Online drives fashion higher as storms empty the high street

UK fashion grew strongly for a fourth week running on the back of its online channel, as two autumn storms emptied the high street and pushed shoppers online. Fashion total like-for-like (LFL) sales rose +6.73%, according to the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker — though against an easy +0.48% base a year earlier, with the real momentum coming from online.

Online was the clear driver. Non-store fashion jumped +11.64% against a positive +3.79% base — genuine growth on a solid comparison, and a fourth consecutive week in which online has led the category. The strength came even as physical retail was battered by the weather.

Store fashion, by contrast, was broadly flat at +1.07%, against a slightly negative -0.08% base. With footfall collapsing under storm disruption, in-store trade barely moved, and spending shifted decisively to online channels.

Across the wider high street, total LFL sales rose +6.85%, a fourth straight week of growth, though from a negative -1.96% base. Total store sales grew +2.22% and total non-store sales +8.60%, both against negative comparisons a year earlier — so the headline strength was flattered by weak prior-year figures.

Springboard footfall fell -5.7%, the largest drop since the start of the year, led by the high street at -9.3%, with shopping centres down -3.8% and retail parks flat. Storm Austen brought winds of up to 76mph, followed within days by Storm Boelo at 84mph, leaving 800,000 homes without power.

With the high street disrupted and store trade flat, fashion's growth this week was unmistakably an online story — demand holding up by shifting online as the weather kept shoppers at home.

The week caps BDO's strongest month since January 2025. Across October, discretionary sales — fashion, lifestyle and homewares combined — rose +4.6% year on year, only the third month in 2026 to outpace inflation. For fashion the online-led pattern held across the month: in-store sales grew just +2.1% while online rose +9.0%, a shift BDO linked to colder October weather prompting shoppers to update their winter wardrobes after a warm late summer. BDO cautioned against reading too much into one month, noting consumer confidence remains fragile and that promotions likely stimulated some of the spending as retailers head into the Christmas period.