Consumer fashion buying behaviors in the UK 2021

During a survey conducted in July and August 2021, nearly 40 percent of fashion shoppers in the United Kingdom (UK) said they browse several websites before buying online. In addition, almost 30 percent of respondents said they browse online before heading to a physical store to purchase fashion items.

In-store and online fashion shoppers in the UK

In 2021, approximately six in ten surveyed UK shoppers between the ages of 16 and 44 shopped for clothes both in stores and digitally in the past three months. Consumers that were 45 years of age and older were more inclined to shop offline exclusively. Although certain age groups were more likely to shop online than others, about 20 percent of UK consumers across each of the generations surveyed said they intended to buy more apparel and footwear on the web on a permanent basis.

Most popular online stores for apparel

The UK’s apparel industry is extremely large and competitive, which is why consumers have many different e-retailers at their disposal when shopping online. Despite the large variety of options, one website stuck out like a sore thumb in 2021, namely Amazon. When asked where they had shopped online for clothes, footwear, and accessories in the past 12 months, about 40 percent of consumers in the UK said they had purchased from the Amazon marketplace, making it by far the most common answer. At roughly 15 percent each, the M&S and Next platforms were popular alternatives in 2021.