Primark Geolocation

Store selection simplification

Project Background

BuSiness Problem

Customers visiting the Primark website often experience friction when selecting their preferred store. Since the site does not support e-commerce, there has been a growing push toward enabling "Click + Collect" (buying online and picking up in store) functionality. However, users face challenges with stock checking and knowing which store is their nearest store.

Currently, the store selector only appears at the Product Listing Page (PLP) and Product Description Page (PDP) stages—too late in the journey. It interrupts the flow via a pop-up panel, which disrupts product discovery and increases the risk of drop-off. Additionally, while there is a store details flow, it does not retain the user's selected store; it only displays store information without setting a preference.

CONSTRAINTS

• Limited touch points deep in the current experience (only at PLP and PDP).

• Stakeholder input and existing store selector tech had to be factored in

• Avoid more pop-ups and reduce clicks

Discovery & Approach

Target Audience

Primary User:
Emily, 35, a busy retail worker and mother who shops at Primark weekly. She often browses the site during short breaks and values quick, frictionless access to relevant store information—especially when placing Click and Collect orders.

cUrrent Pain points

• There’s no obvious or intuitive way to select a store from the home or landing page.

• Users can't check product availability until a store is selected—this adds unnecessary steps and friction.

• The store locator presents a full A–Z list, which is overwhelming and irrelevant for users who just want to find their nearest option quickly.

Upfront discovery

• Heuristic review of the current store selector journey.

• Benchmarking with other retail experiences (both competitors and adjacent industries).

• Content Square journey analysis

Design

Wireframes

Design Opportunities

• Introduce store selection earlier in the journey directly on the home page—to increase relevance and support conversion earlier. Have the design carry through out the experience

• Provide persistent store visibility to give users clarity and control throughout the journey

Usability Testing

Objective

To evaluate how users interact with store selection features, including geolocation, store pop-ups, and fallback flows. We focused on:

• Willingness to share location

• Expectations around "Change Store"

• Reactions to pop-ups, postcode input, and search bar usability

Methodology

Participants: 100 UK users, ages 21–45

Tool: Mobile survey via Userlytics

Format: 22 quantitative tasks

Prototypes:

1. Geolocation with postcode fallback

2. Manual store search

Key Questions

• Would you allow location access?

• Where do you expect to choose a store?

• Is a search bar helpful?

Findings / Insights

The experience of allowing and not allowing geolocation was positively perceived by users

• 74/100 would share their location because it’s easy and quick way to find the nearest store

• If users blocked it was because of privacy concerns

• If users blocked geolocation 80% of them would enter their post code, city, or town to find a store to see nearest stores. They felt more comfortable and in control with this option

• 91/100 would keep geolocation where it is

Recommendations

• Present list of available stores by sorted distance rather than alphabetically

• Consider presenting a map with pins for the available locations

• After users allow geolocation and see the nearest store at the top of the page, consider either Turning the stores name into a clickable link for them to find more information or having it in a tooltip

• Having an option for users who would wish to see itmes that are in-stock or best-sellers at the nearest location

Final Design

Design decisions

• Implement geolocation-based store pre-selection to streamline the experience and reduce effort for users

• Direct users to understand why this would be important to them

Reflection

This geolocation feature was developed to high-fidelity prototypes and validated through user testing. Although it was ultimately not prioritized for rollout, the process generated valuable insights into user behavior around store location and inspired new internal discussion around personalization features.

What I Learned

• Small UX improvements, such as replacing a disruptive pop-up with an inline experience, can drive significant impact on both user satisfaction and business outcomes.

• It’s important to balance automation with user control—features like geolocation must be paired with clear, accessible options for manual selection to maintain user trust.

What I’d Do Differently

• Push for earlier usability testing with real location data to better validate geolocation flows and fallback behaviors.

• Explore solutions like a persistent store indicator or global header integration to give users consistent awareness of their selected store throughout the journey.

• I wish we had the opportunity to run A/B tests while I was at the company. Despite strong hypotheses and a validated design direction, it was challenging to get testing prioritized within the roadmap. In future projects, I’d advocate earlier for optimization planning to ensure key UX changes are tested and measured in-market.