Fashion suffers as gifting preferences change – Scurri report

E-commerce-driven delivery preferences are shifting, with strong European growth and widening category divergence driven by seasonal gifting events. And that’s not good news for fashion.

That’s the view of the latest Scurri report revealing a strong start to the digital year so far dominated by Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

But there always seems to be some bad news woven into such reports these days and while seasonal events drive demand, traditional gifting categories have declined “significantly”, with Fashion down 17% and Gifting generally down 22.7% year-on-year, “suggesting that consumers are becoming more selective in discretionary spending”.

​And while those important fashion and gifting categories show declines, it’s more practical- or lifestyle-driven categories which saw strong growth, (Toys, Pet and Animal, Homewares and Sports Equipment +25.3%).

Across Scurri’s platform, retailers processed 46.7 million shipments, up from 38.2 million in Q1 2025, while gross merchandise value (GMV) increased by €907 million to €5 billion, “highlighting continued growth in online demand despite ongoing economic uncertainty”.

However, beneath the headline growth, the data points to a more complex picture of how consumers are shopping and how retailers are adapting. Seasonal moments still matter, but execution is changing, it noted.

The steady acceleration in volumes across the quarter (from +16% in January to +26.5% in March) “reflects the growing importance of seasonal trading moments”.

“This suggests that seasonal demand is no longer confined to traditional gift purchases, but is spreading into categories aligned with everyday life, hobbies and the home”, the report suggests.

One of the most notable trends in Q1 was a clear rebalancing of demand away from long-haul international shipping and the UK continued to grow steadily at +7.3% YoY, reinforcing the importance of domestic fulfilment. This shift reflects a combination of factors, including cost pressures, delivery reliability and retailer strategies to prioritise closer to home markets.

Consumer expectations around delivery speed remain high, with Next Day delivery now the most popular option, accounting for 32.7% of preferred services and growing by 28.9% YoY. Other notable trends include weekend delivery growing 17.1%, reflecting demand for convenience, standard delivery still widely used (20%), but increasingly complemented by faster options, while international delivery declined 13.9%.

“Q1 shows that growth in e-commerce is still strong, but it is becoming more nuanced,” said Rory O’Connor, CEO and Founder of Scurri. “Seasonal events including Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day continue to drive demand, but consumers are changing how and what they buy. At the same time, we’re seeing a clear shift towards domestic and European markets, alongside rising expectations for faster, more flexible delivery.”