For 29-year-old culture journalist and author Jess Bacon, buying clothes in physical stores has become a thing of the past. As a plus-size woman from Peterborough, she finds high street size options unreliable and disheartening. “The sizing in store is notoriously bad. I find it quite demoralising in store,” she explains, noting that “the average size woman in the UK is a size 14 or a size 16. I think a lot of people just don’t feel seen or represented.”
For Jess, online orders offer a speedier alternative to paying for parking and using fitting rooms. Returning ill-fitting items by post is less of a hassle than going back to a store, while regular trips to her local post office foster “more of a community connection.” She points out that Primark is among the few high street chains offering options for plus-size shoppers, carrying up to size 22 in stores. Soon, she will not need to visit in person at all.
After years of resistance, Primark is preparing to launch a home delivery service across Britain. Despite keeping its doors closed during Covid-19 lockdowns without offering e-commerce, the retailer introduced click-and-collect in 2022, though customers still had to travel to collect items. Primark has not confirmed a launch date for home shipping, but it has acquired a warehouse in Sheffield to manage fulfillment. Industry analysts interpret the move as a response to growing competition from ultra-fast-fashion platforms like Shein.
Data from the Office for National Statistics highlights the broader shift toward digital retail. Online purchases accounted for 27.3% of all UK retail sales in August this year, rising from 18.1% in August 2019. The decline of physical retail centers has further accelerated this trend, as Jess has witnessed locally. “We don’t have John Lewis [anymore]. There’s kind of not that much of a reason to go into town,” she observes.
Other shoppers share a similar aversion to traditional clothing stores. Julia Mitchell, a 32-year-old content creator from near Chichester, avoids brick-and-mortar shops because she finds them overstimulating and seeks better value online. “I basically never go into them [clothes shops]. It’s not really something I enjoy,” she says. “I guess some people might be able to see stuff and pick it up and look at it, but for me, being able to get the best price is more important.”
Julia buys mostly second-hand fashion via Vinted to shop ethically. However, she makes an exception for bookshops, viewing them as valuable cultural and community spaces. For others, physical limitations dictate shopping habits. Sandra Davies, 61, from Sheffield, shops exclusively online due to health reasons after suffering three strokes. “I’ve tried it on two occasions but on both times, standing in a queue for over 10 minutes was too much for me and I collapsed,” she explains. Even so, managing home deliveries presents its own challenges, as she worries about missed parcels and rescheduling delivery times. According to the 61-year-old from Sheffield, Waiting for deliveries can be taxing as well, as she worries about missing the postie and having to reschedule.
Retail analyst Julie Palmer believes Primark’s expansion into e-commerce is logical because “online sales bring scale.” However, she emphasizes that a retailer’s returns policy can “make or break” its success. To remain competitive, Primark must match rival brands with simple, prompt returns. “Shoppers want them to be free, simple and quick. That means a generous window, lots of drop-off options and refunds that land within days, not weeks,” Palmer explains. “When a policy is clunky or slow, customers remember it and shop elsewhere next time.”
Retailer Return Policies and Fees
- Return CostsHandling returned goods remains expensive for businesses, prompting brands like Asos to charge fees for frequent returns.
- Competitive RiskPalmer warns that imposing return fees is a delicate balancing act, “because a fee can easily push a customer to a competitor.”
- In-Store Incentives“Most retailers that charge still offer free returns in store, which is a deliberate way to get people through the door and hopefully spending again,” Palmer adds.
