Primark has to be about the last major retailer to have a website that’s not ecommerce enabled and now at long last we are about to see Primark ecommerce and a transactional website, but it will not be a full blown online shopping experience. They are to start trialling click and collect with no shipping options.
This trial finally spells the beginning of the end for their “Look online, buy instore” messaging… Although in reality the Primark ecommerce offering will be “Buy online, pick up in store” so perhaps the change is not as radical as some customer may have hoped for.
Later this year the the Primark kids’ range will be accessible to buy online and collect instore for the first time. The trial will run across their across 25 stores in the northwest and, as an added bonus for Primarni fans, an expanded range with hundreds of new products exclusive to Click & Collect will be made available.
The trial will bring together an extensive range of Primark kids’ products, offering up to 2000 options, giving more choice than ever before. Customers will have, on average, access to twice as many options as today, with customers of the smaller stores in the trial getting access to ranges normally only found in larger stores. The new service will also offer online-only products with around 40% of the items available exclusive to Click & Collect.
The Primark ecommerce Click & Collect range will focus on latest trends, brand new exclusive styles, expanded ranges from Primark’s license partners (sounds almost like a marketplace with fulfilment built in), larger items such as nursery products and multipacks of kids’ clothes. In addition, it offers the opportunity to have seasonal product such as rainwear and beach and holiday wear, available throughout the year.
Customers will be able to browse online, add items to their virtual shopping basket before checking out and paying for their order. They will then be able to collect their purchases at a newly created dedicated customer collection point in the heart of the store.
All Click & Collect orders will be processed and shipped from a new dedicated distribution centre at Magna Park, Leicestershire and will be run by logistics partner, Clipper.
The Click & Collect trial is a milestone for our business and builds on the investments we’ve made over the last two years in new technology and people to make this possible.
This trial will give customers so much more of what they love and a new way to shop with us. It brings together more choice and greater convenience and complements the great instore experience that is at the heart of our business. We think it will also give us an opportunity to reach new customers by highlighting the fantastic collection that we have for kids of all ages. We’ve chosen to trial the new service in a region where we have a wide range of stores of different sizes and formats and we can’t wait to see the customer response.
– Paul Marchant, Chief Executive, Primark
