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Low-cost fashion chain Primark, known as Penneys in Ireland, has announced its first online home delivery service for the UK after years of skepticism about e‑commerce economics. The company secured a Sheffield warehouse to handle orders internally and plans to expand its click‑and‑collect offering. Amidst a forecast 3% sales decline, the move aims to spur profitable growth and support a planned demerger of its retail arm from Associated British Foods.
Low-cost fashion retailer, known as Penneys in Ireland, had long been sceptical of the economics of online delivery Eoin Tonge the CEO of Primark, at its Mary Street HQ in Dublin.
The retailer plans to launch online delivery in the UK. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times, plans to offer home delivery in Britain, making it one of the last major retailers to do so as the low-cost fashion chain battles to reverse a slump in sales.
The company, which had long insisted it had no need for an online business, also announced the acquisition of a warehouse in Sheffield as part of its plan to roll out the service. For years the retailer, which has many of its 473 stores in the UK, claimed that the economics of online delivery did not make sense given the low price of its clothes.
But sales at the once high-flying retailer, which is owned by parent company Associated British Foods, have come under pressure in recent months. State wants us to be tech-savvy, but the problem is we do not trust technologyICG share price signals narrow path to approval of takeover at EGM In the latest sign of its struggles, Primark on Thursday warned that sales would fall 3 per cent in the quarter to September 12th, sending shares in ABF down 10 per cent.
ABF plans to spin off Primark next year. The London-listed group also warned that an operating loss at its sugar division would be at the higher end of its previous guidance range of £25 million to £60 million. Announcing Primark’s online delivery plan, ABF said: “Primark has made significant progress in building its digital capabilities and will continue this through both growing Click & Collect and by offering home delivery in Britain in the future.
There is now an opportunity for incremental and profitable growth through this channel. ” The purchase of the warehouse in Sheffield from rival retailer Debenhams will allow Primark to process the orders itself rather than outsourcing them. Primark introduced its Click & Collect service as a trial in 2022, which has been well received by customers.
ABF said work on the demerger of the retail chain from its food businesses, which includes brands such as Twinings tea and Dorset Cereals, was progressing well and is expected to be completed in December 2027. - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026Glenveagh forecasts more than 2,900 home deliveries as order book reaches €1.8bnThe Airbnb equation has stopped adding up for EuropeThe Great War: ‘The heroic dead of Ireland have every right to the homage of the living’
Primark Online Delivery E-Commerce Retail Expansion Associated British Foods
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