UK Clothing & Footwear Sector Report summary
August 2021
Period covered: Period covered: 04 July – 31 July 2021
Note: This report summary is one or two months behind the current month as standard reporting practice. The content is indicative only and incomplete with certain data undisclosed. Subscribe to access this data or take out a free 30 day subscription trial now.
Clothing sales rose by a significant 19.2% YoY in July. But this came against soft comparisons to last year, with sales ultimately down 8.1% on July 2019.
Sporting events such as England’s success in the Euros and the all-important ‘Freedom Day’ gave consumers plenty to celebrate in July, providing shoppers reasons to purchase new outfits and socialise. But there was plenty to remain cautious about, holding back certain product lines.
High temperatures at times during the month helped boost sales of summer ranges, while the British Retail Consortium noted that workwear sales improved as more people returned to office-based working, albeit part-time.
Across retail destinations, footfall was down almost a 00 in July compared to two years earlier according to Springboard.
Retail Economics’ research shows that on average, consumers return about 00% of the value of their online clothing and footwear purchases, which equates to around £00bn of returns on e-commerce sales of £11.4bn across 2020.
Online Clothing & Footwear continued on its positive run with sales growth rising by 6.6% YoY in July against a 23.3% rise a year ago.
Retail Economics forecasts Clothing sales to rebound over 2021, growing by 00% YoY to reach £00bn. However, we do not expect the market to fully recover to 2019’s pre-pandemic sales levels (£45bn) until 2025.
The gradual return of leisure activities (e.g. travel, nightlife) and significant occasions (e.g. weddings) should lead to a sharp pickup in spending on clothing, particularly over the second half of 2021, as consumers make up for lost time and purchase new outfits. There is likely to be attractive discounts as many retailers look to shift stock and generate cash flow.
Crew Clothing opened a 1,982 sq ft store in Princesshay shopping centre store in Exeter. This makes a total of 100 UK retail outlets for the clothing retailer.
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Recovery in confidence stalls
Source: GfK
