After a dreary start to the spring season, UK retailers are seeing stronger footfall and sales on sunnier days and warmer temperatures.

In an article entitled Retailers Should Make Hay While the Sun Shines on Shoppers the author notes that Next is raising its sales forecasts after a strong start to its second quarter. “Part of the reason for the outperformance is the weather. After a cold, wet April, the sun shone in May and June has entered into heatwave territory. And the rise in online shopping has made demand much more reactive to the weather and other external events such as the Coronation. A burst of sunshine has Brits clicking to buy bandeau dresses, skimpy shorts and new sneakers.”

Another article – UK retail sales spark in warm weather – also highlights the positive turn reporting that “UK retail sales strengthened last week, industry data showed on Friday, as the warm weather helped boost demand for clothing. According the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker, total like-for-like sales rose 2.95% in the week ending 11 June,” and leading the way was “fashion, with like-for-like sales ahead 5.07%.”

Planalytics’ Weather-Driven Demand (WDD) metrics isolate and quantify how much the weather affects consumer purchasing. The slow start to the season and the recent uptick in demand are confirmed by WDD metrics that have been calculated for the UK this spring. For most weeks in March and April, Clothing Store Transactions registered negative 2-4% WDD (compared to the same weeks in 2022). However, last week (week ending 17 June) was a different story with transactions enjoying a positive 7% WDD (compared to the same week last year).

And it’s not just increased footfall for fashion retailers. Garden & DIY retailers saw sales spike for categories including Garden Furniture, BBQs & Accessories, Insecticides, and Hoses due to +25% to +50% WDD for last week. And in consumable categories such as Bottled Water, Beer, Salads, and Ice Cream, +5% to +20% WDDs were recorded last week.

Learn more about how both historical and forward looking WDD analytics can help your business improve performance analysis, planning, and digital marketing.