Primark to launch click and collect trial in the UK

Primark has confirmed that it is to trial a click and collect service on children’s products later this year as it looks to satisfy what it calls “unfulfilled demand,” while driving footfall from both existing and new customers to deliver additional sales in-store.

The pilot project will run across up to 25 stores in the northwest of England and will offer customers the chance to click and collect a wide choice of products for kids, spanning everything from clothing and accessories to decorative nursery products and toys.

The move comes as Primark expands its kids’ range to up to 2,000 options, giving customers access to twice as many options as today, as well as allowing shoppers of the smaller stores in the trial to get access to ranges normally only found in larger stores. Primark added that the new service will also offer online-only products with around 40 percent of the items available exclusively to click and collect.

Primark states that it thinks the new service will be "particularly attractive" to its customers who do not regularly shop in its larger stores, as its “average” size stores are only able to stock a limited range and for these customers the number of options available to them will “broadly double, increasing even more for customers of our small stores”.

Primark to trial click and collect in up to 25 stores in the northwest by the end of the year

Set to launch towards the end of the year, Primark said that the click and collect range will focus on the latest trends, brand new exclusive styles, and will enable it to provide more fashion and lifestyle products, from Primark’s license partners, as well as larger items such as nursery products and multipacks of kids’ clothes.

In addition, the service will also offer customers the opportunity to have seasonal products such as rainwear and beach and holiday wear, available throughout the year, as it looks to enhance the customer journey even further.

Primark chief executive, Paul Marchant, said in a statement: “The click and 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.”

Primark kids’ range offers a wide selection of products from newborn babywear up to age 15 years, and customers will be able to browse clothing, accessories and lifestyle products online, and then add the items to their online 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 their chosen Primark store.

All click and collect orders will be processed and dispatched to store from a new dedicated UK distribution centre at Magna Park, Leicestershire, which will be run by logistics partner, Clipper. The pick and pack operation will be manual during the trial with Primark adding that it plans to automate “in due course”. Orders will be free to collect for our customers, and returns will be accepted free of charge in-store.

Primark hasn’t confirmed which stores will be taking part in the trial, adding that these will be confirmed in the “coming months”.