
UK shoppers prefer to shop in-store to buy fashion
The research reveals the significant shift back to physical retail is driven by the joy of trying different styles and sizes (38 percent) and the convenience of visiting multiple shops in one location (30 percent).
The data also shows that two-thirds of shoppers living in the UK use fashion to feel confident and empowered, rather than follow the latest trends, and one-third add that they find their greatest style inspiration when shopping in-store.
However, 47 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds believe shopping destinations need to offer in-store experiences to attract visitors who typically shop online.
In addition, the research also uncovered a deeper emotional issue, as 47 percent of British consumers, rising to 56 percent for women, find looking at themselves in the mirror while trying on clothes a difficult experience. Reformation at Battersea Power Station Credits: Battersea Power Station
In response to these insights, the Battersea Power Station, which houses 150 shops, bars, and restaurants in and around the Grade II listed building, is hosting a series of events from May 12 to 31 as part of its Radiant Reflections campaign, celebrating personal style and encouraging shoppers to celebrate their reflections.
The Power Station is looking to put 'joy, confidence, and body positivity back into shopping' with events, such as a workshop with energy healer and author of The Fashion Oracle, Nieve Tierney, a VIP event at Jigsaw with fashion stylist and colour experts, Manina and Rachel from Red Leopard, styling sessions at British menswear brand Hackett and sustainable women's clothing brand Reformation.
Kate Boothman-Meier, head of communications and marketing at Battersea Power Station Development Company, said in a statement: 'As the research shows, consumers are moving away from online shopping and returning to shopping in person. We're proud to be creating a destination where retail goes beyond transactions - it's about atmosphere, engagement, and ultimately the visitor journey leading to a positive shopping experience.
'From exciting new concept stores to innovative in-store services, the brands at Battersea Power Station are always looking for ways to elevate our visitors overall experience at the riverside neighbourhood. 'Radiant Reflections' is our way of celebrating individuality, supporting confidence, and reminding people that shopping should be joyful.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Fashion United
5 hours ago
- Fashion United
Paul Smith extends Fashion Residency programme to US with CFDA
British designer Paul Smith has expanded his brand's existing Fashion Residency programme to students in the US. In partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), for the initiative's second edition the Paul Smith Foundation will be selecting one American designer to join the residency at Studio Smithfield in London. The inaugural US participant, who will be part of the Paul Smith's Foundation x CFDA Designer-in-Residence, will join six UK-based designers in receiving a 400 square foot studio space for 12 months, supported by Projekt. Each designer will also receive mentoring from industry leaders, business-planning training, a visa, flights and living expenses. Applications for the second cohort of the programme have now been opened, with shortlisted candidates associated with the CFDA-led arm to begin interviews in September 2025. Designer Paul Smith will oversee the selection process alongside CFDA president, Steven Kolb, and vice president of program strategies/education and sustainability initiatives at CFDA, Sara Kozlowski. Launched in 2024, Paul Smith founded the Fashion Residency at Studio Smithfield programme alongside the Mayor of London and Projekt. Through it, select young designers are given access to set workspace and a training programme, the latter designed by the Paul Smith's Foundation, which matches participants with industry professionals. In a statement, Kolb said: 'Fashion is truly a global business, and an opportunity such as this will provide one American talent with invaluable experience and exposure in an international market. The chance to work alongside peers in the UK fosters creative exchange, builds cross-cultural understanding, and strengthens our industry as a whole. We are deeply grateful to Sir Paul Smith for his continued collaboration and dedication to nurturing the next generation of talent.'

Rhyl Journal
6 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
Students accepted on UK degree courses reaches record high
A total of 439,180 applicants have gained a place at university or college – up 3.1% on the same point last year, according to data published by the university admissions service. Ucas said it is the highest number of placed students on results day on record. Overall, 82% of UK 18-year-old applicants awaiting a decision on results day secured their first choice – which was the same proportion as last year. For 18-year-olds in the UK, 255,130 applicants have been accepted onto a university or college course – up 4.7% on last year, which is a record high. The number of international students who have been accepted on to undergraduate courses has risen by 2.9% – from 51,170 last year to 52,640. Accepted applicants from China (12,380) are up 13% compared with last year. The figures come as universities have been warning of financial pressures because of uncertainty about the recruitment of overseas students as well as years of frozen tuition fees for domestic students. University leaders have suggested the Government's plans for immigration could deter international students from coming to the UK and exacerbate the financial challenges faced by British universities. Under the immigration white paper proposals, graduate visas will be reduced to 18 months and a new levy on income that universities generate from international students could be introduced. Education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith of Malvern said the complete picture on international student demand will not be known 'for some time' as many are postgraduates who do not apply through Ucas. She told the PA news agency: 'We've been clear, whether or not it's whilst thinking about the immigration white paper, or the welcome we provide to students, that we will always continue to welcome the very brightest and best to come to this country to study in our universities. 'Whilst we're pleased for students to take advantage of world-leading higher education institutions, we're not prepared for them to take advantage of our immigration system.' When asked whether she believes a university could go bust this academic year because of financial pressures, Baroness Smith told PA: 'I think we're taking the action necessary to safeguard our higher education institutions.' She said: 'Were we to face a situation where a university got into trouble, our top priority would be how we protect students and it's sensible to plan for that. 'That doesn't mean that I think that that is imminently going to happen.' Speaking on A-level results day, the education minister added: 'We've always been clear that the priority in the case of any university, for whatever reason, closing down would be the ongoing support of the students.' Baroness Smith said she expected universities to have 'plans to protect students' in the event of any course closures and for the Office for Students (OfS) to 'keep a close eye' on it. Ucas data also showed regional disparities remain in university access, with the gap between north-east England and London the highest on record. Overall, 24.9% of 18-year-olds from north-east England secured a university place on results day, compared with 43.4% of 18-year-olds from London. The gap is now 18.5 percentage points, up from 17.3 percentage points last year and 11.9 percentage points in 2019. Jo Saxton, chief executive of Ucas, told PA: 'The North East is the only region in England that has seen a decrease in participation today. 'That is just incredibly stark.' The Ucas figures released on Thursday also show that the subjects with the largest percentage increases in placed students this year are engineering and technology, mathematical sciences and law. Dr Saxton said: 'I think Ucas applicants have always been savvy and think about what is going to give them the best outcomes.' She added: 'This year's students were just thirteen when the pandemic hit, and their secondary schooling was turned upside down. 'It's great to see these applicants securing a university place in record numbers, seeking more education and investing in their futures. 'I am equally delighted to see how universities across the country have responded to their ambition. 'For any student who didn't quite get the grades they were hoping for, or even those still yet to apply, there are plenty of options in clearing with around 27,000 available courses. 'Ucas experts are also available on the phones, on social media and on the Ucas website, to help all those deciding on the next step that's right for them.'


