Online shopping takes more than a quarter of UK retail sales

Online shopping accounts for more than a quarter of UK retail sales, as shoppers cite convenience, access and better prices among the reasons they avoid stores. The shift is creating new expectations for retailers, including Primark, which plans to begin home deliveries in Britain after years without an online shopping service. [1]

Office for National Statistics figures show online sales made up 27.3% of British retail sales in August 2026, compared with 18.1% in August 2019. The share peaked at nearly 38% in January 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, then fell before rising again.

For Jess Bacon, a 29-year-old culture journalist and author from Peterborough, clothes shopping online avoids the frustration of finding suitable sizes in shops. “The sizing in store is notoriously bad. I find it quite demoralising in store,” she says. She believes many shoppers do not feel represented, noting that the average UK woman wears a size 14 or 16.

Bacon says ordering online is quicker than travelling to a shop, paying for parking and trying clothes on. She also finds posting back unsuitable items less troublesome than returning them in person. She says Primark is one of the few high-street retailers where she can shop for plus-size clothes, and that its stores usually stock up to size 22.

Primark has not announced when home delivery will begin. It has bought a warehouse in Sheffield to support deliveries. The retailer launched click and collect in 2022, but customers still had to travel to collect their purchases.

Other shoppers have different reasons for buying online. Julia Mitchell, 32, who lives near Chichester, says she finds clothes shopping overstimulating and values finding the best price. She buys most items second-hand through Vinted, but prefers bookshops, which she describes as cultural and community spaces.

Sandra Davies, 61, from Sheffield, says walking around shops is physically difficult after three strokes. She says she collapsed on two shopping trips after standing in queues for more than 10 minutes. Waiting for deliveries can also make her anxious because she worries about missing the post and having to rearrange it.

Retail analyst Julie Palmer says Primark’s online returns policy will be important to its success. Shoppers want returns to be free, simple and quick, she says, while retailers face the cost of processing them. Some, including Asos, charge customers who return items frequently; Palmer says such fees risk driving shoppers to competitors.

Palmer says many retailers that charge for online returns still offer free returns in stores, partly to bring customers through the door. That trade-off may become more important as Primark expands its options for shopping from home.