Data: Next closes in on Primark with surge in shopper purchase intent

The data, exclusively shared with Retail Week, showed that Next increased by 2.3 percentage points in how likely shoppers were to consider the brand for fashion purchases, in the month to November 23, 2025. 

This means that 55.3% of UK shoppers say they are likely to think about buying clothes from Next. That is only marginally behind the category leader Primark, which is on 56%. 

Next impressed the market by performing considerably ahead of guidance in the 13 weeks to October 25. Its sales were up by 10.5% year on year, having previously suggested they would only increase by 4.5%.

This included a 5.6% rise in UK sales, where the brand had guided for a 1.9% increase. It cited “favourable weather and competitor disruption”, referring to the lingering impact from M&S’ cyber attack, and that it had “underestimated the positive effect of improved stock levels this year”.

This new data suggests Next’s brand has continued to strengthen ahead of the year’s biggest discounting weekend, Black Friday, which the retailer does not participate in.

“Next’s strong digital shopping platforms appear to be turning that pre-Christmas present buying panic into more of a breeze – making shopping easy for consumers and boosting consideration. There’s a sense that the quality and convenience of its offer just feels right for people,” said Helen Rowe, brand consultant at Kantar. 

Shoppers are also more likely to consider Next for home furnishings purchases, the data shows. Nearly half (49.2%) of UK consumers would think about the brand when making a purchase for their home.

That is behind category leader Amazon (63.9%) but ahead of the 42.8% category average.