Christmas sales double for ASOS

Fashion-hungry youngsters were today hailed as the secret to success by UK retailer ASOS, which saw its sales more than double over the Christmas period.

The internet retailer said website visitors, sales and average basket value were all at record levels during the festive season.

Sales were up 118% year-on-year for the nine weeks to January 16 and the firm said it now had 1.2 million active customers, an increase of 112%.

Chief executive Nick Robertson said young consumers and internet shopping both demonstrated a resilience to the downturn in spending.

He said the firm boosted Christmas sales by running product promotions and a number of free delivery weekends and while this had an impact on margins, he said it would not affect the firm’s predictions for profits before tax.

These were likely to be in line with expectations for the year to March 31. ASOS said sales for the 42 weeks to January 16 were up 108%.