Fashion takes spending back seat for lockdown consumers says Klarna

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 11, 2020

Britons have been adapting to the changed circumstances brought about by the lockdown by adjusting the categories on which they spend, a new report by payments specialist Klarna has revealed. 

It said the share of spending on clothing and shoes rose rapidly in the second week of March as the lockdown became a possibility, but then decreased quickly as social distancing restrictions came in.

In fact, the category’s relative share of purchase rose by 8% early in the month as Britons “got their fashion fix ahead of lockdown”. But from the week starting March 9, it dropped 15% prior to the lockdown.

And health and beauty spending peaked during March, but levelled out as Britons got used to being at home. In the week starting March 16, as a share of total purchases, the category rose 14%. That was a high point that wasn’t reached again until the last week of April when it saw an increase in relative share of purchase of 17%. 

The company’s data is based on the fact that its product is used by more than 7 million shoppers and it has more than 5,000 retail partners in the UK. It analysed what those shoppers and retail partners have been doing and has also been able to identify what different demographics have been buying.

It also said that while Gen Z spend “has been moving away from clothing and shoes, it has done so at a slower rate than other age groups”. Meanwhile, the health and beauty sector saw an increase in relative share of 81% between March 9 and April 20 for this age cohort.

Meanwhile, Gen Z consumers shifted towards home and garden as they reined-in clothing and shoes spend, while Baby Boomer spending dropped the most significantly in the clothing and shoes category, down 30% as a relative share between the week starting March 9 and April 20.