Asos In Talks For High Street Pick-Up And Returns Service

9th Jun 2010 15:09

By Hannah Benjamin Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--Online fashion retailer Asos PLC (ASC.LN) Wednesday said it is in talks with at least two retailers about providing a high-street pick-up and returns service for its customers. The firm said in-store collects and returns could become a reality as early as next year, although Chief Executive Nick Robertson wouldn't say with which retailers Asos is hoping to link up. "What we're thinking is having a high-street capability to enable people to go in to stores and pick up stuff they've ordered on our website," he told journalists Wednesday. While he wouldn't be drawn on naming the retailers the company is currently in talks with, he said they have a "massive" presence on high streets across the U.K. He added that Asos, whose core customers are fashion-conscious 16 to 34 year-old women looking to recreate catwalk styles for a fraction of the price, wouldn't ever open bricks and mortar shops. Robertson said a more detailed update about the potential service would likely be available in several months' time as talks progress but said he believes the approach to be the way forward for online retail and a way of ending the frustration of missed deliveries. Asos earlier Wednesday posted a 44% rise in fiscal 2010 pretax profit to GBP20.3 million from GBP14 million a year earlier. -By Hannah Benjamin, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9298; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 09, 2010 10:09 ET (14:09 GMT)