Long standing holdout to online shopping Primark is to expand its recently introduced online trial but it still shuns home delivery as it is limiting the service to purely offering click & collect, which it regards as the profitable way to handle internet sales. 

As the fashion retailer announced its half-year sales to March 23 had jumped 19% it also revealed that its 25-store online trial was being expanded to 57 outlets where shoppers can use the click & collect service for childrenswear products.  

Paul Marchant, CEO of Primark, says: “We’re really encouraged by how the trial has landed with customers, who tell us they value the choice and convenience click & collect is offering them. We’re also seeing strong demand for the service outside the trial region and it’s helping us reach new customers too. This gives us the confidence to take this trial to the next level and expand it further to more stores.”

Primark had been reluctant to launch an online store for its value-led offer because of the costs associated with delivery, which invariably eat into margins. In contrast, click & collect has been proven to be a more cost efficient fulfilment method for online orders. This has made it attractive to retailers, especially those at the value end of the market, including Wilko that recently launched its own click & collect service.

It has been launched to all its stores and enables shoppers to collect their online ordered goods at their local store within a mere three hours and at no cost. Ben Exall, digital director at Wilko, says: “Rolling out free same-day click & collect to all stores helps ensure we’re providing hard-working families with a shopping experience that values their time and money.”

Click & collect related services continue to be expanded to enable shoppers to not only collect in retailers’ own stores but also via third-party locations such as dedicated secure lockers and local convenience stores. Although 82% of customers choose to collect their goods at the retailers’ own stores as many as 40% of people have used third-party locations, according to research from IMRG with Huboo, which found convenience stores were the most popular choice at 60% and the least desirable petrol stations at 26%.