Beyond the Basket - 05/09/25

Friday 5th September | Join Free

Hello and welcome to your Friday Beyond the Basket briefing. Amazon is pulling a Netflix and shutting down Prime perk sharing. Europe’s floating the nuclear option of kicking Shein and Temu off Google if they don’t play by the rules. And in the UK? Retail sales are finally ticking up, even if a messy Budget could spoil the party. Let’s dig into what they mean for your business.👇

In today’s beyond the basket:
👟 UK retail ticks up as clothing, footwear & online lead
🚪 Amazon tightens Prime sharing, echoing Netflix
🇫🇷 France pushes EU to delist rule-breaking platforms
📉 Fast fashion falters as Asos and Boohoo lose ground
💼 LuxExperience cuts 700 jobs in YNAP shake-up

+plus four deep reads and a tool that could help speed up SEO audits and get you back to making sales faster.

TL;DR: ONS (Office for National Statistics) report shows July retail volumes +0.6% MoM, with early reads pointing to another ~+0.6% in August as non-store and clothing/footwear both +2.5%; BDO reports +3.9% LFL for August.

Why It Matters: A one-off ONS fix to seasonality has smoothed earlier volatility, but the trend is still cautiously up. Heatwave spending, big events (yes, those two Mancunian brothers), and tourism lifted baskets, while department stores −1.5% lagged. Crucially, the UK’s lift mirrors global retail dynamics, where fashion leads ecommerce growth and online channels now drive over 20% of all sales worldwide. The cadence suggests apparel-led demand is real, not just noise, yet tax-rise chatter ahead of the delayed Budget could crimp the Golden Quarter if confidence wobbles.

Your Move: Use the current lift to sharpen event-driven marketing and mobile-first commerce, but plan cautiously, build flexibility into pricing, promotions, and stock so you can pivot quickly if consumer sentiment weakens after the Budget.

TL;DR: Amazon will eliminate the ability to share Prime’s free shipping perks outside a household, following a model similar to Netflix’s password crackdown.

Why It Matters: For Amazon, this isn’t just about curbing “freeloaders.” It’s a margin protection play, pushing more households to sign up for their own $139/year Prime memberships, while tightening control over subscriber perks. The move mirrors Netflix’s strategy, which turned a controversial clampdown into a major revenue boost. If successful, it could unlock meaningful subscription growth for Amazon at a time when global ecommerce is slowing from peak-pandemic highs and retention is more valuable than raw sign-ups.

Your Move: If you sell on Amazon, expect a wave of new Prime households, make sure your listings offer Prime delivery via FBA or SFP to capture that demand. If you’re not on Amazon, lean into the contrast: highlight your family-friendly, shareable perks to position your brand as the more flexible alternative.

TL;DR: France is urging the European Commission to gain powers to delist platforms like Shein and Temu from Google search if they ignore EU rules on safety and fair competition.

Why It Matters: Delisting from Google would be a crippling sanction, cutting off discovery for price-driven platforms built on search visibility. It signals rising European frustration with cheap imports skirting safety checks and duties, as Brussels also moves to scrap the €150 duty exemption and add a €2 parcel fee. For consumers, this could mean higher prices and fewer ultra-cheap options, but for EU retailers, it’s a chance to claw back share from Chinese fast-fashion giants.

Your Move: If you sell into Europe, prepare for a stricter regulatory climate, tighten compliance and consider EU-based sourcing to win consumer trust as low-cost rivals face mounting barriers.

Wider Context:
EU parcel levy targets low-cost imports – Brussels plans a €2 fee on small parcels and will scrap the €150 duty exemption, directly pressuring Temu and Shein’s low-cost model. Read More›

TL;DR: Once valued at £5bn, Asos has dropped out of the FTSE 250 at £320m, while Boohoo has pivoted away from fast fashion after slumping margins. Both face pressure from Shein’s £2bn UK sales, Vinted’s resale boom, and tightening import rules.

Why It Matters: The post-Covid bet on permanent online growth backfired, leaving legacy fast-fashion players overstocked and out of sync with younger consumers. Shein’s data-driven supply chain and social media mastery have redefined “fast,” while Gen Z’s embrace of resale and recommerce via Vinted is pulling spend from new clothing. With the UK and EU moving to close duty loopholes that enabled Shein’s low pricing, the next phase will test whether incumbents can pivot fast enough.

Your Move: Competing won’t come from undercutting the likes of Shein or Temu. Retailers need to tighten assortments around their core shoppers, speed up marketing and supply chains to keep pace with trends, and lean into resale or recommerce to meet Gen Z’s shifting habits. With the price gap narrowing as duties rise, the real advantage will come from proving value through quality, service, sustainability, and brand trust, areas the ultra-fast challengers can’t easily copy.

Wider Context:
Resale moves mainstream – M&S has launched a resale store on eBay with Reskinned, underscoring how secondhand is shifting from niche to core retail. Read More ›

Kidswear resale grows – JoJo Maman Bébé has relaunched JoJo Reloved as a permanent takeback scheme with Thelittleloop, highlighting resale’s expansion into childrenswear. Read More ›

TL;DR: LuxExperience, the new parent of Yoox Net-a-Porter and Mytheresa, is cutting 700 jobs across the UK, Italy, and US as part of a £216m transformation plan to build a £3.5bn profitable luxury group by 2030.

Why It Matters: The cuts reflect a wider luxury ecommerce reset, post-pandemic growth bets have cooled as shoppers return to boutiques, resale platforms gain traction, and high-ticket online spend faces pressure from weaker confidence. Consolidation of platforms, warehouses, and tech is aimed at restoring profitability, but it also highlights how scaling luxury online is proving tougher than expected.

Your Move: For operators in luxury and premium, the signal is clear: digital can’t just mirror offline. Invest in differentiation, exclusive drops, loyalty perks, or seamless resale, because scale alone won’t guarantee growth in a cooling market.

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