ASOS clicks Down Under

Australian shoppers are so besotted with online retailer ASOS, the British fashion site is flying nearly four jumbo jets full of clothing into the country each week.

According to its latest results, international sales are up by nearly 40 per cent in the first half of 2012-13 with Australia the largest single foreign market for the global fashion group.

Australian shoppers make a purchase from the ASOS website every six seconds.

The company said its international sales lifted 39 per cent to £214.6 million ($A320.98 million), eclipsing the growth for its British sales, which rose 34 per cent to £352.5 million for the six-month period.

Its ASOS site was the leading online fashion retailer in Australia, the company said. ASOS launched its dedicated Australian website in late 2011, and later its first non-UK office in Sydney.

International retail sales for ASOS, led by Australia, accounted for 61 per cent of total retail sales, up from 59 per cent in 2012.

The strength of the Australian performance within the ASOS result shows the massive threat online overseas retailers currently pose to traditional Australian retailers.