The Goods UK: Basket case for love
Welcome back to The Goods UK! This week we’re chatting the rise of Palentine’s Day, pets and pre-loved fashion.
Fun stats of the week
- 50%: the year-on-year increase in cottage cheese sold in January (Financial Times).
- 1067: the number of calories in Gail’s new chicken sandwich (The Times).
- 76%: the number of UK consumers who believe that a supermarket is a good place to meet a potential partner (Grocery Gazette).
What’s in: this week’s trends
- Cupid gets friendzoned: It seems that platonic love is reshaping Valentine’s celebrations as Moonpig reports that friends now receive 16% of all Valentine’s orders, a 30% increase over the last year and driven by Gen Z consumers (Daily Express). Meanwhile, M&S research reveals nearly one-in-three women prioritise Galentine’s Day over Valentine’s Day, with 79% rating female friendships as being important and 60% connecting with close friends on a weekly basis (Retail Times).
- Winner winner vinted diner: Value for money and nostalgia have been the key drivers behind Vinted’s rise to prominence as the online resale platform is announced as the third largest fashion retailer in the UK. With an estimated 17.4m customers in 2025, Vinted trails only to Primark and Next in the UK and is already the largest clothing retailer by merchandise volume in France. With leading retailers including H&M and Zara launching their own resale platforms, it seems that the second-hand shopping trend is here to stay (Retail Week).
Cash or card: shopper behaviour
What’s in and out of our baskets right now? This week, it’s all about prioritising health, caring for pets and home-based Valentine’s:
- Health is wealth: 2025 saw UK consumers prioritise spending on health and wellness, a trend which has continued into 2026. Recent data from NielsenIQ found that health is the number one priority for one-in-four households this year, with consumers increasingly ‘looking behind the label’ to find more information on the nutritional value of products before they buy. Sales in supplements and minerals increased 18.4% and 9.2% in January respectively (Checkout).
- Pressure on purrrse strings: Pet owners are feeling the pinch. The RSPCA’s Kindness Index Report 2025 has revealed that 74% of pet owners believe it has become more expensive to look after their four legged friends, while 34% have been forced to change their pet-focused spending habits due to cost pressures. In response to this, UK pet retailer Jollyes has released a new discount range to ensure that pets across the UK can continue to get the food and care they need, without stretching household budgets (Pet Business World).
Making moves: industry changes & innovation
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- Bog standard? Not any more: B&Q is rolling out stoma-friendly toilets across stores, adding practical features such as shelves for medical supplies, in-cubicle disposal bins, mirrors and hooks for bags or clothing. In partnership with Colostomy UK, the retailer will also introduce Stoma Aware training for customer-facing staff and list facilities on the charity’s directory, making visits easier to plan. The move is designed to attract more shoppers in-store by easing anxiety and making sites more welcoming for those living with hidden conditions (Retail Tech Innovation Hub).
- Basket case for love: Asda is turning the weekly shop into a potential meet-cute, introducing red baskets in Leicester, Liverpool and Glasgow this Valentine’s Day to signal shoppers are open to chat. The playful activation taps into research from Perspectus Global, showing that 87% of Brits prefer meeting face-to-face over dating apps. It also reveals that 77% of singles aren’t on apps at all, and 76% think a supermarket is a good place to meet a partner. With 64% admitting they’ve fancied someone in the aisles but 82% too shy to ask for a number, Asda is blending data and the day of love to drive footfall, and perhaps a few first dates ( Grocery Gazette).
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