2025
9
UK Clothing Retailing Market Report 2025
2025-12-08T12:03:04+00:00
REP7627070C_33D2_430F_8901_0B1CD09A6861
2195
189441
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Report
en_GB
The UK clothing market staged a comeback in 2025, climbing to an estimated £67.8bn after a muted 2024. A surprising statistic underlines the shift in shopping habits: online now accounts…
UK
Clothing and Footwear Retail
simple

UK Clothing Retailing Market Report 2025

"The clothing landscape is in flux as Shein and TikTok Shop redefine perceptions of value and speed, meaning retailers need to build loyalty by elevating their products and the shopping experience."

Tamara Sender Ceron, Associate Director, Fashion Retail

Tamara Sender Ceron, Associate Director, Fashion Retail

UK Clothing Retail Industry – Trends and Insights

  • The UK clothing market staged a comeback in 2025, climbing to an estimated £67.8bn after a muted 2024. A surprising statistic underlines the shift in shopping habits: online now accounts for 48% of all clothing spend, cementing a hybrid model in which digital convenience and physical experience are inseparable.
  • Yet the landscape is in flux. Social-commerce powerhouses like Shein and TikTok Shop are redefining what ‘value’ and ‘speed’ mean, forcing legacy retailers to rethink supply chains and pricing.
  • This rapid democratisation of trends is the key industry impact that will separate agile, data-driven brands from those still reliant on seasonal calendars.
  • The biggest opportunity lies in leveraging upcoming sustainability regulations to embed circular services such as resale and repair into existing retail models. Brands need to see them as a valuable way to engage with shoppers after the initial purchase and maintain loyalty.
  • A renewed squeeze on disposable incomes is a threat, as forecasts point to spending deceleration in 2026, putting discretionary fashion back on the chopping block.

This Report Looks at the Following Areas:

  • The size of the clothing market within the UK and key opportunities in the market
  • What clothing items are bought, along with how and where they are bought
  • The growth of the resale market and opportunities to integrate it into existing retail models
  • Changing shopping behaviours with women becoming more thrifty and men willing to spend on quality
  • The influence of social media on the shopping journey not just for inspiration, but also for purchasing

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  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    • What you need to know
    • Outlook for UK clothing retailing
    • Opportunities
    • Turning sustainability into a springboard for innovation
    • How social media is reshaping the shopping journey
    • Elevate the role of the store to foster loyalty
  2. THE MARKET

    • Snapshot – market size and forecast
    • Consumers and the economic outlook
    • Clothing inflation hit by discounting
    • Graph 1: overall CPIH and garment inflation rate, 2024-25
    • Clothing demand improves, helped by weak comparatives
    • Graph 2: all store-based clothing retail sales (excluding fuel), non-seasonally adjusted year-on-year performance by value and volume, 2024-25
    • Retailers will need to ensure compliance with new legislation
    • Consumer spending on clothing to grow by 11% between 2025 and 2030
    • Graph 3: consumer spending on clothing and accessories, 2019-30
    • Online accounts for nearly half of all clothing sales
    • Graph 4: online as a % of all clothing and accessories sales, 2020-25
    • Womenswear’s share of the market declines
    • Graph 5: % of consumer spending on clothing, by segments, 2021-25
  3. THE CONSUMER

    • How they shop
    • In-store and online shopping bounce back
    • Online redefines the role of stores
    • Graph 6: how consumers have bought clothing for themselves in the last 12 months, 2025
    • More fun experiential and sensory stores
    • Positive in-store experiences drive loyalty
    • Shifting shopping behaviours
    • Women embrace more frugal and thrifty behaviours
    • Responding to changing women’s habits
    • Vinted drives behaviour reset
    • Affordable circular services can drive post-purchase engagement
    • Appealing to keen male shoppers
    • Male 16-34s will spend more on quality and innovation
    • Menswear collaborations can drive interest
    • Revival of jeans among men of all ages
    • Leveraging AI and social media to engage younger male audiences
    • Where they buy clothes
    • Tesco overtakes Primark in value space
    • Graph 7: where consumers have bought clothes for themselves in-store/online in the last 12 months, 2024-25
    • Shein disrupts the fashion market
    • Zara jumps to third most popular for menswear
    • Social media reshapes the shopping journey
    • The young rely on social media for inspiration
    • Tapping into online community to build trust
    • Using live shopping to help with fit
    • The future of social shopping
  4. LEADING RETAILERS

    • Clothing retail sales squeezed by value focus
    • Next has largest share of the market
    • Graph 8: estimated market share of the top 10 leading clothing retailers, 2023-24
    • M&S needs to regain trust after cyber attack
    • Sainsbury’s sees rise in repeat customers
    • Primark sees falling sales
    • John Lewis heads in premium direction
    • A competitive online market
    • Graph 9: emerging online players, growth in number of customers and transactions, 2024-25
  5. PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING

    • Creating destination stores combining retail and services
    • Opportunities to expand into adjacent categories like home
    • Vinted expands into new categories
    • Fashion retailers grow spend on social ads
    • Integrating wellness into fashion stores
  6. APPENDIX

    • Report scope/Market definition
    • The market
    • Forecast methodology
    • Market size: consumer spending on clothing and accessories
    • Market forecast: consumer spending on clothing and accessories
    • Market size: retail sales through specialist clothing retailers
    • Market forecast: retail sales through specialist clothing retailers
    • The consumer
    • Consumer research questions
    • Consumer research methodology
    • Repertoire analysis methodology
    • Leading Retailers
    • Specialist revenue growth slows
    • Uniqlo sees highest CAGR
    • Graph 10: leading specialist retailers compound annual growth in revenues, 2021-25 (est)
    • Next holds largest share of the clothing market
    • Next has most
    • JD Sports leads among non specialists
    • Snoop SpendMapper methodology
    • Infegy Starscape coverage
    • Product, innovation and marketing
    • M&S continues to dominate ad spend
    • Ad spend shifts to social in the first half of 2025
    • Graph 11: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on clothing and accessories, by media type, 2023-25*
    • Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
    • Abbreviations and terms

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