UK online clothing sales statistics 2026

Key figures

Online has held between 26% and 29% of clothing store sales in Great Britain every year since 2022: well above the 2019 level, below the 2021 peak, and close to the 28.8% average for all retail.

• 28.2%of textile, clothing and footwear store sales made online, September 2026 (Great Britain)ONS
• 28.3%online share for the full year 2025, up from 18.5% in 2019ONS
• £317.1maverage weekly online sales by clothing, textile and footwear stores, September 2026ONS
• 56.8%of UK and Irish online fashion sales made on mobile, September 2026IRP Commerce
• 46.1%of UK and Irish online fashion sales came through paid searchIRP Commerce
• 1.62%UK and Ireland fashion ecommerce conversion rate, September 2026IRP Commerce

Headline figures

What share of clothing is bought online in the UK?

About 28%: clothing, textile and footwear retailers in Great Britain made 28.3% of their sales online in 2025 and 28.2% in September 2026. That figure counts clothing store chains and their websites, not online-only retailers.

The share rose steadily before the pandemic, from 13.6% in 2016 to 18.5% in 2019. With shops closed it jumped to 31.1% in 2020 and 33.1% in 2021, then fell back to 26.0% in 2022 as stores reopened. It has edged up every year since, to 28.3% in 2025.

The ONS classifies each retailer by its main business. A chain with high street shops and a website is a clothing store, and its online sales count in this figure. An online-only fashion retailer is classed as non-store retailing, which makes 89.2% of its sales online across all products, so the share of all clothing bought online in Britain is higher than 28%. The ONS does not publish a figure for clothing across all retailer types.

Is clothing bought online more than other goods?

Not among store-based retailers: clothing stores' 28.2% online share in September 2026 was close to the all-retail average of 28.8% and just below household goods stores at 29.5%, though far above food stores at 10.2%.

Across all retail, the ONS reports that the share of sales made online fell slightly from 28.9% in August to 28.8% in September 2026. Online spending was 6.8% higher than in September 2025 (ONS retail sales bulletin, September 2026).

Online clothing sales in 2026, month by month

The online share of clothing store sales peaked at 30.3% in March 2026 and eased to 28.2% by September. Clothing stores sold an average of £317.1 million a week online in September, against £328.1 million a year earlier.

The ONS noted that online clothing retailers said warmer weather hit sales of autumn and winter ranges in September 2026. The ONS revises monthly figures as more retailers report, and the ONS advises reading them alongside three-month trends. We update this page after each monthly release; the next is due on 20 November 2026.

How UK shoppers buy fashion online

Mostly on mobile and mostly through paid search: in September 2026, 56.8% of UK and Irish online fashion sales were made on a phone, and 46.1% came through paid search, according to IRP Commerce's retailer panel.

IRP Commerce also reports for fashion clothing and accessories in September 2026:

• A conversion rate of 1.62% of sessions, up from 1.29% a year earlier, and below the 1.97% average across retail markets.
• An average order value of £88.28 and an average item price of £59.44.
• International customers accounted for 38.1% of sales, up from 36.37% a year earlier.
• A bounce rate of 43.94%, up from 39.47%.

More conversion benchmarks, by fashion category, are in fashion ecommerce conversion rate benchmarks 2026.

How many UK online clothing orders are returned?

Retail Economics and ZigZag put the UK non-food return rate at 21% in 2024, easing to 19.5% in 2025, with returns worth £26.7 billion in 2024. 42% of UK clothing and footwear retailers now charge for returns.

Charging has a cost of its own: Retail Economics found that 49% of UK shoppers, and six in ten Millennials, have abandoned a purchase over an unsatisfactory returns policy. For what each return costs a retailer, see the cost of returns 2026; for return rates in other countries, see the Fashion Returns Index.

Definitions and how this page is compiled

The ONS figures cover Great Britain, are seasonally adjusted, and measure online sales by retailers whose main business is clothing, textile and footwear stores.

• Source. The ONS Retail Sales Index, from its Monthly Business Survey of retailers. Series MS76 (online share, clothing stores), MS6Y (online share, all retailing excluding fuel) and MZXV (average weekly online sales, clothing stores), with other sectors from the internet sales dataset. Figures as published on 23 October 2026.
• Great Britain, not the UK. The Retail Sales Index excludes Northern Ireland. The IRP Commerce figures cover UK and Irish retailers; Retail Economics covers the UK.
• Store-based retailers only. Online-only retailers are counted in non-store retailing, whatever they sell.
• Revisions. The ONS revises recent months. When it does, we update the figures here and log the change.

ONS data are Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Corrections: data@renderedfits.com.

Sources

• Office for National Statistics, internet sales as a proportion of textile, clothing and footwear stores sales, series MS76 (published 23 October 2026)
• Office for National Statistics, internet sales as a proportion of all retailing excluding automotive fuel, series MS6Y (published 23 October 2026)
• Office for National Statistics, internet average weekly sales, textile, clothing and footwear stores, series MZXV (published 23 October 2026)
• Office for National Statistics, Retail Sales Index internet sales dataset (released 23 October 2026)
• Office for National Statistics, Retail sales, Great Britain: September 2026 (23 October 2026)
• IRP Commerce, Fashion Clothing & Accessories market data, UK and Ireland (September 2026, read 10 November 2026)
• IRP Commerce, Market Data Centre, all markets (September 2026)
• Retail Economics and ZigZag, UK Returns Benchmark 2025

Every figure on this page links to the publication it comes from. Rendered Fits does not publish a sales figure of its own. Last reviewed 10 November 2026 by Sienna Stones.