Fashion retailers could be overlooking an untapped £276million in savings due to a Goods Not for Resale (GNFR) blind spot, according to new figures from retail consumables specialist, CCS McLays, and Retail Economics.

Data from its latest report suggests GNFR – products or services retailers operationally rely on but don’t sell onto customers, such as packaging or point-of-sale marketing materials – are often operationally overlooked.

Usually receiving limited attention from senior teams, despite its growing scale and complexity, GNFR is increasingly eating into brands’ margins at a time when the UK fashion sector faces sustained profitability pressures.

With apparel sales forecast to grow by just +2.3% in 2026, suppressed demand and increasing shopper price sensitivity means retailers are running out of levers to offset rising costs through price increases or volume growth.

“When revenue growth is muted, absorbing operating cost inflation becomes much tougher,” said Ian Hall, CEO at CCS McLays.

“With limited scope to pass on higher costs to customers, any rise in non-merchandise spend puts further pressure on already thin margins. Even modest improvements in GNFR can unlock real savings, build resilience and free up investment for transformation,” Hall added.

As a result, a third of apparel retailers are prioritising profitability in 2026, with GNFR representing one of the few remaining avenues available to protect margins without undermining customer value.

The report estimates UK fashion retailers could cut GNFR by 7% on average through more systematic and strategic evaluation, however 90% of mid-sized businesses (between £250-500m turnover) still consider GNFR a blind spot. Leadership buy-in was found to be the single biggest barrier to improving GNFR cost control for 24% of brands, followed by resource constraints (22%) and supplier market structure (21%).

“When sales growth is flat, the battleground for profitability shifts to the cost base,” commented Richard Lim, CEO at Retail Economics. “Procurement has quietly become one of the least visible drags on margin in fashion. A £276million opportunity sitting outside core trading is a strategic opportunity to innovate as spending remains under pressure.”