UK Fashion Technology and Innovation Market Report 2025
2025-09-30T16:01:51+00:00
REP9EC728E5_46D1_484D_88FA_604E78875E03
2195
187254
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Report
en_GB
49% of online shoppers feel positively about having their own AI personal shopping assistant that is able to find fashion items based on their preferences such as budget or size.
UK
Clothing and Fashion
Technology
simple
UK Fashion Technology and Innovation Market Report 2025
The latest technology is transforming the way consumers shop, so retailers must invest in innovative solutions to address consumer pain points and stay competitive.
Fashion Technology in the UK – Analysis and Trends
49% of online shoppers feel positively about having their own AI personal shopping assistant that is able to find fashion items based on their preferences such as budget or size.
Technology is developing rapidly and there are opportunities for the latest sizing tools from AI-powered virtual fitting rooms to 3D avatars to address help customers find the correct size and fit when online shopping.
Getting consumers to become accustomed to using the tools during their shopping journey is crucial and this will depend on how accurate customers find them and if the items actually fit when they physically try them on, leading to reduced returns.
Shein has become the most popular place for young women aged 16-34 to buy new fashion items online. The Chinese etailer has achieved incredible scale in a relatively short period of time, grabbing market share from other pureplays as well as young fashion retailers.
Key Issues Covered in the Report
The size of the online fashion market within the UK
Where people shop for fashion online in the last 12 months and ongoing demand for an omnichannel experience
Growth of the online resale market and where people buy second-hand fashion items from
The main barriers to shopping online for fashion and whether these occur during the purchase or post-purchase part of the shopping journey
Consumer sentiment towards future online shopping scenarios such as the use of digital avatars and AI shopping assistants
Attitudes to innovative solutions that could improve shopping for fashion online including visual search tools, future AI developments and sizing tools
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
What you need to know
Opportunities
AI personal shopping assistants can help overwhelmed men shop for fashion
Virtual try-on to deal with challenge of finding fashion that fits
The future of fashion search is more visual and entertaining
THE MARKET
Market predictions
Snapshot – market size and forecast
Online fashion sales grow in H1 2025
Graph 1: online retail sales of clothing and footwear, value non-seasonally adjusted, year-on-year performance, 2024-25
De Minimis review could be a silver lining
Impact of tariffs on fashion
THE CONSUMER
Fashion items bought online
Footwear most popular fashion category bought online
Graph 2: fashion items bought online, 2024 and 2025
Footwear is a key area for tech innovation
The future of footwear try-on
New vs second-hand shopping for fashion online
Gen Zs opting to buy second-hand instead of new fashion
Pinterest taps into demand for pre-loved fashion
Childrenswear is most popular pre-loved category bought online
Peer-to-peer platforms dominate resale, led by Vinted
Graph 3: where second-hand fashion items are purchased online, 2025
Growing popularity of Vinted among women
Vinted’s growth outpacing eBay
Graph 4: selected fashion marketplaces by year-on-year growth in customer numbers and spend within cohort, 2025
Where they shop for fashion online
Retailers with physical stores most used when buying online
Graph 5: type of online fashion retailer used, 2025
Amazon is the most popular place to buy online
Graph 6: retailers with physical stores used for buying new fashion items online, 2025
Graph 7: retailers without physical stores used for buying new fashion items online, 2025
M&S cyber attack will have impacted its market share
Almost half of young women buy from Shein
Young men favour Amazon, while Shein grabs share among young women
Graph 8: most popular retailers for buying new fashion items online, female 16-34s, 2025
Graph 9: most popular retailers for buying new fashion items online, male 16-34s, 2025
Rise of Shein
Graph 10: selected fashion retailers by year-on-year growth in customer numbers and spend within cohort, 2025
Online disruptors
Graph 11: leading online fashion retailers, by growth in customers and growth in spend within the Snoop SpendMapper cohort , 2024-25
Barriers to buying fashion online
Size and fit is the main challenge when buying online
Graph 12: main challenges of buying online during the fashion shopping journey, 2025
Majority of women see size and fit as a barrier to online shopping
Female under-45s interested in digital avatars
AI-powered sizing innovations
Virtual avatars for try-on can also reduce returns
Receiving orders is main post-purchase challenge for 16-34s
Graph 13: factors that would help Gen Zs return fewer items bought online, 2025
Expanding use of lockers
Interest in online fashion shopping innovations
Men more positive about innovative new technology than women
Finding the right items is a big challenge for men
AI personal shopping assistants can help men shop for fashion
Young are keen on visual search to make fashion shopping easier
The future is visual
Using livestream to make shopping more entertaining
Instagram helps emerging brands via livestreaming
Snapchat users keen on livestream shopping
Livestreaming can be used to help with fit
Gen Zs open to new ways to shop
Tariffs make people more interested in origin of fashion items
Investing in tech to modernise supply chains
PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING
Advertising and marketing activity
Vinted enters TV space
Rise of AI-driven marketing content creation
Innovations
Superdrug adds fashion brands to its  marketplace
Agentic AI
Google adapts AI for shopping
APPENDIX
Report scope and definitions
Report scope
Abbreviations and terms
Consumer research methodology – EMEA
Infegy Starscape coverage
Snoop SpendMapper methodology
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