UK lockdown drove 'cheap clothes' and 'free shipping' searches higher

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Nov 17, 2020

As the financial constraints of the pandemic squeezed family budgets, UK consumers became even more price conscious during the first lockdown, according to a new study by Pink Casino.

In the March-June lockdown, online searches for ‘cheap clothes’ rocketed 46.3% and ‘free shipping’ rose 22%, the ‘Biggest Bargain Hunters’ survey showed. Some 30% also used a discount code or voucher when shopping online.

And the biggest search target for Britons looking for a ‘sale’? Step forward Next. It was followed by Debenhams, Matalan and New Look. 

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The top 10 most popular brands in the UK (and the offer most associated with them) are: Amazon (student discount) , Next (sale), Debenhams (sale), Asos (student discount), Matalan (sale), New Look (sale), Boohoo (student discount), H&M (sale), PrettyLittleThing (student discount), and Missguided (student discount).

Britons were also found to be 98% more likely to search for 'buy now pay later' apps and 53% more likely to search for clothing that costs less than £5 than items that are £10 or more.

Overall, Londoners have the cheapest online shopping habits after also ranking highly for searches for ‘buy one get one free’ deals, ‘cheap clothes’, ‘buy now pay later’ apps and ‘discount clothes’ sites. Londoners also took the top spot for ‘free shipping’ searches.

The North West is the region with the cheapest online shopping habits, and Wales saw the biggest lockdown increase in free shipping demand, followed by Scotland, Northern Ireland and England.