UK high street sales weak; online fashion surges: BDO

UK retail sales in discretionary categories such as fashion, homewares, and lifestyle continued to underperform in June, according to BDO’s latest High Street Sales Tracker.

Like-for-like in-store sales rose by just 0.6 per cent compared to June 2024, falling well below inflation and highlighting the sector's ongoing struggle to attract consumer spending, BDO said in a release.

“Consumer spending continues to be challenged, with little optimism for retailers. We know that consumers are being incredibly cautious when it comes to discretionary spend, given the significant noise around rising job losses and volatility in the geopolitical landscape,” Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO, commented.

While high street footfall remained weak, online sales posted a robust growth of 4.3 per cent—driven particularly by a 10 per cent surge in online fashion sales. In contrast, fashion sales on the high street slipped by 0.2 per cent, further deepening concerns over the viability of physical retail spaces.

“There is also a growing gap between the performance of physical stores and online retail. Perhaps this is because online retailers have greater agility to adjust their inventory and promotional material to quickly align to consumer preferences, such as promoting summer outfits in extreme high temperatures and pivoting to waterproofs when the rain arrives,” said Sophie.

This marks the sixth consecutive month where in-store sales growth has failed to keep pace with inflation, translating into declining sales volumes across the first half of 2025. Reinforcing the bleak outlook, CBI data shows that total sales volumes have now fallen for nine consecutive months.

“Some retailers are making targeted investments to improve their store estates to attract more footfall, but we need to see this across the industry along with more support to revitalise our high streets. Store propositions need to be reinvented. Strategic and targeted investment is what is really required for retailers with a significant physical footprint to remain competitive. At the same time, retailers need to continue to invest in blending their physical and online offerings. Without this investment and local government support, we risk seeing further store closures which has a detrimental effect on our towns and communities," Sophie concluded.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (HU)