Business
Launch of ao.de in Germany
Launch of ao.de in Germany.
About this update from Ao World Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 9183S AO World plc 30 September 2014 \n \n\nFor Release: 7am 30 September 2014\n \nAO World plc \n \nAuf geht's! Launch of ao.de in Germany\n \nAO World plc (the \"Company\"), a leader in online retailing of electrical appliances in the UK, announces the first step in its European expansion, with the launch of ao.de; the German website of ao.com which will trade through a newly created subsidiary, AO Deutschland Limited.\n \nao.de\n \nWe are delighted to announce that our AO.de website - which was promised at the time of IPO to be live before the end of our financial year (31 March 15) - is expected to be live tomorrow, 6 months ahead of schedule.\n \nThe site will initially be live for pre-orders with deliveries commencing on the 14th October.\n \nThe AO.de proposition will focus only on major domestic appliances initially, but otherwise will largely mirror that of the UK operation, providing customers with market leading availability, price and speed of delivery for a significant range of products supported by major brands.\n \nFrom the first day of delivery AO.de will offer nationwide next day delivery services and additional services including installation and recycling. We believe this will redefine how major domestic appliances are sold in Germany, as we have achieved in the UK.\n \nTo achieve this structural advantage we have invested in end to end resource including head office, warehouse and outbase infrastructure and our own last mile delivery capability to completely own the customer experience as we do in the UK. By replicating our UK model and leveraging the investment made in our established UK systems and processes, this infrastructure has been installed within budget and 6 months early.\n \nCurrent Trading \n \nOur financial half year ends today and we are pleased to confirm our continued progress to the plan set out at IPO, even with the backdrop of such a major project in Germany. 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. We continue to drive increased market share through our differentiated service proposition and ...