Clothing and footwear sales drop as February slump offsets strong start to 2026

Sales volumes for textile, clothing and footwear stores fell by 1% in February, new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals, compared to a 0.4% dip in sales volumes reported across all retail.

Across a period of three months (December 2025 to February 2026), textile, clothing and footwear saw a more pronounced 1.7% drop in sales volumes compared to the previous three months to November 2025.

This stands in stark contrast to the slight uptick in retail volumes reported across all retail (which includes household goods, food etc.), which saw a slight increase of 0.7% in sales volumes, driven by stronger December and January months.

Online fashion took an even harder hit over the three-month time period, recording a 2% drop in volumes, despite comments saying that sports clothing sold well over December and January.

This stands in contrast to online shopping sales for non-store retailers, which saw strong sales volumes across the last three months, peaking in January 2026. The total amount spent online across non-store retail rose by 1.9% between December 2025 and February 2026, compared to the previous three months, but compared year-on-year (to the three months to February 2025), it saw an uptick of 12.1%.

The ONS commented that the stronger December and January figures, compared to a slump in February, could be due to the fact that consumers took advantage of the heavy discounting in January and then pulled back from making new purchases in February.

The British Retail Consortium previously reported that heavy rainfall in February 2026 caused shoppers to stay at home and is one reason why in-store retail sales during the month were sluggish.

Helen Dickinson, CEO at the British Retail Consortium, said at the time: "February’s grey, wet weather hit retail sales hard. Spending was weak across most categories, online and in-store, as households pulled back after Christmas and January’s rebound."

As reported earlier this week, clothing and footwear are also experiencing inflationary pressures, rising 0.9% in February, the highest monthly increase since early 2025, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Commenting on the ONS retail sales figures, Oliver Vernon-Harcourt, head of retail at Deloitte, reinforced the previously notes trends: "After a positive start to the year, February’s retail sales volumes fell as cold and wet weather deterred the purchasing of new seasonal items and reduced high street footfall. A fall in sales could also be a consequence of consumers spending more in January to take advantage of the sales period to secure the best value.

"As the prospect of rising inflation looms, consumers will likely continue to feel protective of their hard-earned cash. In order for them to part with it, whether that be on essentials or more discretionary items, retailers will need to work hard to engage and excite customers and demonstrate real value for money. Alongside this, retailers will need to experiment with new AI shopping experiences to keep pace with the changing shopping journey and attract the customers that are embracing new technologies."