The Goods UK – 22 August 2025
Welcome back to The Goods UK! This week, we’re chatting about friendflation, our growing thirst for drinks that offer health benefits and a taste of nostalgia and pre-loved fashion’s moment on the runway.
Fun stats of the week
- £779: The average cost per person of attending a hen or stag weekend in the UK. (Financial Times)
- 41%: Number of UK adults who have drunk low- or no-alcohol beer, wine, cider, spirits or cocktails in the past three months. ( The Guardian)
- 31%: Number of Brits who take tea bags with them on holiday so they don’t miss their home comforts. (The Mirror)
What’s in: this week’s trends
- The treat escape: Casual and fast-food restaurants have experienced a 6% drop in customers in the three months to mid-July as high grocery prices continue to affect people’s spending habits. However, there has been a trend towards people opting for smaller, cheaper ways to treat themselves by ordering a takeaway coffee or buying a sweet treat from the supermarket. Shoppers are also trading up, with branded grocery items growing by 6.1% in August (BBC). More broadly, UK inflation rose to 3.8% in July as a result of higher transport fuel, food and costs (Sky News).
- There’s no place like home: Many Brits will have enjoyed a holiday this summer, yet one in five of us has been tempted to cut a break short just to get back to our home comforts. In a poll of 2,000 British holidaymakers, 52% thought coming home was one of the best things about going away, whilst 60% said they missed sleeping in their own bed, and 39% said they missed their pets. The research commissioned by DFS also found that nearly a third packed their own teabags, proving we really are a nation of tea lovers (The Mirror).
- I’ll be there for you: Friends, we love them, but celebrating them is becoming increasingly expensive. This effect, also known as “friendflation”, is particularly prevalent during the peak wedding season. The average cost of being a UK wedding guest has reached £450, whilst the average cost of a UK hen or stag weekend is £779, compared to the c.£100 price tag in 2008. Factors including social media, experience-driven lifestyle, and the decline of free hangout spots all add to the pressures to spend more (Financial Times).
Cash or card: shopper behaviour
What’s in and out of our baskets right now? This week, we’re discussing books and board games, Buzzballz and boutiques.
- Shelf Improvement: The story isn’t over for bookshops. A new chapter is being written as bookseller Waterstones is enjoying strong sales as younger adults embrace reading as an escape from their screens. Opening 10 new stores this year, Waterstone’s CEO attributes it to ‘BookTok’ trends as well as online competition easing (The Guardian). Elsewhere on shelves, board games are no longer a trivial pursuit; games companies like Big Potato have shown how to mastermind private equity investment and take the risk out of expanding into the American monopoly to benefit from the more established stateside ‘Games Night’ culture (The Sunday Times).
- Sip back and relax: Functional drinks offering specific health benefits beyond taste are surging in popularity, with supermarket sales in Britain increasing by almost 25% (The Times). These new drinks are also making the beverage market sparkle, but the return of nostalgic classics can’t be ignored. Spherical sensation Buzzballz is making a summer splash and showing how ‘90s alcopops are mixing into the mainstream (The Guardian).
- High(street)-visibility: Brick-and-mortar retail remains relevant, as reinforced by two retailers this week. Amid a turnaround of its department stores, John Lewis is adding 100 premium fashion brands to its stores as it looks to give customers even more reason to shop in-store (The Telegraph). Elsewhere, ahead of the highly anticipated relaunch of Topshop, the brand confirmed Liberty as its first UK stockist, making a major return to the high street and fulfilling Gen Z’s appreciation of brick-and-mortar retail (Drapers).
Making moves: industry changes & innovation
ICYMI, industry icons are reinvigorating their brand through unique and creative ways. Here are some movers and shakers that you should know about:
- Catch me if you scan: With shoplifting incidents reaching a 20-year high (Statista), retailers are testing increasingly peculiar strategies to help ease the burden on colleagues. At least three Tesco Express stores have resorted to using remote-control door access for customers, whilst Iceland will begin offering a £1 reward to shoppers who report theft (BBC News). Now, police are formally recommending that retailers position employees near entrances to greet incoming customers, which, in theory, should help deter any would-be shoplifters (Retail Week).
- Runway revolution: The second-hand fashion market is proving itself as more than a budget-friendly alternative – it is a flourishing sector that is shaping both retail and catwalks. Whether it’s eBay teaming up with designers to bring pre-loved garms to London Fashion Week (Vogue), Pinterest launching its own “Thrift Shop” (RTIH), or Jojo Maman Bebe trading old children’s clothes for credit (Retail Gazette), it’s clear that the industry is evolving to support a more circular economy.
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