Relevant Changes in UK Fashion Retail: A Case Study of Primark

This report discusses the relevant changes in the UK fashion retail industry with a case study of Primark. It includes the introduction to retail, introduction to the company, relevant changes in the UK fashion retail, relevant changes in the micro-environment, strategies which could be used, and recommendations. The subject is retail theory and practice, and the document type is a report. The assignment type is not mentioned.

Running Head: RETAIL THEORY AND PRACTICE
Retail Practice Theory
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction to Retail.......................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Introduction to the Company...................................................................................................2
Relevant change in the UK fashion retail................................................................................3
Relevant change in the micro-environment.............................................................................7
Strategies which could be used................................................................................................9
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
Reference.......................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction to Retail
Retailing can be referred to as a convincing, convenient and comfortable method of
selling the products or services. The retailing is as old as the business, commerce and trade.
Nowadays, it has taken many shapes and forms. It has happened because the new management
techniques, the techniques of marketing and at the same time the consumer psychology is
changing up to greater extent (Thompson and McLarney 2017). Retailing can also be taken as a
part of the e-commerce where both the selling and buying occur along with the customer service.
The retail marketing is going through huge change and restructuring. It is because of the increase
in the gross domestic product, per capita income and the heightened power of purchasing
(Rashid and Barnes 2017). In the fashion industry, the fashion retailing encompasses the process
of manufacturing the clothes and selling them to the customers. The present report will identify
the key relevant changes in the UK fashion clothing market. It will also discuss and suggest
strategies and tactics which could be used by the Primark fashion retailer in order to respond to
the major changes happening in the fashion market.
Discussion
Introduction to the Company
Primark is an Irish fast fashion retailer which is headquartered in Dublin It is the
subsidiary of ABF. The first store of the company was founded in the year 1969 by Arthur Ryan
on the behalf of the Weston family. Primark is knowns as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland.
The fashion retailer offers an extensive range of products such as the clothing of the newborn

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child, the women’s wear, accessories, home ware, footwear, beauty products and even
confectionery. In the year 2014, the company has welcomed the Sephora products. The
company has also started selling the vegan products since January 2018. It also sells the clothes
at average price. Primark contributes to the fast fashion trends like Zara and H & M. It has been
found that most of the shoppers in the UK, prefer Primark for the amazing collection of clothes
at amazing prices. It deals in the fast fashion industry and forces the consumers to buy more
products. The consumers get driven by the exclusive collection and come back again and again
for trying out the new ones. The company now owns almost 350 stores. The largest store among
the others is located in Market Street, Manchester, England. It has occupied almost 155,000 sq ft
space. It mainly deals in the countries such as Belgium, Austria, Italy, Germany, Spain, United
States, Portugal, Ireland and many others. The CEO of the company is Paul Marchant and John
Lyttle is the COO of the company. There are almost 70,000 employees working in the company
and the revenue of the company is $ 5.949 billion as per the reports of 2017.
Relevant change in the UK fashion retail
The year 2016 was a year of major change in the UK fashion retail industry. The major
change was the Brexit. It disturbed the fashion industry up to greater extent. However, after
passing of the year, the fashion industry of the UK is trying to conduct a good comeback.
Through the past years, the fashion industry has been one of the fastest growing industry with 5.5
% growth rate. The fashion industry of UK ranked as the 5th largest economy in the whole world.
Moreover, the consumer taste has also changed the world of fashion (Pedersen and Netter 2015).
The application of the technology is playing a major role in leaving influence on the taste of the
consumers. It is because of the luxury brands in the fast fashion industry. The PESTEL analysis
would be useful for analyzing the changes in the UK retail fashion industry.

