Customer Experience - Primark

This report discusses the customer experience of Primark, an Irish fast fashion retailer. It explores the brand's position in the market, key customers by demographics, and their attitudes towards the brand. The report also provides recommendations to improve customer experience.

COSTUMER EXPERIENCE
– Primark

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
What the brand is and where it sits in its market (339)...............................................................3
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................5
Key customers by frequency of use and by key demographics...................................................5
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................5
Relevant attitude of the customers to define their attitude towards brand..................................5
Task 4...............................................................................................................................................6
Statement that can be used to identify what brand says about customer service........................6
Task 5...............................................................................................................................................7
An audit of all the manifestation of customers of the brand........................................................7
Assessment against models and theories.........................................................................................9
Recommendations to improve customer experience.....................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Customers experience can be defined as the impression that customers have of the brand
throughout all aspects of buyer’s journey. Customer experience is important for sustaining
growth of the business, positive customer experience promote loyalty and help organisation in
retaining customers and also contribute in brand advocacy. This report will discuss about
customers and their experiences and will contextualise Primark. Primark is an Irish fast fashion
retailer founded in 1969 by Arthur Ryan and is headquartered at Dublin, Ireland. This report will
discuss about brand and its customers. This will be followed by attitude that customers have
towards the brand and what brand believes in regarding customer service. This means identifying
perception of brand for customer service and what action brand undertakes to maintain customer
service.
Task 1
Brand and position of brand in Market
Primark is a subsidiary of Associate British Foods and company operates in retail
industry offering clothing, cosmetics and housewares. Primark has its operations in Europe and
United States. The countries where Primark operates are Austria, Belgium, Poland, France,
Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, United Kingdom and United
States. Primark operates at 373 locations in these countries. Concerned with the products
Primark offers diverse range of products in which products are baby and children’s clothing,
menswear and womenswear. Other than clothing homeware, accessories, footwear, beauty
products and confectionary products are also included in offerings of Primark. This means that
Primark attracts customers from wide range of markets (Arriaga, Domingo and Silvente, 2017).
In relation with countries where Primark operates it has highest 191 locations in UK, other than
this 48 locations in Spain, 36 locations in Ireland, 32 locations in Germany and 20 location in
Netherlands (Jiménez Jauregui, 2019). These are 5 countries having most number of Primark
locations. Primark has been considered as a brand that is based fast fashion, this means that
brand offers fast fashion that is affordable for everyone. This allows customers to get latest
fashion and look at affordable low prices. This means that clothes and fashion of Primark is fast

as well as cheap in price. In order to understand the position and identify where company sits in
its market BCG matrix can be applied.
BCG matrix for Primark
Relative Market Share
Market Growth Rate Question Mark
Primark
Stars
Dogs Cash Cows
Above matrix based on Primark involves that relative market growth of Primark is high but
market share for Primark is relatively low. Growth rate is in terms of sales and profit and other
than this Primark is also expanding its stores and locations. This means that market growth rate
is high but relative market share of Primark is low. This situation puts Primark on question mark.
Below is one of the diagram that reflect growth of Primark

Figure 1 Growth of Primark
From: Primark: share of clothing market in the United Kingdom (UK) 2007-2018

Figure 2 Market Share of Primark
From: Leading 10 UK retailers in 2018, based on worldwide retail sales
This figure outlines position and market share of Primark in comparison with other organisations
in retail industry.
The above analysis and Primark and its market share suggests that it is a situation where
it is growing but its growth is at moderate level but its market share is very low relative to other
retail organisations (Duff, 2017). This situation can be justified that even though Primark is
performing good and is growing but its operations are comparatively lowers than other
organisations in retail industry this means that its situation is justified.
Task 2
Key customers by frequency of use and by key demographics
There are different segments of customers that have been targeted by Primark because it
has offerings for them. This means for its different products it targets different segments of

customers, on the basis of age it target all age groups because it has offering for all of them
including babies to men and women of all ages. However but because Primark and its products
focuses on fashion, these are more likely to attract young people as they are more inclined
towards latest fashion and trends compared to other people. Concerned with this its low prices
and cutting edge fashion collection, Primark maintained to become favourite brand of consumers
under the age of 35. Other than this, products of Primark also attract and focus on kids as target
segment. It is visible on the website of Primark as they are targeting and focusing on the kids
segments in their customers. Customers when are analysed on the basis of geography its
customers are mainly from Europe and in Europe specifically they are from UK. This is because
Primark has 191 stores and locations in UK highest in terms of country (Xydia, 2019). Other
than this it also maintained to create different image in its customers based on the geographical
area. This means that in UK it is seen as discounter whereas in Spain it is seen as major chain
store. In Portugal it is seen as expert in fashion. This means that for those interested in fashion
Primark is their favourite and Primark also mainly focused on European market.
Analysis of different channels and customer reviews outlined that in terms of age less than 35
years are more likely to buy Primark products. In terms of gender females are more likely to buy
products of Primark. Concerned with frequency of buying customers are likely to buy double
from Primark than they do buy from other brands.
This means that key customers of Primark are from Europe and in which customers
involved are of age less than 35 and attracted towards changing fashion. This also attracts them
looking for fast and latest fashion at low price.
Task 3
Relevant attitude of the customers to define their attitude towards brand
Consumer attitude involves collective beliefs about feelings, behaviour and intention
towards the brand. Attitude of customers is what they think about brand and how do they
perceive the brand. There are several elements that collectively affect the attitude of customers
towards the brand (Molitor, 2019). This mainly gets affected by people and products, in which
attitude of customers gets affected by how they are treated by the people of organisation, in

