The high street is still the place to shop the hottest trends and the latest looks across the country, or is it? Through years of gradual decline and a global pandemic along with a soaring rise in online shopping and the sustainability of buying second hand, it’s finally time to ask the question. What does the future of the high street look like within the fashion industry?
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There’s no denying that fashion and the way we buy our clothes has evolved over the years. With the introduction of online shopping, its obvious that customers would immediately see the convenience of being able to shop from the comfort of your own home and browse endless items from multiple retailers. Vintage and secondhand fashion has widely contributed to the decline in high street fashion, sites like Vinted and Depop have offered Gen Z a new way to shop sustainably and look at repurposing old items rather than constantly shopping the new micro-trends.
We spoke to Laura Jackson, owner of the vintage store ‘Friday Vintage’ which operates both online and has a physical store. She gave an insight into why she believes people are drawn more to shopping vintage over high street shops. She said: “People have started to click on to the fact that buying secondhand is better for the planet, it’s better for the pocket, it’s better for everything really, so therefore people are starting to shop less fast fashion as a result of that. The quality of fast fashion is not nearly as good anymore, that definitely plays a part.”
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An environmentally conscious Gen Z could be responsible for slowing down high street sales due to their outlook on sustainability and buying secondhand as well as their avoidance of major fast fashion companies that can be found on the high street.
Laura added: “I think with the rise in things like Depop and Vinted, people have now started to clock on to the fact that not only can they shop at home but they can shop things for a lot cheaper at home too.”
The boutique owner mentioned other factors she believes have contributed to the decrease in retail shopping and increase in online shopping. “I think a lot of people actually just don’t enjoy coming out and high street shopping, it’s a really overwhelming experience and why not, if it’s online, shop from home.”
The global pandemic put a complete halt to the high street and left customers with no choice but to turn to the internet as their means of clothes chopping. During the beginning of the Covid pandemic in 2020, e-commerce sales made up almost a third of all retail sales in the UK at 32.5%, as seen in a survey from Statista. High street shops have evidently struggled to recover from the detrimental effects of the covid pandemic.
In the UK, fashion is currently the biggest sector for all online sales made, as seen in a survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics. The share of total retail sales made online in Great Britain in August 2024 was 27.8% for textile, clothing and footwear stores compared to just 9% of food online sales.
Find more statistics at Statista
Emma Plummer, who works as a retail assistant in the high street shop Primark in Sunderland, believes there are no worries to be had over the future of the high street brand. “Primark don’t have an online shop so most people have to come in anyway and a lot of people enjoy coming in.”
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We asked Emma if she believes Primark is better suited to the in store only model they currently have, she told us “I definitely think we should have some sort of online option, some stores have click and collect, we have nothing in Sunderland. I think it would be handy to have some sort of online store but I don’t think we’d go fully online, I don’t think we’d benefit from it.”
While Primark have introduced a click and collect scheme in some of their stores, this has yet to reach the North East but it is expected to be arriving in 2025. Having click and collect available could help Primark to take advantage of the convenience online shopping gives customers while also still giving them the high street shopping experience when they collect in store.
In a study conducted by Statista it is predicted that by 2025, the amount retail sales made online will reach 38.1%, which is equal to £152 billion spent a year. In comparison, the proportion of UK retail sales made online in 2022 was 26.5%, which was still more than double the amount in 2012 as seen in this survey from Statista. The rate at which online shopping is rising is having harsh effects on the high street, a prime example being the closure of all Debenhams department stores in 2021 after more than 200 years on UK high streets.
We spoke to Graham Soult, a retail consultant who supports shops and the high street across the UK. We asked him his thoughts on the future of high street fashion and he gave us an optimistic point of view. “I think there will always be a market for people who want to buy clothes in person, it’s not just the transaction it’s the experience too.”
He added: “In terms of online, you can’t sustain a business on people buying five of something and returning four of them. There is a cost to that, both in terms of shipping and processing, but also in sustainability costs. That whole process of online returns is inherently unsustainable and I think It’s much better to go in to a shop and try something on and if you like it and it fits, buy it, and if it doesn’t don’t.”
Let us know your thoughts on the high street and if you still enjoy browsing clothes in person over digitally on our socials @fashion_north.