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the Political Factors
The political factors can be considered to be the greatest source of the uncertainty in the
fashion industry. Through the year 2016 and 2017, there are few geopolitical events along with
Brexit which have affected the fashion industry. The political factors have also caused volatility
in the market. The political events such as the elections, the consumer confidence, tensions in the
west have also left impact on the fashion retail industry. There are few of the political issues
which have stayed unresolved and expected to keep causing even in 2017.
the Economic Factors
The economic factors also have deeper impact on the fashion retail industry. It is a bigger
part of the world economy and in the UK it is the biggest source of revenues. The economic
fluctuations in the UK has affected the fashion industry. The biggest fluctuation has happened to
the Brexit. The exit from the EU has resulted in imposing tax for the retailers of UK. The
recession has led it towards downward sales. The buying power of the consumer have increased
and that is a good news or the fashion industry as it is one of the greatest employer in the market.
The higher levels of competition in the industry has affected the individual brands along with the
sales and profits.
The Social Factors
The role of the socio-economic factors is equally important in the fashion industry. In the
past ten years, the industry has seen major changes especially in the UK. As of now, the
millennial generation is the primary target of the fashion industry. There are few changes in the
socio-cultural level which has affected the decision of shopping among people. The
demographic segmentation has also undergone severe changes. The preferences of different

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demographic groups have changed. The high class fashion has become affordable for almost all
class of people and is no more a privilege of the aristocrat people. The consumers now rely more
on the information they receive and their fashion decisions are also based on that. They rely
more on the feedbacks and les on the marketing and advertising. Under this landscape the
fashion retail industry has become challenging.
The Technological Factor
Technology has been considered to one of the biggest factor that affect the growth of the
fashion retail industry. In the 21st century, the growth of the fashion industry is closely related
with the technological developments happening in the era. The rapid growth of the internet, the
globalization, IT and other devices have affected the sales of the fashion retail industry. The
customers have now become well aware and only make decisions after researching everything
properly. They also get driven by the friends’ or relative’s recommendations. The new
generation undoubtedly prefer to shop online and like the personalized experiences regarding
customer choice and shopping. Before the Brexit, the UK expanded overseas successfully being
benefitted by the use of modern technologies.

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Source - (Pedersen and Netter 2015)
The environmental factor
In the fashion retail industry and in other industries, the environment and sustainability
has been an important concern. The fashion brands are expected to be aware of the carbon
footprints they leave along with their marketing strategies that calls them environment friendly
brands. The fashion brands in the UK , are putting their effort for using more raw materials
which are environment friendly. the packaging and the operations (Pedersen and Netter 2015).
The fashion industry has prioritized the application of sustainable fashion during product
designing and product manufacturing.The market demand is inclined towards the sustainability

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and environment friendliness of the products. It is also contributory of shaping the buyer’s
decisions. Hence, the activities of the fashion retail industry are now tailored in a way to adhere
to the regulations and concerns related to environmental sustainability.
The Legal Factors
There is abundance of the legal challenges in the fashion industry of the UK. The
compliance and ethics are the basics of the businesses. The operators of the fashion industry are
bound to comply with the environmental and labor laws. There are other laws too such as the
international trade law which also requires compliance especially after the Brexit.
Relevant change in the micro-environment
The micro –environment of the fashion retail industry of the UK can be analyzed
through the case of Primark. The micro –environment can be examined by the Porter’s Five
Forces analysis. This analytical model was formulated by Michael E. Porter in the year 1979.
This is a model which is widely used by the business organizations and the investors for
demonstrating the internal environment of a particular company. It is crucial for the decision
making. The porters’ five force comprises of the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of
the suppliers, the bargaining power of the customers, the threat of new substitutes and the
competitors in the industry. All of these factors will help to evaluate the performance of the
Primark in the context of UK.
The Threat of Substitutes
The Primark fashion retail has become able to keep the threat of substitutes at the
minimum level. It can be partly attributed to the branding of the company. However, there ae
some of the substitutes available in the market such as Zara, Tesco, Manchester United, ASDA,

