Primark unlikely to add home delivery, despite click & collect trial

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 21, 2022

The billionaire whose family controls Primark’s parent company has poured cold water on the idea that its newly-announced trial of click & collect services could lead to an eventual full offer online. 

George Weston said the company is unlikely to ever extend its online offered to a service that includes home deliveries. 

He told the Press Association: “We have a very strong kids' range which we can't always showcase entirely in our stores, so click & collect means we can sell all these items from stores where they might not be on display. But I don't think we will ever do home delivery.”

This comes after the company on Monday announced that it would test click & collect via 25 shops in the north of England later this year.

This trial will see more than 2,000 products in its children's line-up being made available.

Primark is a rarity in fashion retail as it doesn't currently sell online, unlike practically every other major name in the sector.

This caused big problems for it during the pandemic as its stores were forced to close and it had no online business to fall back on.

The new click & collect service is expected to be a major boost for average-sized stores in its estate, which can't stock as big a selection as the giant out-of-town and city centre stores can.

The launch of the trial follows the unveiling of an upgraded and enhanced UK website a couple of months ago that the company said has been able to drive sales due to its ability to tell consumers whether certain items are in stock in its locations.

Traffic to the website has risen 60% since April and around 15% of consumers who click on it are checking in-store availability.