Carina Perkins’ Post

Interesting article about Primark's click & collect trial in London. The test & learn introduction to Ecommerce benefits both customers & store traffic. Will Primark go further into online selling? The article explores the barriers Primark faces, such as margin, returns rates, basket size & delivery costs. But there are other issues such as single picking & central stock availability. With substantial opportunities for growth without 'risking' online profitability, will a digital loyalty scheme, the symbiotic relationship between stores & online & the need for greater social media presence for Gen Z make online selling an inevitability? Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eg2d4PD7

Primark has always been a bit of a fascination for me. While they are not present in Sweden, they are in nearly every city in the UK and are expanding across Europe. Primark ranks third in clothes sales in Europe, behind Zara and H&M. What puzzles me most about Primark is their refusal to engage in online sales or e-commerce, a strategy heavily pursued by Zara and H&M. Recently, Primark trialed click-and-collect in 57 stores, and it seems to have been a huge success. By avoiding home delivery, Primark sidesteps the associated costs and complexities. The company plans to explore category expansions and enhance digital marketing. Despite internal debate, Primark aims to blend its online and offline offerings, leveraging store visits to boost sales. This measured approach seeks to maintain profitability while adapting to evolving consumer behaviors. Even during the pandemic four years ago, they refused to do home delivery, which hit them hard. Currently, the retailer is trialling click-and-collect across 57 stores for its womenswear and kidswear products. Despite being slow off the blocks, retail technology publisher and consultant Miya Knights says, “everything Primark has done online so far has been sensible.” She notes that the retailer’s gradual extension to its largest category of womenswear via a limited number of stores allows Primark to test and learn, then iterate and optimize quickly while minimizing its exposure to risk. Carina Perkins, senior retail and e-commerce analyst at Emarketer, supports Knights’ view, stating, “Primark’s strategy so far makes perfect sense.” She explains that by focusing on click-and-collect, Primark avoids the significant costs and complexities of home delivery, which had previously deterred its online expansion. Vinny O’Brien, an e-commerce strategist and former eBay executive, notes that Primark’s hesitation to move online, even during the pandemic, stemmed from the challenges of making e-commerce operations viable. Back in 2014, when online retailers like Asos were thriving, John Bason, then finance director of Primark's parent company Associated British Foods and now head of its strategic advisory board, candidly acknowledged the online challenges Primark faced. As Primark looks to extend its click-and-collect trial, more stores and categories could be added in the future. Primark believes that despite its continued growth from physical stores, it needs to invest in digital if it wants to maintain this momentum in the future, particularly as Gen Z gains more purchasing power. Although this doesn’t necessarily mean launching home delivery, it acknowledges that while Gen Z shoppers like to browse online, they still enjoy visiting stores. #primark #ecommerce #retail #uk

🛍️ Imagine a retail giant thriving without a single online sale. Impossible? Meet the Silent Disruptor that's rewriting the rules of fashion retail. This Irish powerhouse just bagged $9 billion in revenue, all while keeping its digital doors shut. How are they pulling off this retail magic trick? 🎩✨ From ethical sourcing nightmares to pandemic shutdowns, they've weathered it all. Ready to unravel this retail enigma? Dive into "The Silent Disruptor: A Retail Enigma" and discover why sometimes, staying offline is the key to staying on top. #RetailRevolution #FashionDisruptor #BrickAndMortarMagic #BusinessInnovation Curious? Come see how they're flipping the script on fast fashion! 👀

So it seems that Primark has found a hybrid version of omnichannel, the advantages of online commerce without the disadvantages? ❌Online returns in clothing represent 25 to 40% depending on the market, gender, product category, etc., which makes it difficult for retailers and brands in terms of cost, and even more so for pure players. ❌This also has another negative effect on the business, with "Stock Time Out" resulting in the product being unavailable for sale for weeks. ✅ As usual #Primark has thoroughly tested the new model for 18 months before rolling it out to all 184 stores in England, Scotland and Wales by the end of 2025…. ✅Alongside the nationwide expansion, it will also add new categories and products available to buy online, with men’s and selected home and lifestyle products and ranges to join the newly extended service. #omnichannel #clickandcollect #fastfashion

