Primark preps childrenswear Click and Collect trial
Primark is gearing up to test out a Click & Collect service on children's products in some UK stores.
Owner Associated British Foods (ABF) said the move builds on the launch of a new website earlier this year.
Primark believes Click & Collect has the potential to drive footfall from both existing and new customers to deliver incremental sales in-store.
The trial will take place in up to 25 stores in the northwest of England, starting later this year.
The service will build to offer customers some 2,000 options across clothing, accessories and lifestyle products, which will cater for a broad range of family needs from furnishing a nursery to clothing children of all ages.
Around 40% of these options will be exclusive to Click & Collect.
Orders will be processed and dispatched to store from a dedicated UK distribution centre.
“Our product suppliers will prepare the stock in cartons in a way which will enable simple and efficient picking at the distribution centre,” ABF said in a press release.
“This pick and pack operation will be manual during this trial with 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.”
New website
The retailer’s new website was unveiled in April, featuring thousands of products from across its ranges, as well as a fresh design, enhanced navigation and a new feature that allows customers to check stock availability in their local store.
This is launching first in the UK, before rolling out to Primark’s 13 other markets in the coming months.
Alongside the retailer’s in-house team, EPAM Systems has been the primary design and technology partner for the project.
The site has been built using technology components from a number of digital solution suppliers including Bloomreach, Amplience, commercetools, Microsoft and Salesforce.
As part of its digital expansion, Primark is trialling digital marketing to support the initiative.
For the first time it will capture customer data to “deliver more personalised marketing as customers will be able to create an account, sign up to receive regular news from the business and create a Wishlist of their favourite products”.
Matt Houston, Group Digital and Strategy Director, Primark, said: “This launch represents an important milestone for Primark shifting the way we’re using digital to connect to our stores.”
“We know that consumers today inform a huge proportion of their clothing purchases by browsing online. We see a significant opportunity to drive more footfall and more sales into our stores by upping our game in digital and ensuring that what we offer is more visible online.”
“The new website gives us the opportunity to reach new customers who might not be stepping into our stores now and tempt them with the great products and value we offer.”
Primark says that, to date, traffic to the new site is up by around 60%, customers on average are viewing twice as many pages per session, and almost 15% of visitors to the site are using the new stock checker facility.
