Member Info for ragtrade

@xxxAccountant. I'm sure you are aware, Asos own buy makes up a significant % of their offer, they place orders direct with suppliers/factory's and generally import (fob) themselves, some suppliers/factories will land goods (LDP) themselves and clear the goods into their own DC , then deliver into the Asos UK DC, however given that Asos is now operating Worldwide they prefer 3 x Direct Shipments from COO to US, UK, EU.
Suppliers margins were cut to the bone pre covid, any additional costs are being passed on to Asos, retail prices will and are def going up across the whole sector, and this in turn is being passed onto the consumer, by how much remains to be seen, we will see if it bites into margin and if px rises effect t/o , the uncertainty is of course one of the reasons the sector is under pressure from shorting.
Asos also has Branded product it buys in (some Brands will not operate any other way) they will be doing the same, as you know Asos also has companies that are marketplace model (used to be called concession in retail) , for those not familiar its where Asos just take a % of t/o and do not have to invest in stock, these guys are a bit more niche and margins tend to be higher so they may be able to absorb some of the costs.
For the record i'm a major own buy supplier to Asos since its inception, i also own Asos shares.

Icarus , you sold and made £200, looms like a very small investment nevertheless excellent a profits a profit, so where do you go from here with BH?

@xxxxAccountant, just want to check what you mean by this,
"Remember we pass on the inflationary price changes of our clothes suppliers so good business to invest in when inflation is rising"
Are you saying that the inflationary pressures are passed onto suppliers or that the inflationary price increases from suppliers are passed onto the public?

Stef was the other Retail Exec, Nick L's equivalent on Mens, he has been there since the Strand days and is well known and respected, he was overseeing whole of Asos Mens, Topman and Asos Sports, he had a Buying Director and Buying Manager s for all the departments within these Depts, all reporting in to him , he has now had Sports and Topman taken from him and now just oversees Asos Mens, this is still a big big job, Topman/Topshop now have a new Buying Director reporting into COO, and so does Asos Sports, so in effect as whole tier has been stripped out, more focused you could say and the COO seems to be taking control away from Retail Execs inc the future Ladieswear Retail Exec, who is tbc, previously they would have reported direct to CEO. Two issues, how will this affect the buyers and will this put the Men's Retail Exec nose out of joint so much that he goes (it's fashion we all have big ego's!!!) he is after all highly respected. IMHO whats alot more pressing is they urgently need a new CEO with experience of World Wide Web Trading and distribution (almost as important as product knowledge these days) they must get a strong Ladieswear Retail Exec who has young fashion coursing through her (needs to be a Woman) veins.

For those who are also in on Asos i just posted this on Asos Chat,
Was made aware of this at the end of last week, now confirmed Nick Loveday has been pushed out, COO Jose Ramos now starting to flex and impact across the buying floor, lots of changes including a big shuffling of the pack in terms of Heads of Buying and Retail Directors, they need to fill Nick's L job asap, it is a pivotal position, they really need to bring in a big hitter, aka likes of a Jane Shepherdson type who lives and breathes Ladieswear as i really don't think it is has reached or is reaching its potential.
The move reported below is not all, underneath the surface a lot more has happened and this will affect the buying floors, it is causing big waves, still remains to see how this pans out.
Asos directors to exit
Asos's executive retail director of womenswear, Nick Loveday, and director of strategic partnerships, wholesale, Stephen Owens, are set to leave the e-tail business, Drapers can reveal.
Asos's executive retail director of womenswear, Nick Loveday, is to leave the etail business at the end of April.
His exit is part of an organisational restructure that Asos outlined in November, which aims "to improve the flexibility and speed of the company's retail model, and accelerate the pace of delivery of its international growth strategy".
Loveday has been in the role since 2016, and was previously womenswear retail director between 2013 and 2016, and merchandise director from 2012 to 2013. He also held several senior merchandising roles at Arcadia Group's Burton and Topshop Topman.
"We can confirm that Nick Loveday, executive retail director for Womenswear will be leaving Asos at the end of April 2022," an Asos spokeswoman told Drapers. "Over the past nine years Nick has made an invaluable contribution to the business and we wish him every success for the future."
Meanwhile, Stephen Owens, director of strategic partnerships, wholesale at Asos, will leave in March.

