Brands working alongside a fashion, luxury, or lifestyle marketing agency to support their growth efforts have been advised to “keep any price increases to a minimum” during the immediate future, as an uncertain outlook remains for inflation in the UK. 

This statement was made with the release of the latest BRC-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index, which revealed that shop-price inflation over the past year was unchanged in July, at 0.2%. This is slightly below the three-month average inflation rate of 0.3%. 

Of particular interest to many stakeholders in the fashion industry, however, will be the non-food segment, which remained in deflation during July. The -0.9% figure recorded for the month was barely altered from the -1.0% seen in June, while the three-month average rate for non-food deflation is also -0.9%. 

“Bargain summer wear” for holidaymakers, but a reminder of the challenge for high-end brands 

If it might appear to some observers that recent times have been relatively subdued for the luxury fashion sector in the UK, there wasn’t exactly a great amount of evidence against this in the latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) inflation data. Indeed, the figures confirm that inflation is at its lowest rate since October 2021. 

BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson stated that “holidaymakers could pick up bargain summer wear and summer reads as clothing and footwear prices fell for the seventh consecutive month amidst persistent weak demand, and the price of books fell”. 

Looking ahead, she warned that although inflation levels had been “returning to normal” lately after UK households had suffered particularly high inflation during 2022 and 2023, the outlook for commodity prices was still “uncertain”. 

She attributed such uncertainty to a combination of climate-change impacts on domestic and global harvests and increasing geopolitical tensions, sounding the alarm that “renewed inflationary pressures could be lurking just over the horizon.” 

Fashion, luxury, and lifestyle businesses still need to take care over their price policies

Commenting for consumer intelligence firm NielsenIQ, Mike Watkins – Head of Retailer and Business Insight – stated that as the country cycled through high inflation comparatives from 12 months earlier, a lower level of inflation could be expected “for a number of months to come.” 

However, he added that pressure was continuing to be exerted on household finances, amid only gradual improvements in customer confidence and poor weather so far during the summer. 

On this backdrop, Mr Watkins said that retailers would “still need to keep any price increases to a minimum to encourage shoppers to spend.” 

Skywire London stands ready to assist your brand’s growth 

Another step that your brand could take to help spread awareness of your values and offerings – thereby helping to fuel sales and revenue – is establishing a partnership with a fashion, luxury, or lifestyle marketing agency with a strong track record of supporting business growth online. 

We are proud to have such a leading track record and expertise here at Skywire London. Our creative, digital, and strategic experts would be delighted to discuss the role we could play in delivering such growth for your brand over the months and years ahead. 

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash