Principles and Practices of Marketing: Primark's Strategy Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Primark's marketing strategies, focusing on its transition from transactional to relationship marketing. It examines Primark's background as a leading UK clothing retailer, detailing its product range, pricing strategies, and adaptation to the digital revolution. The report explores the evolution of marketing principles, highlighting the shift towards customer-centric approaches. It analyzes Primark's marketing orientation, its use of digital tools, and its efforts to enhance customer experience. Furthermore, the report assesses the potential impact of Brexit on Primark's operations, considering both positive and negative implications. It concludes that Primark is well-positioned to navigate market challenges, leveraging its strong market position and adapting to changing consumer behaviors to maintain its success.

Principles and
Practices of
Marketing

COMAPANY’S BACKGROUND
The present research report revolves around a leading clothing retailer of United
Kingdom named as Primark. It provides its customers with wide range of products starting from
the kids clothing, men’s and women’s wear, fashionable and trendy items for the youngsters,
accessories, beauty products, home wear, footwear and confectionaries. The said company
provides its customers with low and average rate products which are easily affordable by even
the middle man. The present study is conducted to analyse the current marketing strategies of the
said company to cope up and survive in the competitive market (Boulton and et.al., 2013).
Digital revolution has brought in a lot of changes in the marketing and promotional activities of
many of the enterprise. Similarly, Primark has adapted itself with the globalization and
liberalization of industries, and changes its marketing strategy accordingly. Leaving the
traditional and transactional marketing, the company is now altering and modifying its
operations to meet the customers demand and requirement. Main emphasise is laid on the
consumers and the society and the marketing activities of Primark revolves around these people.
The company’s currently selling clothes all across UK at relatively low prices then its
competitors. This is carried by the means of making bulk purchase of raw material from the
suppliers are cheap rates and using economical and inexpensive fabrics in producing and
manufacturing the goods. Primark is not involved in any kind of promotional activities and saves
its funds which can be used in other imperative activities (Nowak and et.al., 2015).
The enterprise current strategy is regarding to adapt itself by using new and innovative
technologies and raising its brand image in the market. Moreover, the organization is able to
provide the customers with ravishing experience by creating online as well as offline stores
which provide easiness to its customers and transactions can be made easily. Furthermore, with
the establishment of transactional website, Primark is also aiming to enhance its retail outlets by
making the use of digital activities in its stores (Wasson, 2015). Main purpose of the said
enterprise is to maintain its current position in the market as the UK’s top most retailer firm by
deliberately increasing its sales activities and attaining a substantial height. In addition to the
above, the shift from transactional to relationship approach will enable the firm remain
competitive in the market and aids in cherishing the old customers for a longer duration. It also

aims to extend its global reach through online stores and websites by reaching to the consumers
of varied other nations and continents. All these activities will assist in amplifying the brand
awareness amongst the people which will thereby increase its company’s reputation in the
market. More, the people are aware about ones product and services more will they make
transactions and purchase the similar equipments which will further boost up the sales of
Primark.
Apart from this, the other objectives that will assist in achieving the major goals of the
company’s are providing the customers with an everlasting experience by providing them value
added goods and services. It aims to recruit well trained and developed personnel which can
handle the customers deliberately and with utmost care at the retail outlets (Armstrong and et.al.,
2014).

TABLE OF CONTENTS
COMAPANY’S BACKGROUND..................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................5
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is the founding principle of each and every company, which involves listening
to the end-users, the consumers, and not just to guess what they want. Marketing seems a simple
process whereby enterprises are concerned with selling and promotion of its goods and services.
Although, it is not limited t mere selling and buying of products but is an extensive concept
wherein the organization are involved in identifying the needs and requirements of the
consumers. The present research report is being conducted in context with the current marketing
strategies of Primark Limited, a clothing retailer of UK. The report covers several aspects of
pricing policies adapted by the said company, impact of leaving EU by the United Kingdom and
how the organization has shifted from transactional to relationship marketing (McClements,
2015).
TASK 1
In the old 20’s marketing was a two way process wherein the people are concerned with
only buying and selling of goods. This can be termed under the head transactional marketing and
also said as a traditional approach of marketing. With the passage of time and advent of
technology and innovation, marketing has also evolved around the years and it is significantly
contributing towards the growth of industry and expansion of business units (Newman and
Jennings, 2012). This can be clearly analyzed as almost all the activities of a company lays
emphases on customer satisfaction. In the present era, each and every organization aims to build
customer relationship and also retaining them for a longer duration which serves higher revenue
to the enterprise. The evolution of the relationship marketing took place with the need and
requirement to survive in the competitive market.
Relationship marketing is the process whereby the businesspersons are involved in
identifying the needs and preferences of the customers, rendering them with high quality
products and experience that last longer (Heinz, 2013). It has been first proposed by Berry in the
year 1983. The said approach has being the biggest and the most renowned change in the last 50

