2. Next

• Financials: Next’s full-price sales rose 6.9% in the 13 weeks to July 29, 2023, reflecting a 10% increase in online sales and 2.2% growth across stores. Next forecasts full-price sales to be up 0.5% in the second half and 1.8% for the full year.
• 2026/27 forecast: Retail Week expects modest growth to resume year on year from FY2023 and anticipates total sales will edge closer to the £6.1bn mark on a statutory basis by FY27, of which around £3.7bn could be generated online.
• Store numbers: 466 in 2022.

Next has had a recent focus on improving core product ranges, giving customers better fulfilment options and developing its online platforms and infrastructure to enable further growth. It also continues to invest in improvements to the user experience online, such as site speed and performance, and ensuring it can cope with increasing sales volumes and an extended product offer.

Next made the decision to “follow the new money rather than defend the old” and sell more third-party brands to widen its appeal and, more recently, open up its sourcing skills to other brands through licensing. The appointment of Jeremy Stakol as an executive director in February who is tasked with heading up group investments, acquisitions and third-party brands highlights the retailer’s intent to develop its third-party brand offering.

This strategy includes Label, a separate site for premium brands to use Next’s online customer base, and Total Platform, which allows retail partners, such as Reiss, to grow their businesses without the costs, operational risks and time that would be required to build the necessary infrastructure.

Owning 51% of Reiss, Next is reported to be looking to offload the brand in a deal that values Reiss at £500m.

In December 2022, Next teamed up with Tom Joule to buy the eponymous business he founded out of administration for £34m, and its head office for a further £7m, with the business split 74% to 26% between Next and Joules.

The purchase of Cath Kidston in March 2023 was the final addition to a rapidly growing portfolio of brands, which also includes stakes in Jojo Maman Bébé (44 %), Gap UK (51%) and Victoria’s Secret (51%).

4. JD Sports

• Financials: JD Sports posted record group sales for the year ending January 28, 2023, with revenues jumping 18.2% to £10.1bn. The sports fashion segment grew 19% year on year with sales rocketing to £9.6bn, while its outdoor division made good gains, with revenues rising 10% to £0.56bn for the year. The sports retailer announced in May 2023 that it expects underlying profit to exceed £1bn this year thanks to increased demand for trainers, joggers and hoodies.
• 2026/27 forecast: Robust growth is expected for JD Sports via international expansion, taking sales to over £16bn by FY2027 with ecommerce's share at 31%.
• Store numbers: 3,390.

Under chief executive Régis Schultz, JD Sports has recovered from the offloading of Footasylum with the acquisition of French sportswear and sneakers retailer Courir, which joins its portfolio of retailers in Europe. Andrew Higginson, former Morrisons and N Brown chair, was appointed as chair of the group last summer.

Expanding worldwide through an aggressive acquisition strategy, particularly in North America, JD Sports owns multiple brands including McKenzie, Carbrini, The Duffer of St George, KooGa, Kukri and Nicholas Deakins. Pentland Group, owner of brands such as Speedo and Berghaus, has a 57.5% stake in JD Sports.

The retailer has made acquisitions of Xercise4Less, Livestock, DLTR Villa, Shoe Palace and Sizeer in recent years, while the purchase of Wheelbase and Leisure Lakes in the UK expanded its presence in the premium cycling market.

In August 2023, JD entered “a conditional agreement to acquire the outstanding 40% minority stake” of Marketing Investment Group (MIG), making it the 100% sole owner of the Poland-based footwear and clothing company. JD also expanded into the Middle East with its first franchise agreement with Dubai-based retailer and distributor GMG.

JD has been investing in its supply chain operations to support increased online trade and to mitigate additional costs from UK-EU cross-border trade. In 2021, the retailer launched a major programme to enhance the logistics network across the UK and Europe, with long-term leases being progressed on two major facilities. It then added a 515,000 sq ft dedicated online facility in Derby, UK, with full operational use kicking off in 2023.

With a target demographic of under-25s, JD Sports angles its advertising and marketing strategy accordingly, with online competitions and brand ambassador scouting competitions.

6. John Lewis Partnership

• Financials: Total JLP sales fell 2.8% to £10.5bn for FY2022.
• 2026/27 forecast: The retailer predicts a muted sale performance in FY2023 due to the cost-of-living crisis continuing to threaten discretionary spending, recovering in low single digits to reach £4.6bn by FY2027. However, JLP has adopted a mantra of “cost out, margins up and customer focus”, setting a new target of a further £600m of efficiency savings by 2026.
• Store numbers: 34 John Lewis shops and 329 Waitrose shops.

John lewis Partnership chair Dame Sharon White made a historic move in March 2023 when she appointed Nish Kankiwala as chief executive – the first CEO in JLP’s history. Kankiwala was appointed to provide counsel on JLP’s transformation, as well as reforming the business model at pace and double down on customer experience investments.

