AO World says its first international website will go live in Germany tomorrow.
The launch of AO.de comes six months ahead of schedule and represents the first step in a planned expansion across Europe for the retailer, which operates AO.com in the UK.
John Roberts, founder and chief executive of AO World, said he was proud of the AO team’s achievement.
“Over the history of our business we have invested in people we believe can make things happen and then given them the confidence to try, learn and grow,” he said. “The launch of AO.de is testament to their ability to execute our promises and replicate our proven business model overseas.
“Of course we have work to do and we will relish the lessons that will no doubt be forthcoming. We are as passionate about building the AO brand in Germany as we are in the UK and can’t wait to start bringing German consumers a better way to buy the category as we have for consumers. Germany is our stepping stone to realizing our ambition to become the leading online retailer in our categories in our target markets.”
Through the new site, AO says it will bring the next-day delivery, installation and recycling services that it offers in the UK to the new market, where it will at first focus on selling major domestic appliances online.
The new website is supported by a German head office, warehouse, hub infrastructure with last-mile delivery capability run by AO.
Run by new subsidiary AO Deutschland Limited, the site will take pre-orders until deliveries start on October 14.
Updating the market on half-year trading, AO World said it was continuing to progress according to its plans, as set out when it floated on the London Stock Exchange earlier this year.
“Whilst the early launch in Germany has clearly brought forward all associated costs into the current financial year, the UK business continues to perform well with overall UK revenue growth and EBITDA on track to meet our full-year expectations,” AO said in today’s statement.
