Primark is planning to launch home delivery for first time

The high street giant has traditionally focused heavily on its huge network of physical stores, but that is now changing as it looks to expand its online offering.

Primark's owner, Associated British Foods (ABF), has bought a new warehouse in Sheffield to support the move.

However, shoppers will have to wait for now, as the company has not revealed exactly when home delivery will launch.

ABF said the service would come “in the future”.

The move comes as Primark continues to expand its click and collect service, allowing customers to browse and buy selected items online before collecting them from stores.

The new home delivery service could give shoppers another way to get their Primark purchases without having to make a trip to the high street.

ABF said Primark's UK business had continued to perform better than some of its other markets.

Like-for-like sales across the retailer are expected to have fallen by 2.6% over the financial year, which ends on Saturday, compared with the previous year.

The biggest weakness was in continental Europe, while UK sales are estimated to have edged up by 0.6%.

Primark said sales got off to a strong start during the summer, but the prolonged hot weather affected demand for autumn clothing as shoppers delayed buying their new-season wardrobes.

Trading has improved in recent weeks as temperatures have cooled, the company said.

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George Weston, chief executive of ABF, said: “Our priority focus areas, the UK and womenswear, continued to outperform our other markets and categories.

“Primark has made significant progress in building its digital capabilities and will continue this through both growing click & 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.”