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Top Shop and others. Primark provides the cost-friendliness to its customers and keeps the price
of the products affordable. A variety of discounts are also provided to the customers. Hence, the
threat of substitutes has been reduced in this manner. The customers of Primark face higher
switching costs. The Tesco and Sainsbury still pose considerable threat to the company because
they put more emphasis on the value more than price.
The competition in the market
It has been found that there are many fashion retailers in the UK fashion industry.
Therefore, Primark operates under a high competition landscape. For the company a major
threat might come from the Next & Gap known for exploiting the clothing demand of the youth.
Moreover, the foreign retailers have established their business thorough the past years and have
intensified the competition in the industry (Papahristou and Bilalis 2017).The other well –known
fashion retailers like Zara, Top Man, ASDA have dominated the fashion industry of the country.
These retailers not only provide the quality clothes but they also provide it in lower costs.
The threat of New Entrants
Primark cannot control the entry of the new market players. The lenient policies of the
UK have permitted free entry and exit. But after the Brexit, it has become difficult up to greater
extent.
Bargaining power of the suppliers
Primark enjoys strong supplier base both foreign and domestic. Hence, the company is
able to bargain the price of the raw materials and reduce the bargaining power of the suppliers.
Recently, Primark is emphasizing on the local suppliers for lower costs of the raw materials

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Bargaining power of the Buyers
The Primark fashion retailer enjoys a strong customer base. Since, there are many strong
players in the market, the bargaining power of the buyers is high. The buyers visit all the shops
and then shape their buying decisions.
Source- (Kent et al. 2016).
Strategies which could be used
It is apparent in the above discussion that the biggest fluctuation has happened to the
Brexit. The exit from the EU has resulted in imposing tax for the retailers of UK. The recession
has led it towards downward sales (Kent et al. 2016). In this context the only strategy which
could have helped the UK Fashion retailer is the ability to adopt the change. Staying at the top of
the local market would have been helpful up to greater extent. The implementation of tax would
have been fine if they could generate higher revenues from dealing with foreign countries.

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The Fashion retail companies should have prepared themselves for the major change
occurred. It is the key to survive in the constantly changing business landscape. In order to
increase the adaptability, the collaboration of the organizations, business, people are highly
required (Hyseni, Brown and Gannon 2015). The adoption of change is highly important for
staying updated with the organization’s concerns and at the same time gain profits under
conflicting environment. The employees should have been made aware completely regarding the
change
In order to address the major changes in the environmental factors, which is an important
concern. The fashion brands are expected to be aware of the carbon footprints they leave along
with their marketing strategies that calls them environment friendly brands. In order to keep in
terms with the sustainability of the environment, the dealers in the UK fashion industry should
have adhered to the environmental regulations of the government (Fernie and Sparks 2018). It
should have updated its supply chain with the latest technologies having exploited the least
amount of resources and leaving less carbon footprint. The use of raw materials, the equipment
should have been aligned with the environmental sustainability of the organization.
While dealing with the competition in the market which is intense and highly
competitive, the fashion retailers in the UK should have optimized their product quality and
gained the competitive advantage as much as possible. The foreign retailers have established
their business thorough the past years and have intensified the competition in the industry
(Cassidy and Han 2017). These retailers not only provide the quality clothes but they also
provide it in lower costs. The fashion retailers in the US should have focused more on the variety
and exclusiveness of the clothes they are providing to the people. They should concentrate on the
market segmentation and tailor their offerings according to that.

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Since there are strong players in the fashion retail industry of the UK, the competition is
undoubtedly high. The fashion retailer industry has evidenced huge change or evolution in the
competitive world. The competition in the industry could have been utilized by grabbing the
customer attention. The customers could have been driven by the exceptional and prompt
customer service.
Recommendation
 The Primark fashion retailer is recommended to apply the change management at every
level of the organization.
 It must begin customer tailored approach towards their business and stay preferable even
in adverse market conditions.
 The adherence to the sustainability of their supply chain can push them one step ahead
always in the long run.
 They can align their optimized customer service with the standard of the product for
better outcomes.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that the UK fashion industry
has undergone huge change. The change in the industry has shaped the environment for the
businesses and both of its micro and macro context. The present report has identified the key
relevant changes in the UK fashion clothing market. It has also discussed and suggested
strategies and tactics which could be used by the Primark fashion retailer in order to respond to
the major changes happening in the fashion market.

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