ASOS beats forecasts

Leading online retailer ASOS on Wednesday stated the company's sales increased 86 per cent on year for 7 wekks to 20 January 2008. The e-tailer, which sells brands such as Ted Baker, uses the celebrity model as a method to inspire customers. By clicking on a celebrity such as Nicole Richie, several dress options in the 'style of Nicole' will appear. The model has mean huge success for ASOS, and sales for the 42 weeks to 20 January were up 88 per cent on last year.

The company further stated is expects profits to be significantly higher, ahead of market expectations for the year to 31 March 2008. Commenting on Christmas trading, Nick Robertson Chief Executive said:"We had a cracking Christmas. Sales were ahead of internal forecasts, margin remained strong and our stock position healthy. I can confirm that we experienced no major delivery issues in the run up to Christmas."

Since its launch in 2000 ASOS has 1.7 million registered users and is the UK's largest independent online fashion and beauty retailer. Aimed primarily at Internet savvy 16-34 year olds, it offers over 6,500 fashion lines across womenswear, menswear, footwear, accessories, jewellery and beauty. In addition to its extensive own label ranges, ASOS also sells over 135 designer brands.

ASOS.com attracts over 2.6m unique visitors a month. Last summer ASOS was the sole online retailer to promote artists impressions of the iconic Pepsi logo and sold t-shirts with a design by illustrator Vanessa da Silva.