Primark goes to the United States five times

Primark, part of the popular budget clothing chain and British AB Foods, wants to expand the number of stores from 398 to 530 over the next five years. Most new stores will open in the United States. Store file should go from 13 to 60. It also targets relatively new markets such as Primark, Spain, Portugal, Italy and France.

The group opened its first store in 1969 in Dublin. It is active in 13 countries, including Belgium. This is one of the few great clothing chains that WebShop does not have, and it is a conscious strategy. It is only profitable at the cheap wholesale fashion store that specializes. The costs of a websiteshop and associated logistics are too high for the small edges of the chain. In addition, Primark counts customers buying multiple outfits at once when it comes to shopping. Online it is already very difficult.

Last year the investment bank UBS released a report – ‘No online, no problem’ – which examined Primark’s business model. Analysts compare profit margins and average purchases at Primark with other major retailers such as Zara, H&M and Asos. ‘Primark offers cannot be made online. As long as there is a demand for T-shirts worth 2 euros, people will have to go shopping for it, ”it sounded.

Primark may raise prices to make money online, but do so The unique selling point will disappear. The company will end up in the middle segment of the market, where it is rarely possible to differentiate with competition.

The fact that the company only sells physically makes it very sensitive to closing stores due to corona activities. This is also evident in the annual report released by AB Foods on Tuesday. In fiscal 2021 (ending in September), sales were 5 percent lower than the previous year. Due to the corona crisis, it lost revenue of 2 2 billion (34 2.34 billion). Primark expects an increase again next year.

Primark does not yet have plans for webshop. Invests in improving its website to show more of the clothing range. It also wants to inform customers about stocks in stores through the website. For the holidays, the company says it has enough supplies at home. The chain sees no need to raise prices due to increased costs and supply chain problems.