AO World (commonly called “AO” or “AO.com”) is an electrical retailer based in Bolton, England. It operates in the United Kingdom (ao.com) and Germany (ao.de) specialising in household appliances and electricals.

The company was founded under the name Appliances Online by John Roberts in 2000. Prior to this, during a conversation in a Bolton pub, a close friend bet Roberts £1 that he could not set up his own company and disrupt the white goods market by selling appliances online.

As well as selling directly to consumers, the company also sold kitchen appliances on behalf of other retailers such as Next, House of Fraser and B&Q. In 2009 the company acquired the distribution business Expert Logistics enabling end-to-end control of their operation.

In 2013 Appliances Online rebranded to AO.com, which included a redesign of their logo to its current state. In the same year, the company reached one million likes on Facebook and aired its first television advertisement. AO.com was also presented with three awards at the 2013 Retail Week and Drapers ceremony: the Overall Award for Excellence, Best Use of Social Media and Best Pure Play Etailer. They were also awarded fourth place in The Times 100 Best Mid-Size Companies to Work For award and held this position the following year.

In February 2014 the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange as AO World. The IPO allowed the company to raise funds for European expansion and AO’s first overseas website, AO.de, launched in Germany later that same year. At the 2014 Retail Week Awards, AO.com won Best Customer Experience, Best use of Content and Best use of Social Media.

In 2015, AO.com announced plans for their second overseas website, AO.nl In the same year, a number of AO employees completed a Germany to Bolton bike ride to raise money for a new playground. AO.com also took home the Employer of the Year award at Retail Week 2015.

In 2016, to support its European expansion, AO opened its 84,000 square metre headquarters in Bergheim, Germany. AO.com also expanded its distribution facility in Crewe with the addition of the Omega building, giving the company 740,000 square feet of warehouse space. AO.com also won the Customer Experience Initiative award at Retail Week 2016.

In 2017, the company announced it would sponsor the 11th series of ITV shows, Britain’s Got Talent. It also announced that it would extend its sponsorship with Lancashire County Cricket Club. It was also reported that company founder, John Roberts would step down as CEO, remaining on the board as Founder and Executive Director. The former COO, Steve Caunce, took over as CEO. In March, the company announced that it had raised £50 million through a share placing to support plans for further growth. The retailer also announced that it was to open a recycling plant in Telford, Shropshire.

In January 2018, the retailer reported that it had opened a new office in Manchester city centre, which was to be home to the business’s in-house multimedia, IT and sales teams. In April, the business announced that it had become one of only twenty businesses in the world to have received over 100,000 Trustpilot reviews. In July, the business launched its new brand campaign, Delivering Tomorrow. It was also reported that it had committed to building a second major fridge recycling facility in the southeast of England. The company also confirmed that it had completed the acquisition of the online phone retailer Mobile Phones Direct for £32.5 million as it looks to expand its offering in the mobile phone sector.

In January 2019, it was announced that Steve Caunce would step down as CEO, John Roberts would reassume the role.

AO’s recycling plant in Telford processed its millionth fridge in July 2019.

AO Mobile launched in August 2019, offering all UK mobile networks and all handset manufacturers. Roberts described the launch as “a game-changer for mobile phone customers”.

In August 2019, AO launched AO Finance in partnership with consumer finance provider Newday. AO Finance offers a market-leading rolling credit facility that gives more customers access to essential products through affordable finance.

In October 2019, AO’s plastic plant was unveiled as the company announced its ambition to use its recycling capabilities to ultimately make new fridges from the recycled materials extracted from old ones.

Announcing its interim financial results in November 2019, Roberts confirmed that AO would close its operation in the Netherlands to focus on its German business. Roberts explained that the team did not have the bandwidth to fix both markets but remained committed to future international expansion once the German model was proven.

In April 2020, AO Business continued to grow and after only six months in the housebuilders’ sector, secured over 12,000 building plots.

In September 2020, AO announced that it would be the new headline sponsor of Manchester Arena. The announcement came as operators ASM Global were submitting a planning application for phase one of its ambitious redevelopment. In a five-year deal, the rebranded AO Arena would see live events resuming once the current COVID-19 related restrictions on venues are lifted.

In October 2020, AO announced plans to open five ‘stores-within-a-store’ with Tesco as part of a six-month partnership trial with the supermarket.