Oxfam festive sales soar, sustainable fashion is strong

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jan 10, 2023

If proof were needed of Britain’s growing secondhand clothing evolution in the UK, look no further than charity Oxfam. It said on Tuesday that its high street store takings rocketed by more than 40% in the week before Christmas (18-24 December).

Womenswear was the best-selling product category in high street stores with like-for-like sales up by 14% and shop managers reporting a strong demand for partywear.

That helped push overall sales for the period to £2.68 million, as customers shopped locally for more sustainable items that fitted into their ever-tightening household budgets, Oxfam said.  

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The pre-Christmas week was the high point of a successful festive trading period (30 October-31 December), as year-on-year sales across Oxfam’s stores and e-commerce operations rose 6% to £20.8 million. This raised an extra £1.1 million for Oxfam’s poverty-fighting work around the world compared to the same period the year before, it noted.

It also said findings from its pre-Christmas research showed festive shopping decisions “were being driven by concerns for the environment and the cost-of-living crisis”.  

Donated goods sales that include sustainable fashion rose 10% in high street stores across the wider period, totalling £11.4 million.

Meanwhile, sales of ‘Sourced by Oxfam’, the charity’s range of ethically sourced and sustainable new products, grew 9%.   

Lorna Fallon, its Retail Director said: “Customers flocked to Oxfam stores to find what they wanted and needed for Christmas. They decided to look locally for unique and meaningful gifts that would make their money stretch further and benefit a good cause.”