A range of Primark children’s products will be available to order online for click and collect when the high street retailer trials the service later this year.
As many as 25 shops in the North West will offer the service, which represents the first time that Primark customers will have been able to order products online, albeit for collection only. Some 2,000 products, including clothing, accessories and nursery equipment, will be available to order online for collection. The range will be wider than that offered in store, with around 40% of options exclusive to click and collect.
In-store collection will be from a designated area at the centre of the store that is designed to be welcoming. Both collection and returns to store will be free.
Click and collect orders will be processed in a dedicated UK distribution centre. Fulfilment will operate manually for the course of the trial, but Primark said there are plans for automation in due course.
“We have chosen a much expanded range of children’s products for this trial, which we believe has the potential to satisfy unfulfilled demand, driving footfall from both existing and new customers to deliver incremental sales in store,” said Primark parent company ABF in a trading update today.
The service builds on Primark’s improved digital capabilities following the launch of its non-transactional website in April. The site enables shoppers to check stock in local stores before making the journey to them. Primark’s parent company Associated British Foods (ABF) has reported traffic to the new site is up by around 60% and customers are viewing twice as many pages per session as they did on the old site. Some 15% of those visiting the site are using the stock checker when they do so.
Primark has long held out against offering a full ecommerce business, but its current approach sees it use digital in a strategic way that is intended to boost footfall to stores. Click and collect has long been reported to result in extra, incremental sales when shoppers go into stores to pick up their orders.
