Some ASX retail shares could be good buys today, in my opinion. With the retail sales event Black Friday approaching, I've been looking across the sector for opportunities.
It's understandable that there is volatility for the retail sector – profits can be quite cyclical, depending on how the overall economy is performing.
Good retail businesses should be able to grow their profits over the long term, so any shorter-term declines could prove to be opportunities. I think the below ASX retail shares are exciting options positioned to benefit from the growing adoption of online shopping.
Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)
Temple & Webster sells hundreds of thousands of products, mostly from external suppliers. This setup allows the company to be capital-light for the large volume of physical products that it sells.
The business is achieving solid double-digit sales growth, which is helping the business scale its operations at a good pace. With the Temple & Webster share price down 17% from October 2024, I think investors are getting a better price-to-sales ratio.
It aims to reach $1 billion in annual sales in the next few years, which could help the business become much more profitable as it delivers scale benefits and spreads the fixed costs over more sales.
By utilising AI for its customer interactions, the business is seeing increased conversion and reduced costs, which can also help increase margins as the business grows.
Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)
Kogan has experienced considerable volatility over the last five years, and it wouldn't surprise me if there's plenty more over the next five years. This could be a good time to invest because the ASX retail share is down more than 40% from its March 2024 high, but the recent AGM update looked very promising.
It has improved its inventory management and operational efficiency, which has helped profit increase.
In FY25 to the end of October 2024, gross sales increased 0.4%, gross profit rose 15.3% to $59.2 million, adjusted operating profit (EBITDA) jumped 55.2% to $14.7 million, and adjusted EBIT soared 95.8% to $10.6 million.
The company said year-on-year sales growth accelerated in the first 20 days of November 2024. I think the company is well positioned to perform well during the Black Friday sales and beyond, with its focus on providing customers with value during this time of high cost of living.
If Kogan manages its inventory and business correctly, it should be able to deliver operating leverage, with profit growing faster than revenue as time passes.
According to the broker UBS' forecast, the Kogan share price is valued at 17x FY26's estimated earnings.
