The chief executive of Asos has vowed that the fast-growing internet clothing retailer will overtake Next to become the biggest fashion website in Britain within the next two to three years.

A trading statement on Wednesday is expected to reveal that the web retailer enjoyed sales growth of about 90 per cent over the summer, despite the credit crunch.

Nick Robertson, who launched Asos as As Seen on Screen a decade ago, said that in time the business - which is second to Next in the online fashion world and sells clothes modelled on those worn by celebrities such as David Beckham and Sienna Miller - would dominate the market.

Mr Robertson said: “The opportunity still exists for someone to be the dominant player in the fashion space. It will be Asos and it should be Asos. “Our goal is to overtake Next in terms of traffic and we are increasingly nudging towards that.”

The Asos share of the online clothing market is now almost 5 per cent, placing it above Topshop and New Look. Next boasts 7 per cent.

Mr Robertson added that consumers of all ages were becoming more used to shopping online: “The barriers that were there, things like wanting to try something on before buying, seem to be disappearing by the day.”

Since its launch, the retailer has evolved into an online department store that stocks 600 brands, ranging from Calvin Klein and French Connection to Nudie Jeans, as well as its own. It sells 17,000 products, from sunglasses to golf jackets, and launched Asos Red, a dedicated online designer discount house, in an effort to take market share from TK Maxx, the high street equivalent.

Yet despite annual profits of little more than £8million, the company's market value is £270million, a valuation that reflects investor hopes about its potential. However, analysts have said that Asos could suffer as financially powerful rivals such as Marks & Spencer and Topshop invest more in their online offerings.

According to Nick Bubb, of Pali International: “Asos still gets a large amount of PR for what is not a big company and that has driven up the shares and the rating on the company to a very high level.

“But. as Topshop and New Look develop their websites, they could get shouldered out. It's obviously doing well, sales figures don't lie ... but I think the rating is pretty rich.”

This month, Topshop.com accepted US dollars in payment for the first time in anticipation of the opening in New York of the first Topshop store in the United States.

The Asos chief executive said that Topshop was only playing catch-up by accepting US dollars and there was no reason to expect growth at Asos to slow. The internet retailer has been taking foreign currency for five years and international sales account for 10percent of its turnover, Mr Robertson said.

“What Topshop has done in the US is pretty straightforward. We're looking at launching foreign language version of our site in the next 12 to 18 months.

“Everybody who is on the net, be it at Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, everybody is seeing significant growth, that's across the board, everybody is growing like stink, so success in this area will now depend a lot on which of us has the best online retailing skills.

“Asos has had a very good Christmas for the last seven years. Will it be stronger this year than previous years? Yes, I think it will.”

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