Don't purchase our products online, Primark tells customers

Primark has warned customers not to buy its products via Amazon

The retailer, part of Associated British Foods (ABF), has no online store, opting instead to trade from around 200 sites in the UK.

Yesterday, in response to a newspaper story stating its goods were now available on Amazon, it tweeted: "We do not have a commercial partnership with Amazon and any Primark products which appear on the site are being re-sold by third parties, at higher prices. We encourage our customers to visit us in our stores to find the best value."

People responded to the tweet by calling on Primark to launch an e-commerce operation. “All very well and good but when the nearest Primark to me is one of your smallest stores, you’ve never got what I’m looking for so I have to turn to online at higher prices or (as I normally end up doing) going without,” one commented.

“We all want an online store pretty please as long as it doesn’t mean the cost has to be driven up in order to start online shopping. I’m being selfish as it’s just easier and better shopping experience for me to order online,” said another.

The Primark products on Amazon appear to be mainly limited to womenswear and its range of Disney and Harry Potter merchandise. Independent sellers have, in some cases, been charging almost double that of in-store prices.