tailer’s new objectives, having launched a warehouse in China last October. According to Shaun McCabe, international director at Asos, it is a promising start, which is why "within the next 15 days, Asos will also be distributed by T-Mall, China's leader in B2C e-commerce. The website will offer Asos a great deal of visibility. In order to benefit from as much traffic on our own site, we would have had to spend millions on advertising,” adding, " the Chinese are extremely connected, so they represent a tremendous growth opportunity for the group. But in order to take advantage of all these opportunities, we need to rethink the way we communicate and do business. It’s a very attractive market, but it also remains a complicated one.”