In February, ASOS bought leading British fashion brands, Topshop and Miss Selfridge, for US$364 million.
Barely two months later in April, the UK-based online fashion and beauty retailer, issued a US$700 million convertible bond offer to fund further global expansion.
Cosmetics and skincare have long pulled in major revenues for ASOS, which saw its global sales in the sector increase 114 per cent over the second half of 2020.
In 2017, the company launched its own private label beauty line and it also stocks dozens of the world’s best-known indie and mainstream brands under its Face + Body listings, including Alpha-H, Bondi Sands, Garnier, The Ordinary, Morphe and Charlotte Tilbury.
Cult Beauty and Feelunique, two leading UK-based online beauty retailers, were recently put on the block by their respective owners. According to industry sources, ASOS is rumoured to be in the running to buy one of the two e-tailers to boost its standing as a beauty powerhouse.
Other majors are also said to be looking at the pure-beauty platforms, including THG Holdings (The Hut Group) and Zalando, the Germany-based online fashion retailer which operates in 17 countries.
ASOS enjoys major sales in Australia. The company’s global revenues spiked 23 per cent in the last quarter of 2020 to AUD$2.48 billion, fuelled by strong growth in Australia, the US and the UK. It’s active user base jumped 1.1 million over the period to 24.5 million.