years which was then termed as Battle Cry of 1990’s. Relationship marketing usually revolves
around the following three enlisted points:
 Building strong relationship with customers and retaining them for future prospects.
 Identifying the demands and expectations of the customers and providing them with new
and fresh experience everytime.
 Lastly, recognizing and analyzing the customer’s experience within no time so as to serve
their interest (Singhapakdi and et.al., 2015).
Several researches reveal that maintaining and retaining the customers is much easier task as
compared to that of finding a new everytime. All these activities are carried on by the
organization to gain customer loyalty and maintain their trust so as to provide them with similar
goods and services according to their requirements. This in turn provides higher returns in terms
of profit to the company.
In context with the chosen organization, the company has incorporated itself to the
changing environment and needs of the society. It has significantly moved and still progressing
to move towards the relationship approach of marketing. For this purpose, the enterprise has
developed several marketing policies that assist in attaining its goals and objectives. Marketing
orientation is the process of identifying the needs and requirements of its target customers and
then developing a new product mix that best suits the desires of the people. Unlike the
transactional concept of marketing which focuses on establishing the stores for its existing
products, the modern method deals with modifying the products and services to meet the
requirements of society (Smith, 2014).
Likewise, the said organization has developed varied marketing orientation policies in
accordance to the shift from transactional to relationship concept. The first and foremost policies
deals with providing the customer’s with utmost satisfaction by delivering them with those goods
and services that are desired by them. This includes reviewing and analyzing the preferences of
its consumers (Sun, Garrett and Kim, 2016). Primark current marketing strategy also aligns to
this concept whereby it is providing them with low and average rates products which renders

them with best experience. In this way it able to meet its aims and strategies thereby fulfills the
desires of its customers.
In addition to the above policies, there are several other methods in which Primark can
build a strong market reputation. These comprises of incorporating new and fashionable trends
and developing the products and services accordingly. For instance, the concerned enterprise is
making the use of digital tools to provide the public with ravishing experience (Ennew and
Waite, 2013). For this purpose, it has developed and launched new websites, wherein all its latest
products are publicized. The customers can visit the website and make its purchases. Apart from
this, it has caused changes in its products by using quality fabrics in manufacturing the goods. It
also enables the consumers to make transactions by using their ATM and credit cards, sharing
the bank accounts details, using coupons and tokens to make purchase. All this facilitates the
service user to make the transaction with great ease and care. There are several other policies and
objectives laid to meet the customer requirement and moving from the transactional to the
relationship approach. Moreover, all these facilities provided by the Primark aids in creating a
word of mouth which will assist the firm to create strong brand image and company’s reputation
in the market (Kim, Lee and Lee, 2016).
TASK 2
EU commonly known as European Union is the body that formed within Europe
comprising of 28 countries to serve the needs and demands of business units. This is a method
that facilitates free flow of goods and services to the member countries of EU groups. 19 out of
the rest were considered as one country and there was no amount of rules and regulations that
restrict the trade practices. Recently, United Kingdom has decided to leave the EU group so as to
facilitate its own trade practices. This is termed as Brexit, as Britain exist the EU group which
means no British rule can prolong anymore in UK (Kireyev, Kumar and Ofek, 2014). This is
major decision which is undertaken by the citizens of the said nation and the impact of the same
on several companies can be acknowledged from now onwards which have enumerated
underneath:
There are positive as well as negative impacts and effect on the economy of the Britain.
The positive comprises of; as the said country is a strongest economy, possessing 500 million

which can be smartly used in increasing the international trade by introducing its own norms and
policies. It can bring in foreign currencies by imposing its own laws and regulations which best
serves the interest of the nation.
Likewise, there are major disadvantage of the same to the varied organizations of the
United Kingdom. This includes risk of several jobs that are provided by the EU authorities.
There is a high amount of risk involved in leaving the European Union to the organizations of
UK as it restricts its growth and limits its scope (Gilmore and et.al., 2013). Apart from it, EU
was the platform for the growth and prosperity o small scale enterprise of the UK which will
then suffer a huge amount of loss as all the investments will be taken back by the said
organization.
The impact of the EU of the functioning and operations of the said enterprise has been
discussed clearly hereunder. Several research and report depicts that Primark will not be affected
by the Brexit, with the average and reasonable amount of profit derived by the company in the
previous year. The owner of the company declares that United Kingdom leaving the bloc of 28
member group cannot cause any harm or damage to its company and there is no threat. The
reason behind this is, Primark is one of the second largest retailers of the UK, even bigger than
the Tesco Plc. It provides its customers with wide variety of products and services comprises of
the agriculture goods, sugar, grocery and other business ingredients (Weisstein, Kukar-Kinney
and Monroe, 2016). It has spread its operations to almost 48 nations and has a strong stock
market capitalistic share of 26.4 billion pounds. It is an extension of AB Food’s and provides
varied other products as discussed in the starting.
The owner of AB Food reveals there are two reasons limiting the impact of Brexit on the
said company. These includes, Firstly the company possess a natural prevaricate between the
sterling earnings and euro. Secondly, the company does not supply much of its products and
services to the eurozone. All its goods and services are quite local and sent within the United
Kingdom only. Therefore, Primark is not likely to be affected by the any alterations or changes
in the currency or introduction of tariff barriers (Shani and Chalasani, 2013).
The recent statement given by the Prime Minister of Britain states that the whole
economy is at risk along with the large enterprises. The United Kingdom leaving the EU union

