Online retailer ASOS (ASOS.L) is taking a contrarian route to keep growing. US department store operator Nordstrom (JWN.N) has bought a minority interest in the 5 billion pound fashion group’s Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands .
In return, ASOS will set up a click and collect service at Nordstrom’s 350 stores and sell those brands in some of them, according to Reuters.
It looks like a relatively low-risk way for the 5 billion pound online group to expand stateside.
Nordstrom offers a direct route to many American shoppers. And ASOS picked up the brands in question from the wreckage of Philip Green’s Arcadia empire for just 265 million pounds, making them a cheap guinea pig.
Yet the choice of a brick and mortar retailer as a partner highlights the fierce competition in online fashion from firms like Zalando (ZALG.DE) and Boohoo (BOOH.L). ASOS trades at 29 times forward earnings, almost five times as rich a multiple as Nordstrom.
Its unconventional choice of partner raises questions about its ability to continue such runaway growth.
