Primark is a value-oriented fashion retailer with a strong reputation for good quality, stylish fashion and basics at very competitive prices. It is owned by Associated British Foods (ABF).
Primark trades through more than 450 stores across 17 global markets, with nearly 200 stores across the UK and Ireland.
The retailer is now focused on building the future pipeline of stores, however, with France, Italy, Spain, eastern Europe and the US providing the most significant prospects for further growth.
Recent openings have taken the group into Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary.
As Primark has historically not operated a transactional site, its stores stand at the heart of its operations and its IT strategy has been focused on supporting its ambitious international expansion plans. Key areas of investment have included in-store customer experience and service improvements, but it has also been strengthening its supply chain and infrastructure.
But Primark is now investing to upgrade its digital presence and online visibility and launched a redesigned customer-facing website in the UK in April 2022. This showcases around 70% of the overall offer and enables customers to check availability in their local stores.
The new website had been rolled out to all of its markets by September 2023.
The retailer also launched a click-and-collect trial in 25 UK stores across a 2,000-strong range of children’s products in November 2022. The move marked the first time Primark has enabled customers to buy online and collect in-store. It offered the service in 87 stores in the UK by the end of the latest financial year, and expects the service to be available in all stores in England, Wales and Scotland by the end of 2025.
Total sales at Primark rose 4.9% to £9,448m in the year to 14 September 2024 (FY2024). UK and Ireland edged up 2% in FY2024, accounting for 47% of total sales.
Adjusted operating profit surged 51% to £1,108m in the latest financial year, with adjusted operating margin up from 8.2% to 11.7%.
