Matalan the most popular UK clothing brand to browse online in lockdown, especially in Bradford

Matalan has topped a study as the store experiencing the highest rise in online searches during lockdown, according to a report released today by Money.co.uk - and it was shoppers in Bradford who were the most keen to browse its products.

As the nation lived and shopped under lockdown restrictions, UK high street and retail park clothing and department stores experienced 83 per cent more searches, with Matalan coming top overall with an increase of 257 per cent. It was most popular with shoppers in Bradford, as was New Look, which was third overall but top for UK clothing-only brands with a 191 per cent increase in searches. River Island was the fourth most popular clothing-only brand, and again most searches came from Bradford.

High street footwear brand Schuh took second place overall with a 213 per cent increase (shoppers in Sunderland made the most searches for Schuh), while Clarks was fourth with a 163 per cent rise, with those living in Birmingham searching most.

Taking the top spot for accessory brands was Sekonda in 19th place overall with a 76 per cent search increase in searches - with most from shoppers in Leeds.

The Brand-a-Lust Report, compiled by personal finance experts at money.co.uk, took 375 of the UK’s top brands from YouGov’s Consumer Popularity Ratings data and applied Google Trends and Google Search Volume data to identify the UK most searched-for brands during lockdown between April 1 and May 31. The report’s compilers say the 43 fashion and clothing brands included in the study were determined based on popularity, identifying their seed list from the YouGov popularity rankings.

Surprisingly, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis were not included as popular based on fashion and clothing but the report does show that they were popular for shoppers searching for homeware brands, said a spokesperson for Money.co.uk.

Primark came in sixth position overall and second among the clothing retailer brands with a 153 per cent increase in searches when compared to pre-lockdown levels, with the majority of those searches being made in Leicester. It’s thought the popular fast-fashion retailer did not reach the top three due to not having an online store for customers to browse through during lockdown.

Dorothy Perkins came in seventh position overall and third amongst the clothing retailer brands with a 138 per cent surge in interest.

Department store chain TK Maxx came in eighth position overall with a 134 per cent surge in searches. Next came in last place across all the fashion and clothing brands with a search increase of only 6 per cent, again with the majority of those searches being made in Bradford.

Overall, department stores saw an average search increase of 101 per cent and 8,608,000 searches per month. Popular high street shoe brands saw an average 118 per cent increase in lockdown searches and a combined 1.4M searches per month. Shoe brand Converse saw a 48 per cent increase in searches when compared to pre-lockdown figures and Vans came in 31st place overall with a search increase of 47 per cent.

Top clothing brands saw search interest increase by 70 per cent combined during lockdown with a whopping 16M searches per month, meaning clothing is still on shoppers’ minds.

Searches for leisure brand Regatta surged by 100 per cent when compared to pre-lockdown levels. Almost 20 per cent of the clothing and fashion brands are sports retailers, with an 86 per cent increase combined and 6,311,000 searches per month for sports brands. Lacoste took fifth overall place and the top spot for the most searched for sports brand with a 156 per cent surge in searches when compared to pre-lockdown, with shoppers in Middlesbrough making the majority of searches.

Money.co.uk’s personal finance expert Salman Haqqi said: “With non-essential shops slowly beginning to reopen their doors to the general public, it might be tempting to head out and splash the cash on some of our favourite brands to celebrate. However it’s worth making sure that you are getting the best deal possible and sticking to a budget, no matter how enticing the prices may look.

“The novelty of visiting a bricks and mortar store is appealing, but it’s likely that better deals and lower prices can still be found online. Try visiting the virtual high street first to do your research, before you head out onto the physical high street; especially if you’re using a credit card to fund your purchases.”

*The survey and graphic credits can be found here

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