Primark recently launched its highly anticipated stock checker website - and I couldn’t help but give it a go.
The high street favourite has remained adamant over the years that it would not sell its products online, but has begun to offer us the next best thing. Earlier this year, Primark introduced a new stock checker function on its website.
Before then, shoppers relied on social media to get a sneak peek of what new ranges were in store. For Liverpool, there's a dedicated page from its Visual Merchandising team that offers a look inside the store.
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Primark’s website also offered a limited preview of stock on its website. Now, the new function allows them to see whether its clothing, accessories and homeware items are available in store.
This week, I took a trip to Liverpool’s Primark store to see if the stock checker on the retailer’s website really reflected what was available in store. Ahead of my visit I chose a number of products on the website at random to see whether they were in stock, had low availability or were labelled as out of stock.
Among the products I took a look at on the Primark website included:
Red v-neck Wrap Dress (£13) - low stock
Camel Strappy Heeled Sandals (£13) - in stock
Lemon Print High-top Trainers (£8) - out of stock
Green Textured Towelling Shopper Bag (£12) - out of stock
Ecru Double-Breasted Relaxed Blazer (£25) - out of stock
PS My Perfect Colour Matte Foundation (£5) - out of stock
Dark Green Turtleneck Bodysuit (£6) - in stock
Blue Sleeveless Single Breasted Blazer (£18) - in stock
It’s important to note that these results are based on the specific sizes I chose, so other shoppers may find the website states differently based on their own size preferences. With this information in hand, I headed to Primark on Church Street to see if the online results were reflected in the store.
The results were mixed, to say the least. Ultimately, I found five of the products I’d chosen in the store - but they didn’t always match what the website had told me.
Despite being marked as ‘low in stock’ on the website, I couldn’t find the red v-neck wrap dress at all. I also struggled to find a number of other products marked as ‘in stock’ - including the Camel Strappy Heeled Sandals (in any size) and Green Textured Towelling Shopper Bag.
There were a number of pairs of the Lemon Print High-top Trainers available, though not in my selected size. This means the website was correct in telling me that the shoes were out of stock.
The Dark Green Turtleneck Bodysuit and Blue Sleeveless Single Breasted Blazer were all listed as ‘in stock’ and were easy to find in store. However, the Ecru Double-Breasted Relaxed Blazer and PS My Perfect Colour Matte Foundation were marked ‘out of stock’ but were readily available in store.
I found the process of checking if a product was in stock on the Primark website easy to use and was keen to try it, but my experience was mixed - I’m not sure if I’d trust it if I was looking for a product I really wanted to buy.
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