which products involves products of the company what they are selling. In relation with product
quality and price are two important elements. In relation with Primark its price is low and in
terms of quality, it provides value in terms of fast fashion and latest trends.
Primark is one of the brand that is selling goods at low price and other than this Primark is also
one of the brand that is selling fast fashion. This is the brand that is most suitable for consumers
under age of 35. In relation with consumer attitude one of the article, “For many shoppers,
Primark has an irresistible offer: trendy clothes at astonishing low prices. The result is new and
even faster kind of fashion, which encourages consumers to buy heaps of items, discards them
after a few wears and then come back for another batch of new outfits (Faster, cheaper fashion,
2020).”
This means that Primark offers trendy clothes at low prices this enables customers to get the
clothes faster and then again buy the faster (Duff, 2017). This shows a positive attitude of
customers towards the brand. This is because they manage to get the clothes of latest trends. This
way Primark has managed to become favourite of consumers less than 35 years. However there
are more reasons than low prices of the products.
Main customers of the company are consumers under 35 and these consumers are more
inclined towards fashion and they are willing to get latest fashion at low price. This perception of
customers in general is beneficial and become positive for Primark and enables them to get and
maintain loyal customer base.
Task 4
Statement that can be used to identify what brand says about customer service
This heading involves considering statements of the brand through it can be identified
how brand perceive customer service. “Adored by fashion fans and value seekers alike Primark
is widely established as the destination store for keeping up with the latest looks without
breaking the bank.” This means that major focus of the brand is on providing products that are
adored by fashion fans means those who are interested in latest fashion and trends (Ortega and
Okechukwu, 2017). This also states and involves that they are also providing value to their
customers and are established as destination store through which customers can keep up with the

latest trends and looks and that too without breaking banks referring to low price of the products.
This means that in their customer service brand Primark is mainly concerned with two elements
that are latest trends and fashion clothing along with low price of the products. This also involves
one important element that it is for fashion fans and value seekers. This means mainly target
those looking for fashionable products rather than those looking for high quality and branded
clothes that other retailers are providing. Primark in its customer service help its customers with
stores and their location, refund and exchanges, Gift Cards and other queries. Other than this
Primark also says and commit to contact with those seeking any kind of help regarding any of
the above mention query within two working days. This appeal that they are serious about
customer complaints and do not ignore complaints and queries of customers. This contributes in
maintaining customer loyalty and ultimately become helpful in sustaining the success of
organisation and brand. This commitment of Primark also helps in avoiding any kind of irritation
and displeasure that customers can have because of non-cooperation of brand with they have
purchased their products.
But in relation with customer service of Primark when gone through some of user reviews they
are not very satisfactory and this is why overall rating of the Brand is at moderate level.
Customers are having different issues causing them to given lower rating to the brand. Some of
the issues are related with issues such as size of the clothes and some even included treatment
they received at Primark. However by working on these complaints and reviews Primark can
enhance overall rating and customer service.
Task 5
An audit of all the manifestation of customers of the brand
A brand manifests to its customers at several touchpoints and in present times of social
media these touchpoints has increased. Touchpoints are those place and points customers come
in contact with brand. This involves store where customers and brand contact with each other.
Other than this social media, website and customer service centres are some other places and
touchpoints that brand and customer come in contact (Nagaraj, 2020). Primark also use this
touchpoints and some of the social media websites they are active on are Twitter, Instagram,
Google Plus, Pinterest and Facebook. Analysis of these touchpoints outlines that Primark has

effectively managed to manifests its promise on different touchpoints. In this Primark actively
communicate with its customers in different ways. This communication directly with customers
helps it in getting loyal customers and adds value in customer satisfaction. The communication
varies in its nature and this involve helping customers with their queries and also replying to
customers making them being considered by the brand they use. Primark promise to provide
fashionable and latest products and it communicate and present this on different social media
handles. This help in informing customers so that they can get what they are interested in and
looking for in latest trends.
Concerned with customer experience one of the most suitable model is The Six Pillars, this
model helps organisation in understanding how well their customer experience are being
delivered across different channels (The Six Pillars, 2020). There are six pillars for delivering
outstanding customer experience and these are as follows-
Figure 3 The Six Pillars
From: The Six Pillars. 2020.
Integrity- This is concerned with a behaviour that demonstrate trustworthiness. In relation with
Primark also show trust and also fulfil their promise to come with new trends and latest fashion.
This is visible in their social media handles.
Personalisation- Using individualised attention to drive emotional connection. Concerned with
analysis of social media of Primark outlines that they are actively engaged with their customers
and their comments and provide individualised attention to what they say.

