© Reuters. A mannequin walks on an in-house catwalk on the ASOS headquarters in London April 1, 2014. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
LONDON (Reuters) -On-line trend retailer ASOS (LON:) reported a 3% fall in income over the 4 months to the tip of December, harm by weaker demand and supply disruption in its largest market Britain and making it one of many laggards within the sector.
Britain is within the midst of a cost-of-living disaster however rival retailers with bodily outlets corresponding to Subsequent outperformed ASOS within the interval as customers prioritised festive spending and selected to go to shops moderately than fear about supply points.
ASOS stated UK gross sales have been down 8% within the interval which it blamed on weak shopper sentiment, earlier closing dates for Christmas deliveries as a result of supply issues and a tricky comparability towards final yr when the pandemic favoured on-line.
José Antonio Ramos Calamonte, ASOS’s chief government who took over final yr, needs to overtake the corporate’s enterprise mannequin after income dived following the tip of pandemic restrictions and after a string of operational issues.
Britain’s supply community was hamstrung in the course of the ultimate months of 2022 by greater than a dozen days of postal walk-outs.
Illustrating the problem for online-only retailers, knowledge from IMRG confirmed that on-line retail gross sales within the UK fell for the primary time ever final yr, down 10.5% year-on-year, partly as a result of outlets opened up after COVID-19 closures.
ASOS stated in its assertion on Thursday it was making good progress with its plan to enhance profitability though it will make a loss within the six months to the tip of March. European gross sales grew 6% within the interval.