Was made aware of this at the end of last week, now confirmed Nick Loveday has been pushed out, COO Jose Ramos now starting to flex and impact across the buying floor, lots of changes including a big shuffling of the pack in terms of Heads of Buying and Retail Directors, they need to fill Nick's L job asap, it is a pivotal position, they really need to bring in a big hitter, aka likes of a Jane Shepherdson type who lives and breathes Ladieswear as i really don't think it is has reached or is reaching its potential.
The move reported below is not all, underneath the surface a lot more has happened and this will affect the buying floors, it is causing big waves, still remains to see how this pans out.
Asos directors to exit
Asos's executive retail director of womenswear, Nick Loveday, and director of strategic partnerships, wholesale, Stephen Owens, are set to leave the e-tail business, Drapers can reveal.
Asos's executive retail director of womenswear, Nick Loveday, is to leave the etail business at the end of April.
His exit is part of an organisational restructure that Asos outlined in November, which aims "to improve the flexibility and speed of the company's retail model, and accelerate the pace of delivery of its international growth strategy".
Loveday has been in the role since 2016, and was previously womenswear retail director between 2013 and 2016, and merchandise director from 2012 to 2013. He also held several senior merchandising roles at Arcadia Group's Burton and Topshop Topman.
"We can confirm that Nick Loveday, executive retail director for Womenswear will be leaving Asos at the end of April 2022," an Asos spokeswoman told Drapers. "Over the past nine years Nick has made an invaluable contribution to the business and we wish him every success for the future."
Meanwhile, Stephen Owens, director of strategic partnerships, wholesale at Asos, will leave in March.

T4G, you know how this ends, it doesn't.

He is one of the top brokers in the UK, keeps quiet about it but in his early years George Soros mentored him, he also was Financial Director for Amazon, Facebook, Tik Tok and YT, he is the Author of the multi million selling books The Platform and Always in Hindsight, which were cited as the inspiration for THG. In the Gym one day, he shared some weights with Ben Francis, this is said to have set the seed that led to Gymshark. He is influential on the catwalks and always gets a front seat at London Fashion Week, he was a Cambridge Full Blue and is President of the Hawks Club and lastly is never never ever knowingly wrong, follow him and you can't go wrong, only downside is that he is nervous of fleas.

#WolfOfWarks - it's like a lot of dodgy tat sellers from China

100% and this is what we can actually see, chuck in banned cotton from Xinjiang where 84% of Chinese cotton comes from and your into a pit of vipers trying to see if Shein has used, US have banned any garments made from cotton Xinjiang, containers with garments made from this are still sitting at ports in US and China. Its a disgrace on EU / UK for not doing likewise, quite rightly we have to categorically prove to our customers that our cotton does not originate from there or Uzbek, again a perfect storm for price hikes as demand is up, China is now having to import ton's of cotton adding to lead time and freight issues for anyone producing there !

@icarus personal insults, lol, looks like you have no clue of Napoleon's history, lol. I have no argument with him green screened him months ago, Napoleon last year was hurling a torrent of abuse my way when i was informing the board about how Asos was ahead of the pack, his views on BH were of a cult status, now 180, always in hindsight, nuff said.

Errrrrrr, cough, my last 4 words, right there,
Come on T4G soooooooo harsh, Napoleon is an expert in absolutely everything (always in hindsight looking at statement or his fav, a spreadsheet) and bit like John Lewis Never Knowingly Wrong, this time last year he was slating Asos and worshipping at the Golden Altar of BH, judging by below he's done a complete 180, i wouldn't even bother.

@T4G quote, Dan, once again you clearly know nothing about marketing.

Come on T4G soooooooo harsh, Napoleon is an expert in absolutely everything (always in hindsight looking at statement or his fav, a spreadsheet) and bit like John Lewis Never Knowingly Wrong, this time last year he was slating Asos and worshipping at the Golden Altar of BH, judging by below he's done a complete 180, i wouldn't even bother.
BTW nice insight.

