Clothing named as number one online shopping category for UK consumers

Clothing is the top online shopping category for UK consumers, with underwear and sleepwear among the most popular trending clothing categories.

That’s according to new data from Chinese business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce platform AliExpress, owned by the Alibaba Group, with its first ‘European Consumer Insights Report’ - shedding light on shopping habits across Europe.

The report shows that customers in the UK are spending increasing amounts of time and money shopping online - particularly the younger generation. It found that, on average, UK customers are spending £94 per month, rising to £115 among 16-24-year-olds.

Other key report highlights include:

• 47% of all UK shoppers have made a purchase online within the last three months.
• On average, UK consumers bought six items online over the past three months, with 56% of all customers buying over five items
• Most age groups spend around five hours browsing and researching products online per week.

Figures in the report confirm that online shopping remains very popular across Europe – with 94% of consumers surveyed stating they had spent money online over the past three months.

The highest rates of online shopping were in Germany (96%) and Spain (95%), followed by 90% among UK consumers.

Clothing, underwear, sleepwear and footwear came in as the top category across all markets, followed by beauty and health in second place. Toys and hobbies came in at number three, sports and entertainment was number four, and phones and telecommunications number five.

Spanish consumers are the sportiest shoppers, with 58% buying sports and entertainment related products. The most popular products for French consumers are from the beauty and health category.

British consumers are the most likely to buy wedding and event related products online, with 26% stating they had spent money in this category.

Nearly 79% of German consumers have bought apparel products online in the last three months, with nearly 25% spending on average between €81- €172.

Over the past three months, the most popular shopping channel was online marketplaces, with 50% of consumers stating they had shopped via this channel. However, those aged 55+ said they preferred to go straight to the retailer’s website.

Shopping via social media was most popular amongst those aged between 16-24 years old at 26%, dropping to 8% amongst those aged 55+.

Across all age groups, people bought more from influencer sponsored posts compared to celebrity sponsored adverts – "pointing to a cultural shift in the power of celebrity and the rise of the influencer who is seen to connect more authentically with their audience".

Livestreaming remains an emerging shopping channel and was more popular amongst male consumers compared to female consumers. It was also most popular in France compared to other markets.

Gary Topp, AliExpress European Commercial Director, said: "What we can see from this first Consumer Insight Report is an enduring passion for online shopping among Europeans, especially in categories that are all about personal self-expression – clothing and beauty.

"There is also a growing focus on digital marketplaces, alongside brands’ own retail websites as regular places to browse and buy from. I look forward to seeing what the data also reveals over time about the online shopping behaviours of European consumers."

The AliExpress ‘European Consumer Insights Report’ surveyed 4039 consumers aged over 16 years old from the UK, France, Germany and Spain about their online shopping habits. Consumers were polled between 27 November to 1 December 2023.

Launched in 2010, the AliExpress e-commerce platform enables global consumers to buy directly from manufacturers and distributors in China and around the world.