Expectation- This is concerned with managing, meeting and exceeding customer expectation. In
relation with this performance and delivery of experience can be considered at a level moderate.
This means that many of the customers gets their expectation fulfilled but not every customer is
able to fulfil their expectation.
Resolution- In relation with this Primark can be expected to work on but there are several
instances in which customers are known to have poor experience, however they are making
efforts to improve them.
Time & Efforts- This pillar in relation with Primark can be considered to have considered
poorly. This is because in a time most of the people buying online Primark does not have such
services. This increases efforts of customers when they are willing to buy from Primark.
Empathy- This is concerned with understanding customers and Primark in this pillar can be
considered that Primark has undertaken several efforts for this (Quijada, Arriaga and Domingo,
2020). This involves seriously understanding points of view that customer have regarding brand
and considering it. This is visible in their social media interactions.
Assessment against models and theories
Tasks 1 to 5 involved different aspects and their discussions regarding Primark and their
customer service and customer experiences. Discussion in these tasks provided a knowledge
regarding customer experience of Primark. Completion of task 1 that was regarding identifying
what is the brand and where it sits in the market. Primark is a retail brand specifically in clothing
and is working to create clothing of latest trends. Other than this it sits at a moderate level in
market because Primark even with limited locations and without online services have managed
to earn good profits and also maintained to increase the sale and growth of product. This is
mainly because with its latest trends and low prices it attracted young people interested in latest
trends and looking for products that are cheap so that they can buy new products frequently.
Later regarding attitude of the customers, it is for fashion fans and those looking for latest trends
and this is why customers has positive attitude towards Primark. In Europe market Primark has
established it with different perception and with an image significant associated with fashion and
discounter.

This is also visible through the statement of brand, this means that Primark also communicates
that they are willing to buy products that are fashionable and buyers can have them at low price.
This means that Primark has been correctly perceived as what it want customers to perceive as.
However in relation with delivering customer experience it can be said that brand managed to
provide latest fashion and trends yet they are complaining on quality, size and one more aspect is
that it is not available online. However they are making significant efforts to improve customer
experience and are continuously in contact with customers.
Recommendations to improve customer experience
On the basis of the above discussion, it can be said that Primark effectively managed to
keep its promise of new and trendy clothes, but this is not only element of customer experience.
Some of recommendations for Primark are-
 Working on ensuring that quality is good. It cannot be high and best yet customers should
receive value in exchange of their price.
 Working on customer experience while they are at store, this means that during analysis it
was identified that many of the customers are not happy with experience that they have at
Primark store (Primark, 2020). This is why they should work in this experience.
 Primark should work on selling online, this is because its target market involves customers
under age of 35. They are in present times are getting more likely to buy from online
channels. This is why working on online selling will add value in overall customer
experience of Primark.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Arriaga, J.L.D.O., Domingo, D.A. and Silvente, V.B., 2017. Facebook in the low-cost fashion
sector: the case of Primark. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An
International Journal.
Duff, K., 2017. An investigation into how the Primark brand use social media to influence the
buying behaviour of Irish female customers (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin, National
College of Ireland).
Jiménez Jauregui, I., 2019. Primark: A successful experience in the crisis.
Molitor, M., 2019. The Effect of Corporate Scandals on Customer Loyalty-A Case Study on
Primark (Bachelor's thesis, University of Twente).
Nagaraj, S., 2020. Customer Engagement by Fashion Brands: An Effective Marketing Strategy.
In Circular Economy and Re-Commerce in the Fashion Industry (pp. 161-175). IGI
Global.
Ortega, A.M.G. and Okechukwu, C.U.U., 2017. Strategic means to launch business-Primark in
Denmark.
Quijada, M.D.R.B., Arriaga, J.L.D.O. and Domingo, D.A., 2020. Insights into user engagement
on social media. Findings from two fashion retailers. Electronic Markets. pp.1-13.
Xydia, N., 2019. Sustainably-conscious consumers’ perceptions, attitudes and behaviours
towards the fast fashion industry: A Case of Primark.
Online
Share of clothing market held by Primark in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2007 to 2018. 2020.
[Online]. Available Through: < https://www.statista.com/statistics/787728/primark-
clothing-market-share-united-kingdom-uk/>.
Leading 10 UK retailers in 2018, based on worldwide retail sales. 2020. [Online]. Available
Through: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/438358/leading-10-retailers-united-
kingdom-uk-based-on-sales/>.
Faster, cheaper fashion. 2020. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.economist.com/business/2015/09/05/faster-cheaper-fashion>.
The Six Pillars. 2020. [Online]. Available Through: <https://www.nunwood.com/excellence-
centre/the-six-pillars/>.