United Kingdom (UK) Apparel Consumer Insights: Who Shops, What do they Shop, How do they Shop and Why do they Shop

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All the vital news, analysis, and commentary curated by our industry experts.

The report includes data and analysis from GlobalData’s How Britain Shops 2025 survey.

Despite a difficult economic climate, 88.6% of UK shoppers purchased apparel in the 12 months to June 2025, rising 0.5ppts on the previous year. Purchases were still led by female consumers but shifted towards an older demographic that remained more resilient amid financial pressures.

Key Highlights

More over 35s shopped for apparel than younger shoppers, due to experiencing lesser impacts from economic pressures

Adults are more likely to cut back on buying clothing for themselves than for their children due to purchases for the latter being more essential

More consumers shopped from physical stores while online purchases stepped back, likely due to shoppers wanting to try items on first as they make more considered purchases

Reasons to Buy

Identify how economic uncertainty is influencing how and where UK consumers shop for apparel

Understand where the demand lies within the UK apparel market across various price positionings, categories, and retailers, to allow you to maximise customer acquisition

Understand consumer sentiment surrounding the UK apparel market and what this means for apparel brands’ next steps

Primark
Next
Sainsburys
Tesco
ASDA
TK Maxx
H&M
Amazon
Zara
Matalan
New Look
Shein
Sports Direct
Adidas
Temu
JD Sports
Nike
Skechers
Shoe Zone
Clarks
eBay
John Lewis & Partners
River Island
Vinted
ASOS Marketplace
Depop
Etsy
Decathlon

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

WHO SHOPS AND WHAT THEY PURCHASE

Who Shops for Apparel

Categories Purchased

Clothing Styles Purchased

Womenswear and Menswear Items Purchased

Girlswear and Boyswear Items Purchased

Women’s and Men’s Footwear Items Purchased

ChiIdren’s Footwear and Accessories Items Purchased

HOW & WHERE PEOPLE SHOP

Purchase Frequency

Channel Preferences

Location Preferences

Online Fulfilment Preferences

Top Clothing Retailers

Top Footwear Retailers

Top Accessories Retailers

WHY PEOPLE SHOP

Purchase Drivers

Purchase Inspirations

Fashion Preferences

Experiences When Shopping for Apparel

Sustainability and Ethics

SECONDHAND APPAREL PURCHASES

Secondhand Apparel Purchases

Future Secondhand Apparel Purchases

Secondhand Categories Purchased

Secondhand Purchase Drivers

Secondhand Channel Preferences

Instore and Online Secondhand Retailers Used

Secondhand Purchase Statements

METHODOLOGY, DEFINITIONS AND CONTACTS

Table

Consumers who purchased clothing, footwear and accessories, by demographic

Womenswear items purchased

Menswear items purchased

Girlswear items purchased

Boyswear items purchased

Women’s footwear items purchased

Men’s footwear items purchased

Children’s footwear items purchased

Accessories items purchased

Channels used to purchase apparel, by demographic

Fulfilment methods used when purchasing apparel online, by demographic

Top clothing retailers visited and purchased from, 2024 and 2025

Top footwear retailers visited and purchased from, 2024 and 2025

Top accessories retailers visited and purchased from, 2024 and 2024

What was important to shoppers when purchasing apparel in 2025, by demographic

What inspires consumers’ apparel purchases in 2025, by demographic

Consumers who purchased secondhand apparel in the last 12 months, by demographic

Consumers who would consider purchasing secondhand apparel in the future, by total and demographic

Top instore retailers secondhand apparel shoppers have purchased from

Top online retailers secondhand apparel shoppers have purchased from

Figures

Consumers who shopped for apparel in the last 12 months, totally and by gender, age, social grade, and region

Demographic profile of apparel shoppers, by gender, age, social grade and region

Consumers who shopped for clothing, footwear and accessories

Categories purchased by clothing and footwear shoppers

Clothing styles purchased by apparel shoppers

How frequently shoppers purchase apparel

Channels used to purchase apparel

Instore locations shopped at for apparel

Fulfilment methods used when purchasing apparel online

What is important to shoppers when purchasing apparel

What inspires shoppers’ apparel purchases

Agreement and disagreement with statements about fashion preferences

Agreement and disagreement with statements about experiences when shopping for apparel

Agreement and disagreement with statements about sustainability and ethics

Consumers who purchased secondhand apparel in the last 12 months

Consumers who would consider purchasing secondhand apparel in the future

Categories purchased by secondhand apparel shoppers

What is important to shoppers when purchasing secondhand apparel

Channels used for secondhand apparel purchases

Agreement and disagreement with statements about purchasing items secondhand

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