River Island makes plus-size online-only

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 7, 2018

River Island has axed its plus-size ranges from all of its UK physical stores with all plus-size pieces to be available online only from now.

The RI Plus range, which the company launched back in 2016, currently includes 256 pieces, all of which are available via the brand’s webstore.

But the retailer was at pains to point out that the move doesn’t represent a retreat from the larger sizes market. In a statement to Cosmopolitan magazine, the company said that removing the size 18-28 clothes from stores would give it the “freedom to stock more lines.”

And it also said that the decision reflects consumer buying habits seen over the past 18 months with the vast majority of sales for the offer having been online. 

“After 18 months in both stores and online we found the vast majority of sales (average 85%-90%) were online and we found that this was in line with market - that more and more shoppers are migrating to online shopping to have the options to try on at home.”

As well as giving the company more space to stock extra lines, the removal also allows it to “increase our rate of newness to give the customer more of what she wants faster than ever before,” a spokesperson said.