As a plus-size woman, she finds the size ranges available in stores unreliable. "The sizing in store is notoriously bad. I find it quite demoralising in store," she says.
"The average size woman in the UK is a size 14 or a size 16. I think a lot of people just don't feel seen or represented," says the 29-year-old from Peterborough. Jess, a culture journalist and author, finds shopping online "much quicker than going into a store, paying for parking, trying things on".
And she feels posting back items that don't fit is less hassle than returning in store, while frequent visits to her local post office give her "more of a community connection". Jess notes Primark is one of the few High Street retailers where plus-size people can shop. In her experience, Primark stores usually stock up to a size 22.
But soon she'll have the option of staying home even for this - as, after years of holding out, Primark now plans to launch a home delivery service in Britain. Even throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, when shops were closed, Primark didn't offer the ability to shop online. In 2022 it launched a click-and-collect service, but shoppers still had to travel for their purchases.
The retailer has not said when it expects to launch the service, but has bought a warehouse in Sheffield to enable it to ship products to homes. Analysts say the decision shows Primark is facing major challenges from ultra-fast-fashion brands such as Shein. Online shopping had been on the rise even before the surge seen during the pandemic.
Online accounted for 27.3% of all retail sales in August this year, according to the Office for National Statistics, up from 18.1% in August 2019. Internet shopping has also been boosted by the decline of the High Street in many parts of the country, something which Jess has noticed in Peterborough. "We don't have John Lewis [anymore].
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