Brands to piggyback Asos's etail operation

Asos is teaming up with smaller young fashion brands without a transactional website to offer them an online presence.

The etailer is offering a web fulfilment service hosting transactional online operations for brands via its own website.

The service is free for brands and Asos hopes to gain sales for itself from customers who will be redirected from the brands' own non-transactional sites.

Young fashion labels Religion and Ringspun have already signed up with Asos. Both brands are already stocked by the etailer but the collaboration means that Asos will buy deeper into their collections to offer shoppers a fuller range.

Asos product and trading director Robert Bready said that brands which need transactional web presences but lack the infrastructure to develop them had approached Asos.

"Brands know they need a presence but there is a cost and it pulls them away from their core focus," he said. "We have got the systems and knowledge to do it. We will also buy more product from the brands."

Religion will add a 'Shop with Asos' button to its website and Ringspun has taken images of its product sold at Asos and used them on its own website.