The website for Primark’s long-awaited online ordering service has crashed shortly after going live as it faced bigger than expected demand.
After years of resisting internet shopping, the fast fashion retailer launched the trial service on Monday for customers to pay for kids’ clothing, toys and nursery goods that they can then pick up at 25 stores across the north-west of England, Yorkshire and Wales.
However, many shoppers trying to use the new “click and collect” service on its first day found they could not place an order. The help service also appeared to have crashed.
Primark’s official Facebook site was littered with complaints from people saying they could not access the site. “Pointless when the website is down,” one said while another bemoaned the fact “nothing works on it”.
A Primark spokesperson said: “It’s been great to see so much interest in the launch of our new Click + Collect trial. We’re aware that some people have had issues accessing the website this morning and we’re working hard to address this to ensure that everyone can access and browse the site easily.”
The trial covers cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Carlisle and Wrexham as well as towns such as Bury and Llandudno. Shoppers can choose to order from a list of 2,000 items including items exclusively available online and not on offer in smaller local stores.
Orders will be available for collection in the participating stores two days after they have been placed with a £15 minimum order value and no delivery charge.
The Primark chief executive, Paul Marchant, said: “We’re big fans of the high street and we believe passionately that a thriving local shopping area benefits everyone in the community. Our approach to online is all about supporting and complementing our stores, which will always be at the heart of our business.
“The trial offers the convenience of browsing and shopping from the comfort of your home, while also providing customers living near one of our smaller stores, like Wallasey, as big a range as on offer in a much larger store like Liverpool. Everyone, no matter their local store, will get access to lots of exclusive new products.”
Primark announced earlier this year that it would test out click and collect services after years of avoiding trading online. The group lost millions of pounds of sales during the pandemic as it had no way of taking orders when shops were closed under government Covid restrictions.
The retailer has previously only used its website to give customers a preview of clothes on sale, and more recently to give shoppers information about stock levels in local stores.
