Fashion Sales Benefit from Sunny Conditions

Monday, May 27, 2019 - 08:10 by Graham Miller

April was a good month for clothes retailers, with figures from the Office for National Statistics showing that as temperatures rose and the sun came out, more people were looking to buy garments via safe shopping online.

ONS analysts recorded a 10 per cent uptick in e-commerce activity last month, outdoing similar reports from other bodies which suggested that the market was not quite as buoyant. In total, it was estimated that 18.7 per cent of sales made across the retail sector took place via the web, which again hints at growth for this industry.

It was confirmed that while sales were up, the amount being spent on average per transaction was down. This suggests that consumer confidence remains rocky and that people are being cautious with their cash.

The healthy double-digit growth for clothing and footwear sales is seen as tying in directly with the fact that April’s weather was generally warm and fine across the UK. People were looking to snap up products to help them make the most of their time outdoors, which of course means new fashion purchases were popular.

An additional reason for the strong clothing sales is the fact that many retailers had been stockpiling fashion goods in anticipation of the originally planned Brexit date at the end of March. With the delay to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, it was possible for online outlets to offer discounts in order to shift some of the surplus stock.

Indeed, some experts believe that retailers might even have a tough time finding ways to get rid of the stock that they have accrued over the past few months. This is good news for bargain hunters who are looking to make big savings on clothing, footwear and other product types.