Online fashion group Asos has said the pandemic forced it to "rip up the playbook" as its young customers came to terms with being cooped up at home. Chief executive Nick Beighton said its 20-something core market normally bought clothes for going out. But the company's swift "pivot" to casual clothing paid off, with surging sales, profits and customer numbers. Asos added one and a half million customers in the past six months, giving it a total of 24.9 million. Sales rose 24% in the six months to 28 February, with profits jumping to £106.4m, up from £30.1m a year earlier. Mr Beighton told a conference call that under lockdown, there had been a greater emphasis on activewear, casual wear and beauty products. Asos had "quickly pivoted the customer offer to meet demand" in those areas, he said, with jersey tops and casual bottoms proving strong sellers. As an online-only business, Asos is one of the few retailers that have benefited from lockdown. Asos said it was still cautious about the outlook in the short term, because of uncertain economic prospects for its youthful target group. Asos said its integration of Topshop and other Arcadia brands, which Asos bought in February, was "progressing to plan". As well as Topshop, Asos also acquired the Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands in a £295m deal, but not their network of about 70 shops. The company said its latest "record results" had been driven by "exceptional execution". In the UK, where Asos now has more than seven million customers, sales were particularly strong, climbing by 39%.
