Fashion remains a key element of the retail offer in towns and cities, but it is no longer a silver bullet, and one size certainly does not fit all, with challenging trading conditions creating opportunities for diversification
The proportion of sales across GB towns and cities accounted for by Fashion has dropped from 23% in 2022 to 20% in 2024. But the challenges for Fashion on the high street – which can also be regarded as opportunities for evolution – are well documented.
- The Pandemic was a catalyst for change. It is widely recognized that the pandemic was a catalyst for key changes in our lifestyles, the main one being the extent of home working, but then associated with this our fashion style, which has become far more casual than during the pre-pandemic period.
- Online Shopping. We know categories such as Fashion, that have a higher percentage of online sales, are at a greater threat of store contraction. However, the most successful retailers are those embracing all touchpoints – online and offline – to create the best possible customer experience and a seamless customer journey.
The Impact on High Street Sales
Inevitably this has led to a great deal of commentary focusing on the changes that this has meant for high streets. However, this isn’t a new narrative, with the theme of the changing nature of the high street being present for as many years as I have been commenting on retail (a total of 38 this year!).
But it is clear now that the offer of high streets has become more diverse – we still have a significant number of towns and cities that are dominated by Fashion, but we also have many towns and cities where the offer has a greater degree of variety. Indeed, UK towns and cities can be segmented into five groups based on the influence of Fashion sales during 2024; from a high of 37% (median of 32%) to less than 16% (median of 13%).
With the growth of sectors other than Fashion, some have voiced that Fashion is not relevant to town centres any more. However, the data clearly doesn’t support this – Fashion sales nationally still account for 20% of total sales (up to 29% if we include the offer within the General Retail sector), and we know that in some towns Fashion sales are as great as 37% of total sales.
But we also know that over the recent past Fashion sales have had an exceedingly challenging period; between January 2022 and December 2024 Fashion sales declined by -16%, whilst sales in all of the other four key sectors increased by between +0.8% (General Retail) and +14.3% (Grocery). However, the fact that Fashion sales still account for 20% of total sales, meant that sales overall declined by -1.5%.
What is driving the drop in Fashion sales?
The key driver of this drop in Fashion sales has been a reduction in customers purchasing Fashion (-8.7%) and the number of transactions they have made (-12.5%). However, the ATV (average transaction value) for Fashion increased by an average of +5.9%, suggesting that many of those consumers who do purchase Fashion have been purchasing higher priced items.
So what does this suggest is the way forward for towns and cities in terms of curating an offer that drives as good a sales performance as possible?
Firstly, it indicates that simply expanding the Fashion sector is not the silver bullet for towns that it once was. With this in mind, it is critical for a town to truly understand which sectors underpin its performance and create its unique specialism. To what extent are sales increasing or declining in which sectors, and what is driving that change? Is the retail offer consistent with the profile of town’s customers, or is there a possible mismatch? Understanding all of these factors are key if a town is to support and retain its businesses and drive long term growth.
Notes
All data on sales in towns and cities is sourced from Beauclair (www.beauclairdata.co.uk).