BDO: Online fashion powers ahead as heatwave keeps UK shoppers out of stores

Online demand drove UK fashion higher last week, even as a record-breaking heatwave kept shoppers away from physical stores. Fashion total like-for-like (LFL) sales rose +4.20%, according to the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker — though that headline was flattered by a negative -3.39% base a year earlier, and the real momentum came from online.

Non-store fashion was the genuine engine, up +10.88% against a positive +3.24% base from the same week last year — growth built on an already-rising comparison rather than a soft one, and a clear sign of underlying online demand.

Store fashion, by contrast, slipped -1.66%, against a -3.74% base. With an extreme-heat red warning in force and high street footfall sharply down, shoppers stayed out of physical stores and moved spending online, leaving the in-store channel in modest decline.

Across the wider high street, total LFL sales were essentially flat at +0.04% from a negative -3.52% base, a result BDO attributed largely to online. Total store sales fell -2.50%, while total non-store sales jumped +10.96% against a -3.39% base.

The week was dominated by an exceptional heatwave, culminating in the hottest June day on record at 37.3C in Suffolk, with new highs across all four nations and hundreds of schools closed. Springboard footfall fell -2.7% overall, dragged by the high street at -6.3% and shopping centres at -2.7%, while retail parks rose +4.8%.

With store fashion soft and the category total measured against a negative base, the week's real fashion story is online resilience — demand holding firm through disruptive conditions that emptied the high street.