I will talk about a leading retailer in the UK, Primark, and the lessons one can learn from them. They have around 398 stores that operate on a worldwide basis and the customer base likes this company because it provides the customer with trendy fashion at modest prices. They are active in the UK, Portugal, Spain, the Republic of Ireland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, France and the United States. In the below-mentioned analysis, the issues of sales declination will be evaluated more comprehensively.
The availability of products for the women’s categories are available in terms of leggings, jeggings, jumpers and cardigans, bags, coats and jackets, and so on. On the other hand, the beauty product items of Primark comprise foundations, powders, body wash, shower gels, perfumes, and bath bombs. The baby products are also there along with stylish denim and t-shirts for men. The new fashion trend which is called loungewear, sweatshirts, and hoodies are also present as new arrivals in the company. Trending items such as a dry robe, dyed cotton t-shirt, Roman print tie-dye t-shirts, and tie zip-up hoodies are available in the stores as well.
Ok. What is the issue then?
There are plenty of suppliers and factories all over the world that give or supply the product to the company. As of 2021, the supplier factories that the company has around the globe are from India, Turkey, Romania, Italy, France, Ireland, Bangladesh, Spain, Greece, Germany and so on. In China alone, the suppliers’ range is a lot higher and the graph shows that it is around 475 and in India, it is 117.
Within the industry, there is a market of H&M and Zara which have a great customer base and new trends as well. The market of both these companies gets themselves updated with fast fashion and sustainable fashion areas. They make the products while keeping in mind the customer demands and preferences as well through AI and 3D technologies. Technology, on the other hand, is an investment area for them. However, Primark has not manifested even in the realm of online sales. Hence, the industry competition for Primark is adverse from multiple dimensions. Sales growth has been very tragic in both the years 2020 and 2021 for Primark while in the year 2019, the net sales growth was one billion British pounds. In the US, the sales were 9 % lower and in Europe alone the decline was 17 %. The preview of the latest stocks is shown on the official website of the company but it hardly shows whether they are available in the stock or not. Hence, the customer uses social media to check what is available and the descriptions of the products in a detailed manner. Despite a huge sales decline, they have become pretty adamant that they would not sell their products online.
The supply shortage risks are seen and this is the reason why the sales are seemingly at a loss state. On the other hand, the supply disruption which is issued in the company during the time of pandemic has caused them to stop the global supply of their products and this is another reason for sales deterioration. The sales growth in terms of the identity of the company is more compatible and also profitable for womenswear items.
In the year 2020, the womenswear clothes were sold to 11.1 million while the men’s clothes were purchased by 10.3 and 6.1 people the year. Despite the sales growth in the websites, they are hopeful of launching a completely new website in the year 2022.
Learnings
1. Supply of services should be continuous no matter what. Customers just view the credibility of a brand or any account on social media through active presence and active updates.
2. Know your strengths. Just like Primark did good on womenswear clothes. But before finding out what will actually work, put a diverse range of content on social media channels.
Practical recommendations
The most common factor that has been analysed from the above points is that Primark has suppliers and their demands from a large suppliers market of the world.
This is a great opportunity if they can rapidly manifest their supply then they can create extreme sales out of such markets. Since the multichannel strategy is utilised by the company, they need more optimisations in the field of technology.
During the time of the coronavirus outbreak, when other companies increased profit through online sales, Primark remained stagnant. This is the adamant behavior from the end of company owners to go online for increasing shopping deals.
It is much recommended that the company needs to increase its online sales options as consumer demands are driven towards that end only. The business model of Primark is integrated in such a manner that it does not enable Primark to go online.
It simply implies “Change your company culture” !
They believe that a high volume of returns is hard to process and there are operation costs involved as well in the spheres of the online field. This business model is making the company alienated from the modern customer base. They are also becoming rigid about their own business model and ignoring the trends that are present and revolving in the market. It is really required for them to grasp the market trend and then they will be able to produce the right products at the right time.
Keeping up to date with trends does not mean you should start posting TikTok videos though. haha! However, you should consider posting some kind of video format content for your business or for yourself.
