Outdoor gear is sold on trust. A walker buying a waterproof is trusting the page’s numbers for weight and waterproofing, and the size guide, before a wet weekend on the hill. A camper is trusting that two berths really means two adults and their kit. Ranges also turn over by season, colours come and go, and many specialist retailers sell the same brands as each other.
This guide covers what is known about how outdoor kit is bought online, where retailers lose sales and margin, what a product page needs, and the operational points behind it. It uses published figures, my own check of UK outdoor product pages in October 2026, and clear labels where data is old, from a vendor or simply missing.
What the data says, and what it does not
Start with the gap. None of the sources I gathered gives a current UK figure for the share of outdoor gear bought online. The only outdoor-specific market study I can cite covered the 12 months to June 2014, from NPD panel data reported by OI Compass. That is too old to describe today’s market.
The best available proxy is all retail. The Office for National Statistics series for internet sales as a share of retail stood at 27.5% for 2025 (ONS, series J4MC). It peaked at 37.8% in January 2021 and settled at 26.6% for 2022. These are figures for all retail, most likely Great Britain, and outdoor gear may sit above or below them.
Sizing is the most relevant evidence on buyer experience. Baymard Institute’s apparel benchmark found that 83% of desktop apparel sites and 87% of mobile apparel sites did not give sufficient sizing information (Baymard, July 2022). Baymard sells research and audits, the geography is not stated, and the sites are clothing in general. Outdoor clothing is a subset of that, with added fit types such as trim or regular fits and layering.
Personalisation has some appeal, though the best figure I found is dated. A 2015 Deloitte study found 36% of consumers were interested in personalised products or services. Of those interested, 71% said they would pay a premium (Deloitte, July 2015). That is over a decade old and covers all categories, so treat it as background.
Where outdoor retailers lose money
Returns for fit and expectation
Returns are the obvious cost. A benchmark by Retail Economics with ZigZag, a returns-software company, put the UK’s overall returns rate at 21% in 2024 (Retail Economics and ZigZag). Its 100 checked retailers sold clothing and footwear, and were not outdoor specialists. Its survey of 2,000 UK consumers also found 49% had abandoned a purchase because of an unsatisfactory returns policy. Given the vendor’s interest, read both as indicative.
For outdoor kit, likely return causes include fit across brands and expectation, though no source in my notes measures them. A jacket that fits over a base layer may not fit over a fleece. A tent can look roomier in a photo than it feels with two people and two rucksacks inside. Both are information problems a product page can reduce.
Out-of-stock pages that still sell
Stock was the most striking finding in my check. Three of the seven readable pages showed the product as out of stock or unavailable. A fourth carried conflicting labels: sold out, in stock and an add-to-bag button at once. One unavailable page still promoted free delivery. None offered a back-in-stock alert in the page text, and one gave only an email address for restock queries. Each of those pages can lose the sale unless it points the buyer somewhere useful.
Seasonal ranges and markdowns
Outdoor ranges change by season, and older colourways are cleared at a discount. Four of the seven pages showed a reduced price, with discounts of 20% to 46%. Markdowns are normal in this trade. The cost comes when last season’s stock competes with this season’s on the same site without a clear link between the two.
Delivery promises that contradict each other
One page gave two different free-delivery thresholds in different places. Another showed only “Loading…” where delivery details should be. Small faults like these make a buyer wonder what else on the page is wrong.
Marketplace listings
One page was a marketplace listing, sold and shipped by a third party, with returns going directly to that seller. Brands and retailers using marketplaces need the same spec, size and returns detail there as on their own site.
What 7 UK outdoor product pages offered (October 2026)
I checked eight outdoor product pages, seven on UK sites and one on an EU storefront: tents, waterproof jackets, trousers and a backpack, mostly from specialist retailers, plus one brand selling direct and one marketplace listing. Seven were readable; one capture was cut short. The check read page text only, so script-loaded viewers would not show. This is a small sample. Where a feature could not be detected, the page is not counted.
| What the page offered | Pages (of 7) |
|---|---|
| Price shown | 7 |
| Spec or dimensions table | 4 |
| Returns terms stated | 5 |
| More than one colour | 3 |
| Out of stock or unavailable when checked | 3 |
| Selectable size range | 2 |
| Delivery time stated | 2 |
| Video | 1 |
| Reviews with a count | 1 |
| Product-level finance | 1 |
| Personalisation | 0 |
| Configurator, size tool or finder | 0 |
| 360, 3D or AR detected | 0 |
Two of the three clothing pages had a size guide, one of them describing four fit types. Two pages with several colours sent each colour to its own product page; one used a selector with image labels. No page offered personalisation, a size tool or a product finder.
What an outdoor product page needs
- Key specs as text near the top: weight, packed size, waterproof and breathability ratings, temperature ratings, berths and internal dimensions.
- A size guide with body measurements and fit type, stating what the garment is cut to go over.
- Honest stock status, with a back-in-stock alert, the nearest alternative and store stock where you have shops.
- “Works with” links, such as the footprint that fits this tent or the rain cover for this pack. One brand page had exactly this.
- Delivery and returns terms, stated once, consistently, near the price.
- In-use photos alongside studio shots, showing a tent pitched with people inside or a pack worn and loaded.
- Care and reproofing guidance for waterproofs and down, which also gives the page useful, original copy.
Platform and operations
Colours as pages or as variants. Some retailers give each colourway its own product page. That suits search for named colours, but it splits reviews and makes size stock harder to compare. Whichever you choose, link the colourways to each other. For larger WooCommerce ranges, see variable products at scale.
Stores and click and collect. Multi-store outdoor chains need store stock on the product page and a collection promise that matches reality. One page I checked quoted 5 working days for delivery and 7 for store collection.
Pre-orders and incoming stock. New-season kit often arrives in waves. A despatch date reading “Undetermined”, as on one page, is honest but unhelpful. An expected month is better.
Group and trade orders. Schools, expedition groups, clubs and employers buy in quantity, sometimes with logos. They need quote requests, trade pricing and proofs rather than a public basket; see B2B ecommerce.
Brands and stockists. A brand selling direct also needs a stockist finder that shows which shops carry the item, not just where its stockists are.
Where a configurator fits
Outdoor kit suits three kinds of configurator: a fit or size finder, a product finder for tents or sleeping bags, and a builder for custom colours or group logos. None of the readable pages I checked showed any of them in the text. The outdoor gear configurator guide covers what each must handle, and the outdoor configurator demos show image-based examples on illustrative products.
Pages need to stay quick with any of these added. The five outdoor pages I tested had a median Lighthouse performance score of 38; outdoor gear website performance has the detail. Specs, seasons and variants in search are covered in outdoor gear SEO.
Where to start
Pick your five best-selling products and open each page on a phone. Check four things: are the key specs readable as text, is the size guide there, does the stock message make sense, and are delivery and returns stated once and consistently. Then look at the same five when they are out of stock. If you would like help working through the results, get in touch. I reply within two UK working days.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics, Internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales (J4MC), release of 18 September 2026 (all retail, not outdoor-specific).
- Baymard Institute, Apparel size information, 6 July 2022 (apparel sites generally).
- Deloitte, One in three consumers wants personalised products, 27 July 2015 (dated).
- Retail Economics with ZigZag, UK returns benchmark 2025 (returns-software vendor involved; clothing and footwear retailers).
- OI Compass, report on the UK outdoor shoe and apparel market, NPD data to June 2014 (cited only to show the gap in recent data).
- My own check of 8 outdoor product pages (7 UK sites, 1 EU storefront), 23 October 2026, 7 readable.