In June 2022, JLP appointed its first director of design for fashion, former M&S and Inditex exec, Queralt Ferrer, who aims to help the retailer become a “more significant player in fashion and home”.

Elevated stores are also a key focus, with John Lewis executive director Naomi Simcock tasked with turbo-charging the department store business. Simcock highlighted words such as “newness,” “stepping up,” “service” and “experience” as the guiding principles for stores such as the Oxford Street flagship.

John Lewis has also strengthened its branded offer – 109 new fashion brands were introduced last year. More recently, JLP relaunched its kidswear offer in a bid to capture the tween market.

JLP has made a massive investment into AI, having signed a £100m agreement with Google in August 2023 as it plans to cut data storage costs and boost its AI efforts. According to The Times, JLP will launch an AI customer service bot later this year, with augmented reality services also in development.

8. Nike

• Financials: Nike reported record revenues for a third consecutive year in the 12 months to May 31, 2023 (FY2022). Sales rose 10% to $51.2bn (£42.7bn) or 16% in constant currency.
• 2026/27 forecast: Retail Week forecasts Nike’s revenue to reach £57.2bn by FY2026/27, of which around 33% is predicted to be generated online.
• Store numbers: 1,032.

Founded in 1964, Nike has gone on to dominate the sportswear market. A major focus for Nike is its concept stores, with its RISE concept store launching in Manchester’s Arndale Centre in 2023. The stores focus on digital innovation and “empowering athletes to make sport a daily habit”.

Chief executive John Donahoe has been leading a strategy that includes major investment in innovation and growing its brand portfolio, which includes Jordan, Skateboarding, Converse, Hurley and collaborations with fashion brands such as Commes Des Garçons.

The retailer appointed two brand presidents in May – Heidi O’Neill and Craig Williams – to drive deeper integration across the business and further its commitment to product innovation.

With a customer focus, Nike invests in data and computer vision firms – purchasing data analytics firm Zodiac in 2018 and predictive analytics company Celect in 2019 – to better understand its consumer and in April 2023 announced a five-year partnership with technology services and consulting company Cognizant to transform and support its technology operations. This investment will assist Nike in delivering key capabilities such as new self-service, improved service productivity and significant cost savings.

The retailer is increasingly customer-focused. Striving to take a greater slice of the women’s sports market, Nike announced the launch of the Nike Well Collection in June 2023 to compete with the likes of Lululemon.

With a focus on digital transformation via the likes of its first SWOOSH virtual collection in April 2023 and the Airphoria gaming experience in Fortnite, it is no surprise that the retailer’s marketing strategy also centres on digital.

10. Asos

• Financials: The retailer posted a rise in its profitability for the 52 weeks ending July 2, 2022, with pre-tax profits up 2.2% on the previous year to £63.9m. The profitability rise came despite revenues declining 7.3% on the previous year to £2.1bn or a 5.7% decline when adjusting for the 53rd week in FY2020.
• 2026/27 forecast:

Like many of its online fast-fashion peers, Asos has been hit by the post-pandemic in-store return.

Former chief commercial officer José Antonio Ramos Calamonte took the helm as CEO in June 2022, with an aim to get the embattled online retailer back on track with a focus on tighter stock management and faster speed to market to quickly respond to trends.

Asos has been at the subject of takeover speculation for a large part of 2023. In July 2023, reports emerged of a £1bn bid by Turkish fast-fashion retailer Trendyol, while Frasers Group also sparked speculation by increasing its stake in the fashion retailer three times in two weeks, increasing its stake from 7.4% to 10.6%. With a stake higher than 10%, Frasers could put a stop to a potential takeover by refusing to sell.

Asos reported adjusted EBIT “up more than £20m year on year” in the three months to May 31, 2023, and said it was “on track” to achieve guidance of between £40m and £60m in H2. The rise in quarterly earnings came despite a 14% fall in sales to £858.9m, “reflecting deliberate actions on capital allocation to improve profitability”.

The retailer has invested heavily in brands, purchasing Arcadia brands Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT in early 2021, while in February 2022 Asos developed and launched 17 own brands to quickly respond to consumer trends.

In June 2022, Asos announced a partnership with resale platform Thrift+ to align with the retailer’s key strategic pillar to “be more circular,” while in May 2023, it launched its first rental collection in partnership with rental marketplace Hirestreet.

In July, Asos launched a dedicated sample sale site to offload leftover stock in to try and remedy Asos’ overstock problem, whcih was also the reason behind its partnership with SecretSales.

Asos embarked on a partnership with ecommerce technology company Rokt in August 2023 “for the machine learning and artificial intelligence optimisation of offers post-purchase” to drive engagement from shoppers and boost brand loyalty.