Chief executive of Primark’s parent company ABF George Weston has said Christmas is going “better than ever before” as shoppers have started to spend early.
Weston said Primark is 33% ahead in Christmas sales compared to this time last year, while sales of Christmas jumpers and decorations are up 40% and 46% respectively.
”Some of that is the consequence of excellent ranges in-store; I think we are doing Christmas this year better than ever before,” he said. “Some of it may also be that shoppers are choosing to spread the cost of Christmas over several pay packets rather than just one.
“We know that shoppers want to come back to the high street in record numbers and that can only help us.
”We’ve also been told by shoppers that they intend to spend a little bit less than a year ago but we think we are going to have a good Christmas and it has already started.”
As the fashion giant’s Christmas campaign launched in stores this week, Primark noted trends and anticipated bestsellers for the festive season.
These include silver and metallic partywear, its “iconic” velvet plush leggings, Christmas jumpers and matching pyjamas for the whole family, and Primark’s viral “snuddie”.
Primark also said its Christmas giftwrap for 2023 is all “FSC certified and recyclable”, with a selection of its Christmas range also available to click-and-collect as part of its trial.
Shoplifting strikes again
In its trading update for the full year to September 16, 2023, ABF noted that its second-half operating profit margin was “slightly below the first half of the year” at 8%, which it attributed to a combination of factors including “higher than expected stock loss”.
Weston said theft across its portfolio of Primark stores during the last year has increased “quite a lot more” than anticipated.
“The thefts from our stores have gone up very significantly over the last year. They’ve not quite doubled but it is not far short of that,” he said.
“Some of that is gang-related and we are working alongside nine other high street retailers, including John Lewis, with the police on Project Pegasus where we’re collaborating with each other and trying to go after the organised gangs.
”We budget for stock loss or theft and the budget we had for this year was the same as it had been for the year before. We used our historic level to set out expectations. As it turned out, the amount of theft was hugely above that.
“We’ve also been investing in body cameras for security staff. We are investing in more security guards, longer hours, new CCTV coverage, all the sort of actions you would expect us to take but it is very concerning. I don’t know that it has begun to improve yet.”
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