The Goods UK – 4 July 2025
Welcome back to The Goods UK! This week we’re chatting “tenniscore” style, Britain’s booming music tourism and wearable gadgets to keep cool in the heatwave.
Fun stats of the week
- £100m: The amount UK consumers are expected to spend as they get ready for England’s first match against France in the Women’s Euros (Retail Gazette)
- 47%: The percentage of Gen Z Brits who would be open to eating lab-grown meat products (Vegconomist)
- 5000%: The increase in searches week-on-week for Prime Day deals 2025, ahead of the big event next week (LinkedIn)
What’s in: this week’s trends
- Game, set, match your style: Tennis is no longer just influencing fashion – it is fashion. Luxury houses like Gucci and Louis Vuitton are rallying around rising tennis stars, turning match days into front rows and rackets into accessories. (Vogue Business) Off the court, the humble white Wimbledon-inspired sock is having its high-fashion moment, demonstrating that the tennis aesthetic is rewriting the fashion playbook, one pleated skirt and ribbed sock at a time. (Financial Times)
- Where dessert meets demand: M&S’ Japanese-inspired Strawberries & Creme sando has become a social media sensation, served up just in time for Wimbledon. (The Telegraph) It comes as consumers seek the delights of Japanese food, with Ocado reporting searches for “Japanese” have risen by more than a third year on year. British retailers are taking note of online food trends, stacking shelves with Japanese-inspired snacks as TikTok clocks up over 1.4m posts with the hashtag #mochi and videos of Japanese cheesecakes gain hundreds of thousands of views. (The Guardian)
- Sippin’ ain’t slipping: Gen Z is raising a glass again. With cost-of-living pressures easing, young adults are drinking more, IWSR says 29% are actively upping their intake, challenging the idea that this generation ditched alcohol for good. (Financial Times) Enter Buzzballs: colourful, cocktail-loaded spheres going viral as the UK’s fastest-growing ready-to-drink product. As overall alcohol volumes fall globally, brands are banking on “premiumisation” and playful styles like these to tempt drinkers. (London Standard)
Cash or card: shopper behaviour
What’s in and out of our baskets right now? This week, we’re discussing gig-loving Brits, flaky sausage roll sales, and Euro Summer.
- Pitch perfect: Live music is booming, and brands are tuning in. As Oasis kicks off its hotly anticipated reunion tour and Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Dean take the stage in BST Hyde Park this weekend, a new report from UK Music has revealed the UK economy hit a £10bn high from music tourism in 2024, driven by 23.5 million fans flocking to gigs. (The Guardian) With five sold-out homecoming shows in Manchester, Oasis fever is proving irresistible to marketers: Aldi has rebranded a local store to “Aldeh” and released a “Supernova” champagne, while Lidl dropped an Oasis-coded utility jacket. (Famous Campaigns)
- Too hot to handle: As shoppers swerved the high street in favour of air-conditioned clicks, online fashion sales jumped 10% while in-store growth lagged behind inflation. (Retail Gazette) Meanwhile, Greggs has issued a profit warning after a sizzling June scorched sausage roll sales, with footfall down and hot pastries falling out of favour during the 35°C heatwave. (The Guardian) The nation is instead turning to ice-cold treats, as Aldi is predicting a 100% surge in frozen sales, expecting to sell over 12 million ice creams and lollies in a single, record-breaking week. (Vertex)
- Continental drift: Europe’s summer travel boom is in full swing, with record numbers of US tourists flocking to the continent. Eurostar has seen a 45% jump in American bookings, and hotel chains like Hilton and Marriott are racing to expand, even in lesser-visited spots like Bosnia and Herzegovina. With many Europeans also choosing to stay local, prices are soaring and rooms are filling fast, with increased visitor numbers sparking overtourism protests in Barcelona, Amsterdam and Santorini. (Financial Times)
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:
- Pouring with purpose: Aldi is lifting the lid on wasted materials by introducing ultra-lightweight wine bottles to reduce its environmental footprint. From an average of 409g, it has started using 300g bottles for 20 million still wines, which equates to the removal of 12.7 million bottles from circulation every year. (Retail Gazette) This follows Aldi’s launch of the first-ever supermarket own-brand wine in an aluminium bottle earlier this year, as the retailer makes moves to cut down on materials and associated carbon cost. (The Grocer)
- Fanfare: Fans and cooling systems are all the rage right now as the battery-powered portable mini fan becomes the hottest commuter accessory in the sweltering summer heat. With over 7.1 million mini fans sold in Britain over the past year, consumers are seeking cooling comfort in public spaces and transport systems, which are far from adapted for these high temperatures. (The Independent) New gadgets such as Sony’s wearable air-conditioner are bringing a fresh take on staying cool, with the potential to be a heatwave hero. (Inkl)
- AI got you: Retailers are embracing AI to shake things up. Mango just dropped an AI stylist to save shoppers’ wardrobe dramas by delivering personalised fashion tips via their Instagram and website. Meanwhile, Debenhams is getting smart with AI by teaming up with Amazon Web Services to speed up product launches. And New Look? They’re using AI to get closer to customers, making sure they’re reaching their top shoppers. (Retail Technology Innovation Hub)
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