UK Families Cut Uniform Spending as Grocery Prices Edge Up
Parents and carers spent 12.5% less on school uniform before the new school year. Average spend was £54.53 in the four weeks to 6 September, down from £62.29 in the same period last year, according to Worldpanel by Numerator The Guardian.
Price drove the pullback. In an August back-to-school survey by Worldpanel, 44% of households said keeping costs low was the top priority when buying uniform, even if that meant lower quality. Another 33% said they tried to balance cost and quality.
Grocery inflation, the rate at which food prices rise, picked up to 2.3% from 2.1%. Grocery sales rose 2% from a year earlier. Shoppers made 18 million fewer trips than the July peak of 497 million.
Results differed across grocers. Ocado sales rose 13.3% and it stayed the fastest-growing grocer, with market share, its slice of total grocery sales, of 2.2%. Lidl held 8.7% and Aldi held 10.6%. Sainsbury's held 15.2% and Morrisons held 8.4%. Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket, slipped to 27.8% from 28.1%. Asda sales rose 0.1% in the 12 weeks to 6 September, its first growth since March 2024, while its share slipped to 11.5%.
The September reading follows an uneven year. Grocery inflation was 4.3% in the four weeks to 22 February The Guardian. It slowed to 3.1% in May Worldpanel. In data reported on 21 July, Worldpanel showed sales up 3.3% from a year earlier Reuters. The branded parts of a uniform averaged £101.94 last year. This year they will be £53.97 BBC.
The broader context here is how families divide fixed and flexible spending. Uniform timing is fixed before term. The shop, the amount and the quality are flexible. A 12.5% fall in spend alongside a near-halving in branded-part costs points to a shift to value lines, supermarket deals and unbranded items, much like switching to a cheaper label to stretch a budget.
Looking at what this means for grocers, uniform has become a way to protect visits and basket size rather than a clothing business alone. The drop in trips from July fits normal seasonality after summer holidays. Sales value still grew, which points to larger baskets or higher prices per item rather than more visits. Ocado kept double-digit growth from a small base while larger store groups moved by fractions of a point. Asda's 0.1% gain is small in itself. Its importance is that it ends declines stretching back to March 2024. Whether value growth can hold if inflation stays near 2% will depend on volumes, mix and loyalty to own-label ranges.
