Online fashion holds positive against as the high street weekly softens

UK fashion online stayed in growth last week against one of the most demanding comparisons of the year, even as the wider high street softened and the category as a whole edged lower. Non-store fashion rose +0.34% — modest in isolation, but set against an extraordinary +20.72% base from the same week a year earlier, making it the only fashion channel to hold positive.

Fashion total like-for-like (LFL) sales slipped -1.13%, against a positive +5.84% base. Store fashion fell -1.07%, lapping a near-flat -0.61% a year earlier, as a dip in high street footfall weighed on in-store trade. With both the total and store measured against positive comparisons, the week reads as a pause rather than a retreat.

The wider high street also lost ground. Total LFL sales fell -0.65%, ending five consecutive weeks of growth, from a +6.02% base. Total store sales edged up +0.80% against a negative -0.46% base, while total non-store sales fell -1.75% — dragged lower by other categories — against a very strong +22.22% comparison a year earlier.

Springboard footfall fell -0.7% overall, led by a -2.2% drop on the high street, while retail parks rose +1.3% and shopping centres +0.4%. The softer high street visitor numbers aligned with the week's in-store weakness.

Settled, quieter weather brought calmer conditions and limited rainfall, alongside widespread overnight fog and frosty mornings.

With online holding firm against an exceptional base and the dips cushioned by demanding comparisons, fashion enters the Black Friday run-in broadly steady rather than slowing — the real test of demand still to come.