@NS99 We are one of the biggest suppliers to Asos and i have worked with them since the early days when they were based in the Strand and in those days known by As Seen On Screen.
Unlike some on here, no names but you know who you are (small red head) , i have always said that Asos are the benchmark for BH in most areas, nice to see that a year later and in hindsight (always) others can see they are leading the way. I bought Asos just after 1st L/D as i could not believe the price, after initial shock of covid it was obvious there was still strong demand online, i got in at £22 and sold at £52, i bought back in when shares went down to £30 obvs still in, lol, i'm not in this or BH to DT. Bit of background on current biggest issue, Asos deliveries Ex our two factories, 1200 people across the sites and UK Design/Sales, direct to US,UK,Europe, they have been having issues tho due to consolidation at ports onto containers which is resulting in them not getting priority, delays to US are the worse it's taking up to 21 weeks normally takes 5 weeks!!!! Europe 18 weeks and UK 17 weeks normally 4 weeks. Obviously these issues are being addressed and resolved i have laid this out in other posts how BH demo and UK production is helping BH with freight delays however as i mentioned BH does need to sort out US distribution, its current biggest challenge!!, presently all PO's go to UK. So at mo both of have Freight delays, both also have cost issues but again both can to a certain extent put prices up, BH demo makes it easier to mitigate and spread across the Brands and all the nuances of sourcing for each one. So Asos is very very polished in most areas, BH purchase of Debs i have said many times was never oven ready and it is not yet anywhere near the finished article but it is getting there, still a way to go. Neither Company has a CEO or Management that have Global experience, Asos perhaps just edges it with Jose Ramos COO who was at Inditex but to me post Covid this must be priority for both for future growth, both are or have been blighted with distribution issues from DC's and Asos seems to go from all smooth to rocky once again. I'm in on both !!

@Maxage, i don't disagree that they have issues in US but i don't think they are sitting on their hands doing nothing. You mentioned head "winds" deffo cotton price an issue, deffo inflation worries, deffo Ukraine worries (further energy increases) and as i posted yes freight concerns but i am more dismissive of this for BH Group.
So i'd say the whole sector facing same 4 out of the 5 issues and i would also say that BH Group also face 4 out of the 5 issues.
Anyways imho these are the major headwinds that i see, don't think any are that insurmountable over the coming year and will ease back unless that is Putin presses the button!

@Maxage can you put some more flesh on the bones of this statement.

" Bohoo is facing long term headwinds with the supply chain crisis not even close to being sorted"

NMW, she'll be a booooooty, love the colour, epic performance go steady, lol.

NMW1969 Mclaren 765LT v v nice, what colour, when does it arrive ? I toyed with buying a 720S last spring, in end ordered a new AMV F1 in the F1 matt racing green, got delayed due to covid and finally arrived in August, after 8 weeks it pained me but i stuck it into dry heated storage where it sleeps till the Spring and my first track day in it !

@NS99 costs are predicted to drop back later in the year but as much as this is due to demand it is obvs heavily affected by fuel costs (not least if Putin takes his crew into Ukrn) As for A/F avoid avoid avoid.
All costings are worked out on sea frt, when you are in danger of missing the most pivotal time of the year (Xmas) then you have no choice but to a/f , this is not now the case and lead time delays can be added in.
@Maxage #shipping delays 18 months, mmmmm bit punchy but we will see, as i've said tho the delays are now being mitigated by bringing bookings forward.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60131947

As i mentioned a couple of weeks back this will continue to impact on inventories through out 2022, however all companies in the fashion sector cannot say they have not now had a ton of notice on this, so there is no excuse for not planning well ahead, sign offs are being and will continue to be brought forward to compensate for massively extended shipping lead times, this is not just a China port issue, it is affecting the whole of Asia.
BH Group is actually poised in quite a unique position, in that it has a UK Fty and a wide Demo of Brands that results in varying demands, so to a certain extent it should be able to mitigate a lot of this, for BH/PLT Brands keep on short reactive lead times (fabrics still need to be imported tho) with the UK Fty, for the rest of the Group it is much slower, it actually helps that they are not so reactionary, they do not need to be booked so last minute, in being far more strategic, as i've said above , they just sign off far earlier in order to ship goods earlier than normal.
In normal times Air Freight cut thru margin like a knife through butter, this needs to be avoided at all costs, unlike AW21 this can now be avoided, everyone has a heads up it just needs planning.

Quote Dan, It's possible to make a valid point without being abusive

LoL LoL , no he has Napoleon Complex, i keep him in my pocket he does occasionally fall out apologies, LoL.

@PM yep for all the reasons you mention i concur and it's why in the Arcadia heyday Debs and the young fashion Brands had separate management teams.