Following today’s release of Next’s figures for the 13 weeks ending 26 July 2025; Emily Salter, lead retail analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view: “Next’s stellar start to the year continued into its Q2, with total product full-price sales rising by 11.1% as it was able to capitalise on conditions that played to its strengths in the UK. As a result of its continued strong performance, the retailer has uprated its guidance for full-price sales in H2 from an increase of 3.5% to 4.5%, with this also putting Next once again in the position to increase its full year profit before tax guidance by £25m to £1,105m. As consumer confidence and spending on clothing & footwear remains muted in the UK, this is testament to the retailer’s operational strength and agility, and how well its proposition is resonating with shoppers.
“In the UK, Next’s sales rose by 7.8%, with this being driven by online growth of 9.5%. Its performance was boosted by the continuation of warm weather into May and June, with consumers being persuaded to continue buying summer attire, while it saw a boost from the ongoing impacts of the cyberattack on key rival Marks & Spencer. As M&S’ online platform remained down until early June and third-party brands were only reintroduced from late June, Next was an obvious switch for many consumers. Its wide range of brands won shoppers over, alongside the bonus of its leading click & collect proposition adding to its convenience, with M&S’ click & collect service still being unavailable. Next expects UK growth to slow to 1.9% in H2 as M&S’ trading normalises, but it should work to convince those who have switched from M&S to stay with it, such as by signing up to its NextUnlimited account or better persuading them of its style credentials.
“Meanwhile internationally, the retailer’s digital marketing drove online full-price sales to increase by 26.4%. This will enable Next to invest in more marketing than planned in H2, leading it to increase its international sales growth expectations to 19.4%.”
