Following yesterday’s BBC Panorama documentary on the boohoo group:

Pippa Stephens, Senior Apparel Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“The boohoo group’s failure to meet promises regarding an ethical overhaul is unlikely to have a drastic impact on its shoppers’ actions. In a recent GlobalData survey*, price and value for money were rated as the most influential purchase drivers by UK apparel shoppers, with almost 90% considering these to be important when buying clothing, footwear and accessories, compared to just 57.0% valuing retailer ethics, with this disparity expected to have been exacerbated by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Of those that stated that ethical credentials are important to them, many will still be reluctant to actually change their shopping habits, minimising the repercussions for the boohoo group’s top line sales.

“While fast fashion players like the boohoo group and ASOS have lost market share over the past couple of years, this is not due to their ethical practices, but instead a result of shifting consumer preferences and rising competition from more dynamic players like Shein. Despite Shein facing its own ethical controversies, its UK apparel market share is set to rise by 0.6ppts to 2.2% in 2023, as its extremely low prices and fast product turnaround continue to help it capture the attention of new shoppers. In contrast, the boohoo group and ASOS are forecast to lose market share, dropping by 0.4ppts to 1.7% and 0.5ppts to 2.6% respectively, as their product offers struggle to hit the mark with their core customers.”

* GlobalData’s How Britain Shops 2023 survey of 10,000 respondents conducted in May and June 2023. Respondents were asked how important various factors are to them out of 10 when purchasing apparel, with the percentages showing those that selected 7 or above.”