TLDR: Women’s clothing remains the largest segment of the UK fashion market, valued at £47.2 billion. Fast-fashion giants like Shein are gaining ground, reporting a 40% rise in UK sales, which puts pressure on traditional retailers. In response, brands like Next are focusing on quality over quantity, contributing to a forecasted profit nearing £1 billion. Our ASK BOSCO® Index, an online performance benchmark scoring brands on Paid Search, SEO, Digital Marketing, and Website Health – places Next at the top of the women’s clothing league table, thanks to strong SEO and early seasonal marketing. Marks & Spencer follow in second place, maintaining performance through paid search campaigns and social media engagement, despite facing a costly cyberattack.
How the market currently looks?
Women’s clothing remains the largest segment of the UK fashion market, with a market volume of £47.2 billion in 2024.
Younger shoppers, particularly those aged 16 – 24, are increasingly embracing second hand clothing, driven by sustainability concerns and budget considerations. Platforms like Vinted and Depop have gained popularity, with Depop’s revenues increasing by 31% to £71.3 million.
To compete with second hand apps, UK charity shops are also expanding their online presence, with 75% now selling items through digital platforms, experiencing over 10% growth in online sales each quarter. One to watch in the coming months.
Platforms such as Instagram and TikTok play a significant role in influencing fashion trends and purchasing decisions. Influencer marketing and viral content have become pivotal in driving online clothing sales.
As a result, fast-fashion giants like Shein are experiencing significant growth, reporting a 40% increase in UK sales to £1.5 billion. This expansion challenges traditional retailers such as ASOS and Boohoo.
To combat this, retailers like Next are focusing on higher quality offerings, targeting shoppers who prefer “fewer, better quality” items. This strategy has led to a profit forecast increase to nearly £1 billion.
What is the ASK BOSCO® Index?
The ASK BOSCO® Index evaluates online performance across four key categories: Paid Search, SEO, Other Digital Marketing, and Website Health. A score is assigned between 0 and 1000, with most brands and retailers averaging around 500.
A higher score reflects stronger digital performance, making it a useful benchmark for measuring growth. Consider it your digital marketing “credit score”. The closer you get to 1000, the more refined and effective your online strategy becomes.
Who topped the women’s clothing league table?
Next
The women’s clothing industry is highly competitive, and as we’ve seen, fast fashion brands such as Shein and Temu are taking up more of a market share. As a result, traditional retailers need to shift their approach to keep up.
Next are focusing on higher quality offerings, targeting shoppers who prefer “fewer, better quality” items, as the company raised its annual profit forecast to nearly £1billion.
Next is widely acknowledged as having adapted skilfully to major changes such as the shift to online shopping. They top our league table for May and are the leaders in the ‘SEO’ and ‘Other Marketing’ performance categories with scores over 640. These scores gauge the on-site engagement of traffic driven by SEO and other marketing activity, such as social media and email marketing.
Ahead of the summer season, Next recently launched “The Destination” summer campaign – much earlier than other clothing retailers. High quality visuals are being shared across social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. As result of the warmer-than-usual Spring weather, the strategic timing has contributed to a boost in sales, with a 6.8% profit increase over the previous year.
Marks and Spencer
Despite their recent cyber-attack, Marks and Spencer remain in second place on the ASK BOSCO® league table compared to their online competitors.
The cyberattack cost M&S an estimated £60 million in lost profits and over £1 billion in market value. This specific attack, along with similar incidents at other retailers, has prompted a re-evaluation of cybersecurity measures across the UK retail sector. Organizations are being urged to strengthen their defences against sophisticated cyber threats.
Despite this, their marketing campaigns continue to keep their overall online performance strong. Paid search is their main online driver, scoring 624 overall and a score of over 700 for traffic driven to their site from paid search.
Their latest campaign ‘Love That’ has been executed with several marketing initiatives, such as OOH advertising and 30 second television ads. M&S have also leveraged platforms such as TikTok and Instagram to engage younger shoppers.
The top 10 women’s online fashion retailers
The top 10 list includes: Next, M&S, ASOS, John Lewis, Zara, H&M, Net-a-Porter, Selfridges, Boden and Farfetch.
If you’d like to know more about the ASK BOSCO® competitor benchmarking feature and find out where your brand sits on our league table rankings, simply get in touch with us at team@askbosco.com – we’d love to hear from you.
