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Published
Jul 22, 2020
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Fearful UK consumers shun stores, but fashion fans are shopping - survey

Published
Jul 22, 2020

Many UK consumers are continuing to shun physical shops with only a third of those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland having visited non-essential shops since they reopened last month. But at least those who do turn up seem to be very focused on fashion purchases.


UK consumers are still avoiding stores but fashion shoppers are venturing out



That’s according to a GlobalData survey of 2,000 shoppers conducted earlier this month. The survey “signals more tumultuous times ahead for retailers,” the company said.

With more than half (51.7%) of UK consumers not expecting their daily lives to return to normal until the end of the year, an aversion to physical stores could continue.

But there could be some reasons for optimism too. For a start, consumer sentiment could shift quickly if recent encouraging news around Covid-19 vaccines and treatments continue.

And of those who are currently shopping in-store GlobalData’s lead retail analyst Sofie Willmott said 43.5% have made clothing purchases. 

“They have clearly missed the sensory experience of physically buying clothing (despite not being able to try items on in most stores) and this was, by far, the most popular product purchased. For some consumers, the online channel has not been an adequate substitute during lockdown, with Primark being the most missed retailer losing out on spend due to not having a transactional website.”

Yet as the aforementioned changing room issue highlights, now that stores have re-opened, physical shopping behaviour for clothing has “changed drastically with very few consumers leisurely browsing the shops as they would have done pre-pandemic. Instead, planned, intentional purchasing has become the norm”.

Willmott added that with face masks being required in shops in England from 24 July, “the visual reminder will ensure the virus remains at the forefront of consumers' minds impacting shopping habits into 2021”.

In place of physical shopping, millions of UK consumers are set to carry on shopping online, continuing a trend that saw 55.9% of them having spent more online in 2020 due to the outbreak. UK online spend is now forecast to rise by £15 billion+ this year.

The picture looks bleak at the moment for the physical stores sector in general. “Sentiment among the UK public is pessimistic, with 43.4% of consumers expecting the Covid-19 outbreak situation to worsen in the next month and only 22.8% expecting things to improve,” she explained. “Until confidence starts to rise and consumers feel safer in stores, footfall will remain muted with little chance that the remainder of 2020 will be able to make up for lost spend during lockdown.”

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