UK fashion shoppers more cautious, wait longer to buy, but spend more per transaction

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Nov 2, 2022

UK fashion shoppers are becoming cautious when it comes to online purchases, with browsing on the rise but order volumes down, latest data from True Fit shows.

Insight from True Fit’s Fashion Genome, which pulls together data from 80 million active shoppers and over 17,000 brands, showed that in September, web traffic to fashion retailer websites grew 14% year-on-year (YoY) with demand for online browsing “remaining high”.

However, during the same month, UK fashion checkouts were down 8% YoY, although they were up on August order volumes by 9 percentage points. Order volumes also rallied in early October, recovering to just 2% down YoY in the first two weeks of the month.

“With the UK experiencing economic turbulence, as inflation climbed back up to double digits, and energy cap rises coming into effect from the beginning of October, consumers are acting increasingly cautiously when it comes to discretionary spend”, the report said.  

While True Fit’s data shows a dip in the frequency of online fashion orders, shoppers are spending more when they do convert, bolstered by early Christmas shopping.

Fashion average order value (AOV) rose 2% YoY in September compared to 2021 and grew to 6% YoY in the first two weeks in October.  Basket sizes also recovered to their highest point since the beginning of July, with AOV climbing by 15 percentage points to $160 (£139.15) by the end of last month.  

True Fit’s MD EMEA, Sarah Curran, said: “As shoppers’ are becoming more cautious, their consideration phase for purchasing is lengthening. And this is why we’re seeing the trend for lots of browsing as consumers search around for the best deals or take longer to validate their decision before committing to a purchase, prompting traffic levels to be buoyed.”  
 
She added: “This sustained growth in online browsing points to demand still being there, but with longer discovery and consideration phases, the emphasis is put even more squarely on retailers and brands to ensure that consumers are supported during their buying journey, with rich, relevant and meaningful customer engagement from first-look right through to the checkout.”