Primark accelerates digital evolution

Primark may have been late to digital transformation but the fast fashion chain is making up for lost time as it embraces websites, social media, click and collect and other tech trappings.

Why Primark’s digital transformation matters

George Garfield, CEO of Primark owner Associated British Foods, told an earnings call that digital advances were driving sales and website traffic and opening up new marketing opportunities.

Takeaways 

• Digital is about driving traffic to the website, “through organic search, through CRM selected performance, [through] marketing trials”, said Garfield. “We’ve been running all of those in the year. We’ve had some good results from the marketing trials.”
• Click-and-collect trials are going well, he reported, but the business has yet to decide whether it is a commercial opportunity
• He highlighted social media as an area of future focus. “There’s [an] opportunity to leverage the power of that social media engagement that we have,” he said. “We’re really just in the foothills of that work, but it’s got so much potential for us.”
• At the same time, the chain is pushing ahead with new store openings – it currently has more than 400 across 16 countries in Europe and the US and is targeting a total of 530 by the end of 2026.
• Investment in self-checkout technology is progressing and has been well received by customers according to Garfield.

Key quote

“We’re transforming the digital capability of Primark. It’ll be as good as anyone’s by the time we’re done” – George Garfield, CEO at Associated British Foods, owner of Primark.

Sourced from Seeking Alpha 

[Image: Primark]