Lucy Devine
Primark is set to start selling some of its products online in a new trial expected to begin towards the end of the year.
Associated British Foods (ABF), which owns the retailer, is launching a click and collect trial on children's products, which will take place in up to 25 Primark stores.
The shops are located in the north west of England and will include around 2,000 items.
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It's a welcomed move for Primark fans, who have been calling for the retailer to start selling its items online for some time.
ABF recently revamped its website, which allowed shoppers to browse collections and check in-store availability. As a result, online traffic jumped by 60 per cent.
"Our 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," says ABF, as reported by Sky News.
"This trial will enable us to provide more fashion, licence and lifestyle products to more customers and more often."
Meanwhile, Paul Marchant, chief executive at Primark, adds: "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.”
The news comes as total sales at Primark jumped by over 80 per cent in the retailer's most recent quarter, compared with last year - however all stores were open during this period, in comparison to last year when they were largely shut due to lockdown.
In other retail news, high street fashion retailer Zara is now charging online customers a fee to return items.
Those who choose to return items to third-party drop-off points across the country will now be charged a £1.95 fee, which is taken from the refund sum.
Zara customers will have 30 days from the date their online order ships to return it for a refund.
The regular refund rules still apply according to Zara’s website, which states that items returned to them must have all their original labels and should be in perfect condition.
The fashion company told This Is Money that online orders that are returned to one of their 68 stores in the UK will not have the added charge.
Many are wondering whether other retailers will now begin to follow suit. Could charging shoppers for postal returns become the norm?