Asos doubles down on Black Friday after profit dives 68 per cent
Asos has vowed to boost its Black Friday discounting this year after a “disappointing” attempt in 2018 weakened the fashion retailer’s bid to attract new customers.
The online marketplace offered a 20 per cent discount to consumers on the annual shopping event last year, however today the firm admitted its offer had been “uncompetitive” compared with its rivals.
Read more: Asos suffers profit slump after disruptive year
New customer acquisition and traffic in the first half of the year were disappointing following poor trading over Black Friday, the company said in its full-year results statement this morning.
An import from the US, Black Friday, which continues over the weekend until Cyber Monday, has become the UK’s major shopping day of the year as retailers slash prices to entice customers.
“Last year Black Friday was disappointing, we are scaling up and are prepared for a much better Black Friday,” chief executive Nick Beighton said in a call with journalists this morning.
“We are all set to capture the opportunity of Black Friday, as well set as we could be, and in a much better position than last year.”
In a note to investors today Peel Hunt said it is expecting a “fairly significant assault on Black Friday” in terms of the scale of offers and a “much longer timetable”.
This morning Asos reported a 68 per cent dive in profits to £33.1m following operational issues with its expansion in the US and Europe.
Shares rose more than 19 per cent, signalling investor confidence in the retailer since the issues at the new warehouses in Germany and the US were resolved, and management’s ability to face hurdles going forward.
Read more: Asos profit warning: Three factors behind online retailer’s fall from grace
“Investors are optimistic that after expensive restructuring across last year, Asos is in a better position to face the challenges ahead,” Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said.
“There is hope that these results represent a line being drawn under last years’ troubles.”
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