I remember a saying from my retail management days, "all buyers are liars". While consumers claim they care about sustainability and authenticity, recent shopping trends tell a different story—particularly when you look at Shein’s explosive growth. In 2023, Shein’s sales increased by 43%, with revenues reaching $32.5 billion, and projections for 2024 are even more staggering at $48 billion(Wethrift). At the same time, premium brands that focus on quality, ethical production, and long-lasting materials are struggling to keep up. Consumers say they want eco-friendly products, yet fast fashion’s low prices and constant novelty continue to win wallets. One of the key behavioral shifts we're seeing is the demand for immediacy. Platforms like Shein have mastered the art of fast fashion by churning out thousands of new items daily(Retail Insight Network), all while using data to optimise inventory and gauge trends in real-time. This appeals particularly to younger generations, whose shopping habits are influenced heavily by social media and the desire for constant newness—more than 64% of Shein’s customers are under 34(Wethrift). The influencer culture drives fashion trends, shoppers prioritise access and affordability over longevity and ethics. The rise of D2C (direct-to-consumer) models is also reshaping expectations. While this model boomed initially for brands offering unique or premium products, many consumers are growing weary of buying exclusively from brand websites, preferring marketplaces or multi-brand platforms. In fact, 2024 data shows that while eCommerce sales continue to grow at 9.9%, brick-and-mortar still maintains a 5.1% growth rate(Wethrift)(Retail Insight Network). Consumers' growing preference for immediate gratification and low-cost trends has resulted in a disconnect between what they say and how they shop. While they express interest in sustainable and ethical practices, Shein’s dominance suggests that, in practice, convenience and affordability reign supreme. This shift is a clear sign that values alone don’t drive behavior—price, ease of access, and novelty still hold strong sway in the consumer decision-making process.

Welcome to the New Blog Series: Exploring the Top 50 Retailers Reshaping the Digital Era! In this blog, we take a deep dive into the remarkable journey of Primark, the fast-fashion powerhouse that has revolutionized the retail industry. From a modest store in Dublin to over 432 locations across 15 countries, Primark has defied conventional retail wisdom by thriving without e-commerce. In an age where digital-first strategies dominate, Primark has carved out a unique niche with its bold approach to in-store shopping. Primark’s secret? A value proposition that delivers unbeatable prices on trendy, high-quality fashion. They’ve mastered the art of creating a treasure hunt atmosphere in their stores, offering limited-time products, irresistible deals, and an exciting shopping experience that keeps customers coming back for more. Despite having no online presence, shoppers flock to Primark, often waiting in line to get in—and nobody minds it. How has Primark managed to thrive without e-commerce in a digital world? Let’s explore the key elements of Primark’s strategy that make it stand out in the competitive world of fast fashion and discover the secrets behind its global success. Join the Conversation! Your input is essential! Share this blog with friends, colleagues, or anyone intrigued by the future of retail. Your thoughts and feedback help drive the conversation, and I’d love to hear your insights. Let’s learn, share ideas, and grow together. Questions to Challenge Your Thinking: 1. What do you think are the key factors behind Primark’s success without an e-commerce presence? 2. How does Primark continue to stay relevant and attract customers in a digital-first retail landscape? Let’s uncover the magic behind Primark’s rise to global success!

