Primark to offer home deliveries for the first time

Primark to offer home deliveries for the first time

Thu, September 10, 2026 at 11:19 AM GMT+3 2 min read

• ABF.L -0.89%

Primark will offer home deliveries for the first time as the retailer combats stiff competition for cheap clothing from China.

Associated British Foods (ABF), Primark's parent company, announced the move on Thursday after decades of resisting online retail.

It did not set a date for the launch of the service, which will initially focus on Britain, but said it offered an "opportunity for profitable growth".

Primark held off launching an online store until 2022, when it introduced a click-and-collect service, and only released a mobile app last year.

The shift to home deliveries is a major milestone as Primark faces growing competition from cheap fast-fashion brands such as China's Shein.

George Weston, the chief executive of ABF and a member of the Weston family that controls the business, said: "Primark has made significant progress in building its digital capabilities and will continue this through both growing click and collect and by offering home delivery in Great Britain in the future.

"There is now an opportunity for incremental and profitable growth through this channel."

ABF, which is preparing to spin off Primark and list it on the stock market, said it had bought a "highly-automated fulfilment facility" in Sheffield to operate its new home delivery service.

In a separate announcement, Debenhams said it had sold the automated section of its Sheffield distribution centre to ABF in a £90m deal.

Mr Weston said the UK and womenswear markets remained the primary focus for Primark, adding that trading in Europe "remained challenging".

Shares in ABF sank more than 8pc on Thursday after it estimated like-for-like sales would be down 2.6pc in its 2026 financial year, compared to the previous 12 months, although UK sales were projected to grow by 2pc.

Bosses said work on spinning out Primark from its food businesses was expected to be completed in December next year.

ABF is listed on the London Stock Exchange but around 60pc of its shares are owned by the Weston family. It is one of the world's biggest sugar producers and also owns brands including Ovaltine, Hovis and Twinings.

Analysts have predicted that a separate listing of Primark, which has 508 stores overall, of which 199 are in the UK, could see it valued at a similar level to rivals such as Next, which is worth more than £16bn.

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