The collapse in the value of the pound has not gone unnoticed in the bedrooms and home offices of Europe — and as it has tumbled, so Europeans, armed with a suddenly stronger single continental currency, have logged on to their home computers and gone shopping.
The weak pound was behind a near-threefold increase in international sales announced by Asos yesterday, the online fashion retailer following Amazon and eBay in noting surging trade from Europe as people reacted to the discounts of up to 25 per cent represented by the decline of sterling.
The combination of exchange-rate volatility and the internet — the first time that the two have acted in tandem in Britain — has handed an opportunity to shop to those without the time, money or inclination to travel to London.
Asos's international sales are now about a third of its business, having risen 173 per cent in the four weeks to April 24, against the same period last year. Nick Robertson, its chief executive, said: “That's the bonus of the internet — you can get to lots of people without having to open stores. It's entirely logical; in order to sell something in France, before the internet came along, I had to open a shop there.”
If Asos's results proved that fashion-conscious youth knows no borders, provided it has an internet connection and a credit card, others have noted similar results in more mature markets. Brian McBride, chief executive of Amazon's British business, a magnet for middle-aged book-lovers, said last last week that it had experienced a marked increase in shipments to Europe.
James Roper, chief executive of IMRG, the internet retail trade body, said: “This is a golden opportunity for British retailers, who are some of the most advanced online practitioners in the world and who can ride on the UK's global reputation for trust, integrity and efficiency.”
Nor is it the big companies who are making the most of the pound's plight. EBay, the auction website, said that British sellers — the army of home-bound mini-entrepreneurs who have taken their car-boot-sale capitalism to a wider audience — had pounced on the weak pound by selling to Europe. In January, the most recent month for which figures are available, exports by 244,000 British-based sellers soared by 49 per cent against the previous January. The United States was the biggest market, worth £9.5million in January, followed by the main euro-dominated markets Germany (£6 million), France (£5.4 million), the Republic of Ireland (£5.3 million) and Italy (£4.3 million). Mobile phones and watches were the goods most exported from Britain.
John Pemberton, who runs an eBay business turning over £250,000 selling designer clothing, said that international sales had more than doubled in the past year. He said: “Going into November, I started to see our courier bills go through the roof. I looked into it and it was because so much was going to France and Germany.” In January to March, 25 per cent of Mr Pemberton's £60,000 sales were to other European Union countries. For the same quarter last year, only about £7,000 went to these markets.
Asos, seeing which way the wind is blowing amid the economic storm damaging so many other sectors, is putting increasing emphasis on its international business. Yesterday, Jon Kamaluddin, formerly its chief financial officer, began his tenure as international director. The company will soon begin to operate country-specific websites.