A great move for Primark and its customers. Whatever size retail business you are, Connected Retail is the way forward. Fully integrated to optimise, payments, stock management, loyalty, returns and customer journey. #omnichannel #retail #connectedretail #embeddedpayments

In 2022, Zara introduced a return fee of £1.95. A move that suggests that free returns will become super rare. I regularly get asked about the art of free returns by e-commerce store owners. ASOS' Premium membership of free returns being the model that's usually referenced. (If we look at ASOS in comparison to the rest of the market though, we probably shouldn't be looking at them!) They ask me whether they should bother. And my short answer is no, you absolutely shouldn't. Because as soon as you set the expectation of giving something away for free - it's going to be difficult to take that away from your customers. So, if you're debating whether or not you should do this dance with your customers, ask yourself this: How much are you going to uplift your conversion rate solely because people will have the security that they can return your product for free? Can you not focus more on providing a really detailed and helpful size guide? Or an accurate description of the fabric and washing instructions? Does the imagery actually look like the product, or have there been one too many retouches? The latter is just attention to detail, something that costs very little in comparison to a CPA gamble with free returns. So, my conclusion: if you're a new e-commerce brand, I would say offering free returns is not worth it. If Zara had to pull it back (assumingly because of costs), then we should take note. Save your budget and instead invest in making your product UNreturnable.

ASOS SAYS IT WILL TAKE "NECESSARY ACTIONS" AFTER 18% IN SALES The Guardian: Online fashion retailer says it is becoming ‘faster and more agile’, after pre-tax losses of £120m ASOS.com has said it will take “necessary actions” to transform its fortunes after the fast fashion retailer’s first-half losses widened and sales fell by nearly a fifth. The company reported an 18% drop in sales year on year for the first six months to 3 March. This contributed to an underlying pre-tax loss of £120m, widened from the £87.4m loss recorded during the same period a year earlier. Asos, which benefited as physical shops were shut during Covid lockdowns, has been hit by more challenging trading conditions post-pandemic as consumers shift away from buying goods exclusively online. It also faces stiff competition from rivals such as the Shein and retailers with a combination of stores and online retail, such as H&M and Zara. The continued losses come as the business attempts to put in place a turnaround plan, which has focused on reducing volumes of new stock. It said it had cut its intake of new stock by 30% compared with last year in a move to “facilitate the right sizing of stock”, while selling off a significant volume of old stock that had accumulated during the pandemic at a discount. Asos said the higher proportion of sales of old stock and the “sub-optimal newness” of what was on offer provided a less compelling proposition to customers, creating a drag on sales. The company told investors that this was “the medicine it needed to take” and it felt confident it had the “right level of newness to excite customers” in the next six months of trading. More than 60% of sales of products now excluded markdowns or promotions. The firm’s new strategy includes a model that fast-tracks new designs to retail them online within three weeks, called “Test and React”. The approach echoes rivals such as Shein, which push for increasingly quicker development of products from concept to garment, with the Chinese e-commerce company able to turn around some products in as little as 10 days. Jose Antonio Ramos Calamonte, the chief executive of Asos, said: “At the beginning of this year we explained that 2023-24 would be a year of continued transformation for Asos as we take the necessary actions to deliver a more profitable and cash-generative business.” He said the company was now becoming “faster and more agile” and was laying the foundation for sustainable profitable growth. Separately, Asos said it would be bringing in the former Sainsbury’s and Amazon executive Dave Murray as its new chief financial officer at the end of the month. https://lnkd.in/gRhSmgEU #investment #ar #ai #innovation #metaverse #fashion

ASOS PLC (LSE:ASC) and Boohoo Group PLC (AIM:BOO) are both facing downside on the back of ever-increasing competition in the UK’s online fashion sector, analysts have said. Coupled with a resurgence in high street shopping and ongoing cost of living pressures, each face tough outlooks, Shore Capital analysts said in a note on Friday. “Like the rest of the UK online fashion market, ASOS is likely suffering tough competition from players such as Shein, a robust M&S and Next family assortment as well as second-hand disruptors like Vinted,” analysts wrote. Alongside this, “the sector has been disrupted by the return of the high street post-pandemic,” analysts continued, with soaring inflation hitting younger people’s pockets in particular. More at #Proactive #ProactiveInvestors http://ow.ly/E0e4105m7aO