Most of us love a good Primark spend-up every now and again.
But are you actually being 'tricked' into spending a wad of cash in the cut-price store?
Well you may well be, according to one psychologist.
She has claimed the high street giant has some very clever tricks to persuade you to part with your hard-earned cash.
Talking on the Channel 5 documentary Primark: How Do They Do It?, psychologist Dr Amna Khan spoke about how Primark tries to keep customers in store for as long as possible.
She said: “A destination store creates an experience for the consumer, almost like going to a theme park where all your senses are activated, and you want to stay there for longer.”
It is said on the show that Primark only buys large retail spaces and tries to add extra experiences, such as cafes and beauty services, in order to tempt people to stay.
Consumer journalist Harry Wallop added: “It’s a phrase used in the retail industry ‘dwell time’.
“You don't want people to just come in and buy an item and leave.
“You want someone to come in, look for the item, think ‘that looks like a nice cafe. I'll stop there, I’ll then buy something else’.
“On the way you spot another bit of homewares, it’s only £5.
“If you can increase the dwell time you are onto a winning formula and you have justified the high expense of operating a high street store.”
Jermaine Lapwood, head of Primark’s Innovation and Future trends, also said: “We want people to explore all the amazing products that we have to offer.
“But at the same time we don’t want them to be inconvenienced.
“If they want to get a coffee or if the kids are starting to get frustrated, they can pop up to our Disney cafe.”
Primark's Birmingham store is one of the biggest examples of this, with the shop being their biggest worldwide.
The store, which spans 160,000 square feet spread over five floors, boasts a hairdressers, nail bar, eye-brow grooming and a barbers.
Paul Chittim, general manager at Primark Birmingham, said: "There are companies that run coach trips and holiday weekend trips with the sole intention of visiting Primark Birmingham.
“The coaches pull up here and you see dozens and dozens of people walk into the store picking up the shopping trolleys and then you see them throughout the day just absolutely filling them up.
“It's quite a sight, to be honest with you."
The tricks seem to be working as Primark serves over a million shoppers every day in more than 400 worldwide stores and racks up over £5billion in annual revenue.
Primark famously doesn’t sell goods online like its competitors, so shoppers are forced to come inside to stock up on must-have items.
The retailer also relies on bloggers and influencers to promote their items for them with popular shopping hauls, and this creates a frenzy without them needing to spend out on marketing.
While some people head in stores for the specific items, others go just for the store’s “basics”.
Dr Amna added: “Primark’s essential components of their products are generally built on basic, staple products that don’t necessarily always change.”
While retail consultant Nicole Higgins added: “Generally with clothing, 20% of your range will make up 80% of your sales.
“If you go into Primark’s lingerie department, they will have hundreds of styles, lots and lots of different colours but probably the items that are making the most amount of money are the five-pack knickers, the basic T-shirt bras.
“They are the core bread-and-butter products.”
Primark: How Do They Do It? is on My 5 now
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