Why more shoppers like Jess are ditching the high street for online-only
For Jess Bacon, clothes shopping is purely a digital activity these days. A 29-year-old culture journalist and author based in Peterborough, Jess says she avoids physical stores almost entirely because of how plus-size customers are treated by UK retailers.
“The sizing in store is notoriously bad. I find it quite demoralising in store,” she says, noting that most British women wear a size 14 or 16 yet struggle to find those sizes on the shop floor. “I think a lot of people just don’t feel seen or represented,” she adds.
Beyond sizing frustrations, Jess simply finds ordering from her sofa more practical than battling car parks and changing rooms, and she says posting back ill-fitting items feels less of a chore than returning them in person — with regular trips to her local post office even giving her “more of a community connection.”
She points out that Primark is one of the few high street chains that stocks plus-size ranges, typically up to a size 22. That, though, may soon change in a different way: after refusing to sell online for years, Primark is preparing to roll out home delivery in the UK.
A slow move into e-commerce
Primark kept its doors-only model even when stores shut during the Covid-19 pandemic, and only introduced click-and-collect in 2022 — meaning customers still had to travel to pick up orders. The company has not confirmed a launch date for home delivery but has purchased a Sheffield warehouse to handle shipping.
Industry watchers say the shift reflects pressure from ultra-fast-fashion competitors like Shein. Internet retail was already climbing before the pandemic accelerated it further: according to the Office for National Statistics, online sales made up 27.3% of total UK retail in August this year, compared with 18.1% in August 2019 — a trend Jess links partly to shrinking town centres. “We don’t have John Lewis [anymore],” she says of Peterborough. “There’s kind of not that much of a reason to go into town.”
Julia Mitchell, 32, from near Chichester, shares that preference, saying she finds in-person shopping overwhelming and better value is usually found online. A content creator who shops ethically and mostly buys second-hand through Vinted, she makes one firm exception: books. “The thing about bookshops is that they are cultural spaces and community spaces,” she says.
For Sandra Davies, 61, from Sheffield, the move online isn’t about preference but necessity. Having survived three strokes, she finds navigating stores physically demanding. “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 says, adding that waiting in for parcels brings its own stress.
Retail analyst Julie Palmer says Primark’s move makes sense given that “online sales bring scale,” but warns that returns policies will determine whether the retailer can compete. “Shoppers want them to be free, simple and quick,” she says. “When a policy is clunky or slow, customers remember it and shop elsewhere next time.” Some retailers, including Asos, now charge frequent returners a fee — a trade-off Palmer says is risky “because a fee can easily push a customer to a competitor.”
Source: BBC News