High street fashion chain Monsoon is closing its e-commerce arm, saying that it could not justify the £400,000 annual running costs after failing to reach online sales targets.

The company said that it needed to sell £800,000 worth of clobber per year to keep the site viable. At a press briefing the company acknowledged it was making barely a quarter of that amount.

Monsoon will retain its online presence as a marketing tool, and said there will not be any financial write off related to the closure.

Financial director Andrew May commented: "It is disappointing but we have learned quite a lot of lessons." He said Monsoon had not ruled out a return to online business in the future. ®

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