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The ONS January Retail Report was released 20th February 2026 and, at first glance, the headline is encouraging. UK retail volumes rose +1.8% month-on-month, the strongest increase since May 2024. But the more important number sits just beneath it. The broader three-month trend is only +0.1%.
Demand isn’t steadily rising, it’s spiking and for fashion, footwear and jewellery retailers, that distinction matters. When demand spikes, it exposes the gap between what your systems say is available and what is actually sellable, findable and fulfillable in store.
Inventory systems built on periodic scans do something dangerous in moments like this - they freeze reality in time. If stock accuracy updates weekly, but demand shifts daily, retailers find themselves in the middle of operational pressure – just as online sales are growing at double-digit year-on-year rates.
Demand is moving faster than inventory is counting
Fashion demand is uneven by nature. It concentrates in sizes, in colours, in specific stores and around drops or seasonal moments. When that concentration accelerates, lagging visibility creates predictable consequences:
- Phantom stock
- Reactive replenishment
- Cancelled click & collect
- Disappointed customers
Fashion inventory isn’t just about data, it’s about momentum. And to convert every spike in demand retailers need continuous, item-level visibility rather than delayed snapshots.
Online growth isn’t virtual – it lives and dies in the store
The ONS report also shows online sales values up +14.7% year-on-year in January.
For apparel and footwear brands, that’s not just “digital growth” - it’s extra operational pressure on stores. Every single online order touches store inventory accuracy, rapid picking, correct item placement and on-time fulfilment.
‘In stock’ in the system is meaningless if the item isn’t findable, available in the right size and accessible without delay. Online fashion doesn’t succeed in a spreadsheet or on a data platform, it succeeds in the store, with real-time accuracy. If availability isn’t trustworthy, growth is a liability, not an opportunity.
When high-value categories rise, precision becomes protection
Alongside the +14.7% year-on-year online sales growth, the January data also highlighted strong performance from online jewellers.
High-value categories amplify the cost of getting it wrong. One false ‘available item’ ties up capital, one misplaced premium SKU damages trust, and one cancelled order could be a lost life-time customer.
When it comes to high value items, every size matters and every misplaced item impact margin because when volumes rise, shrink risk rises with them. In premium categories, accuracy doesn’t just improve outcomes, it protects them.
The real message behind January’s numbers
Retail demand is active, but for retailers demand spikes just increase the cost of delay if inventory accuracy isn’t at the top of the list for operational excellence in 2026. When demand is volatile, online is growing fast and premium categories are accelerating – the cost of getting it wrong is just too high.
Inventory accuracy is no longer a back-office KPI, it’s conversion, fulfilment reliability, margin protection and customer experience, loyalty and trust. Retailers relying on periodic snapshots will continue to react to spikes. Retailers operating with continuous real-time visibility will convert them.
Retail demand is active. But demand spikes don’t automatically create growth – they expose operational red flags. When volatility increases, online accelerates and premium categories strengthen, the cost of being wrong rises with them. In 2026, inventory accuracy isn’t a back-office KPI, it is conversion, fulfilment reliability, margin protection, customer experience, loyalty and trust.
If accuracy lags, opportunity disappears and retailers relying on periodic snapshots will continue to react to spikes. Retailers operating with continuous, real-time visibility will convert them. Because when demand moves fast, certainty wins.
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