The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
As thousands more teenagers scramble for university places, I have to ask – why?
A Chinese economist once asked me to explain British universities. 'Why do you take your young,' he said, 'at their most creative age, lock them in a monastery for three years and make them drunk?' Each August I recall this question when hundreds of thousands of British teenagers scramble to enter university. They must perform utterly archaic feats of memory in their exams and then embark on an academic experience that has almost nothing to do with real life. Their reward may be a higher income, but perhaps not higher than their innate ability would have gained them anyway. England's present university system is in a terrible mess, chronically in need of a royal commission. Between 1997 and 2010, university student numbers increased by 68%. Then, under the coalition government, universities were offered £9,000 a year for each of an unlimited number of students. It was an open invitation to lower standards and increase overcrowding. Some cities found themselves with two if not three universities, with multiple campuses, student residences and overheads to match. The waste was ludicrous. Their vice-chancellors received crazy sums. The average for the Russell group is now £400,000. The government supposedly recouped the cost of all this by treating fees and maintenance grants as borrowed. This allowed university extravagance to appear not as public spending but as debt, on the thesis that the students would repay it with interest one day. Until recently no more than a quarter of graduates were expected to fully repay their loans – small wonder, as they averaged £50,000 a head. The accumulated student debt is enormous. It has reached more than £250bn and is said to be heading for £500bn by the late 2040s. Quite why higher education should be so privileged as not to count as current spending has never been clear. As with HS2, the Treasury likes to treat certain sorts of posh spending as 'investment' rather than hard cash. The reliance on fees from overseas students – now covering nearly a quarter of university income – caused the present crisis. As this income has fallen, in part through recent immigration and visa changes, 40% of England's universities are set to be in financial deficit. Jobs and courses are being cut back. Meanwhile, every bit of news out of the university sector seems grim. Employers are disregarding not just classes of degree, but degrees at all. It is 10 years since the large accountancy firm EY started disregarding A-levels and degree classes in recruitment, while PwC said it would rely on aptitude and behaviour tests. I know of no job that ever depends on a class of degree. The Office for National Statistics records that more than a quarter of graduates in England are now in medium- or low-skilled jobs. Another survey shows the graduate 'premium' is plummeting. This is not just a British issue. Across the US and the EU, graduate unemployment is almost on a par with non-graduate. Students seem miserable. The two-thirds who leave home to go to college report soaring mental illness, with 90% suffering from loneliness. The Boston Consulting Group last year found ex-students the fastest group of young people going straight into long-term sickness. The solution is glaring: cut back. The thesis that university courses requirea minimum of three years, each with barely six months of teaching, is absurd. For most courses, two years should be enough, as the former universities minister, Jo Johnson, has proposed. The number of institutions claiming fully-fledged university status should be slashed. The practice of almost every city hosting two universities – or 40 in London – should end in a mass of mergers. There should be a return to vocational colleges, with an emphasis on contact with local employment. This was proposed by James Dyson in setting up just such a college in Wiltshire, the Dyson Institute, in 2017. Another, the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering in Herefordshire, was started by the Tory MP Jesse Norman. It is simply absurd that a large number of graduates should be doing work supposedly not requiring a degree, and yet the welfare state is chronically short of trained medical and care staff. This is a serious failure of education planning. Higher education should be free at the point of use; not, as now, free only to those whose parents can pay their fees upfront. But those completing a university course should repay the privilege with a modestly higher rate of tax throughout their working life. Loans should cover only maintenance. Of course university is not just a preparation for work, even if for 18-year-olds that is the primary issue at hand. A university is more than a start in life. It is also an experience of liberal education that goes far beyond the young who are its current beneficiaries. A true university should promote breadth of thought and freedom of speech to old as well as young. It should not turn in on itself as its resources shrink. It should make its courses and work accessible to people beyond its walls and across the community. Universities are costing us dear. We should not feel they are wasted on the young. Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist