M and M Direct, Britain’s second-largest online fashion retailer, is entering the German market after a surge in Christmas sales. Its performance will raise the bar for Asos, its larger, quoted rival, which will update the City on its trading today.
Sales at M and M, which is discount-orientated, in contrast with the upmarket position of Asos, rose 21 per cent in the ten weeks to January 3. Internet orders went up 30 per cent to more than 800,000, comprising 2.7 million items. International sales rose strongly, helped by a strong euro.
Steve Robinson, the former chief executive of Tesco Direct, who runs M and M, said that a Germanlanguage website would be launched this year. He added: “International will be an increasing part of the business. But we also want to keep growing the core and look for more white-label opportunities.”
M and M, which runs Ted’s Shed — an online clearance outlet for Ted Baker, the upmarket fashion brand — has a turnover of just under £100 million and is the sixth most-visited clothing website in Britain. It is owned by TA Associaties, the private equity group, which acquired it from ECI Partners and its founders in 2007.
In the seven weeks to November 15, Asos enjoyed a 46 per cent increase in sales — with international sales soaring by 161 per cent and British takings rising by 23 per cent.
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Separately, London retailers had a record-breaking December. Like-for-like sales in Central London rose by 12 per cent, against 4.2 per cent in the rest of the country, according to the British Retail Consortium.
Stephen Robertson, the director-general of the British Retail Consortium, said: “This is a dazzling performance — London’s best December sales growth since this survey began in 2002 and all the more impressive following a strong November ... but, given the prospects for jobs, wages and taxes in 2010, don’t assume customers will go on spending like this.”