will result in a huge damage to the entire nation. In regards to the said company, it has been
ascertained that there has been 482 million pounds of profit of six months as acknowledged on
the date 27 February. After the decision of leaving the EU group, the union revenue has fallen
down by 2% from that of 6.12 billion pound. It has also been ascertained that the performance of
the Primark is being increasing after the Brexit decision undertaken by the nation. Moreover, the
company can even prosper in future by expanding its clothing business in the United States
which will serve the company almost more than half amount of revenue to that of the EU (Peck
and et.al., 2013). Primark has even experienced a decrease in its overall debt by 421 billion and
the dividend to shareholder has risen to 10.3% from 3 %. In this way the company can safeguard
its interest and operations and can also derive huge benefit from the Britain exist referendum.
Moreover, it has got a wide scope in pursuing its business activities internationally and thereby
raising the company’s reputation and building a strong brand image in the minds of target
consumers.
TASK 3
As discussed earlier Primark is the main supplier of the cloths and other ancillary
products to the people of United Kingdom. It produces wide range of goods and purchases the
raw material in bulk quantity. This aids in saving the price of manufacturing. The said company
does not stick towards a particular brand; it uses cheap fabrics to produce average and reasonable
clothes. Pricing is an important component in developing a marketing mix for the products and
services of any company. While devising the pricing strategy all the relevant factors that are
likely to affect the profitability of the company needs to be kept in mind. The said company uses
the cost leadership method to price its products (Peppers and Rogers, 2012).
Cost Leadership can be defined as a process wherein the firm provides the customers
with similar products to that of its rivalries but at a lower price than the other. Another tactic
used in cost leadership is that the company sell the similar product to the consumers but these
goods and services are relatively more beneficial than those provided by the competitors.
Likewise, Primark also uses the similar process in pricing its items (Thompson, 2011). It
provides the people with identical items to that of its rivalries but at relatively lower rates. This
can be easily done by reducing the manufacturing and operating cost of the firm.

Implementing cost leadership in a firm is not an easy task, as it requires complete
analysis, deep research and planning by the marketing as well as the finance managers of the
firm. The actual cost needs to be measured and evaluated to that of the planned budged or
estimated and then alternative plans are to be prepared to minimise the cost so as to ascertain
more of profit. In addition to the above, the said organization must have a full and fledge control
over the value chain. This means that, Primark shall be able to manage the supply chain
successfully thereby reducing the cost of production, direct and indirect cost, manage supplier’s
power (Strategic Management: Formulation and Implementatio,. 2014). All these will assist the
enterprise in gaining cost leadership in the industry and will be successful in catering the
customers from its competitors. Indeed, the low fabrics and cheap material, the selected
organization must be able to produce and supply quality items to its customers.
There are certain limitations of the current pricing strategy adopted by the Primark
Limited. As the said company is planning to expand its business in the United States by opening
its unit or merging it with another company, it has to face stiff competition in the particular
market. This is so because the currency of the said nation is stronger and secondly there are
several similar industries already operating its business (Boulton and et.al., 2013). The products
and services provided by the Primark is nowhere in comparison to another companies. These
enterprises are performing extremely well and have a strong brand image along with the high
reputation of the company. In such situations, it becomes difficult for the said company to sell
and promote its product in the market, as customer’s perceptions already set for the particular
products and services. Another limitation lies herein is that the company needs to modify its
existing business models which includes making alterations in the pricing and use of cheap raw
materials as its operating cost is increasing day-by-day which leads to accumulation of bad debts
for the company.
Apart from the above enlisted issues, there are several other limitations regarding its
pricing strategies. This includes the going online and corporate responsibility which shall be the
major concern for the company (Nowak and et.al., 2015). Every organization works and
performs for its society wherein it has to consider several factors before deciding the price of its
product. It includes, providing them with high quality products keeping in mind the ethical
factors which the concerned organization is unable to perform. In addition to this, it can be

ascertained that the company’s operating margins are under pressure which is likely to surge the
cotton rates soaring the freight charges.
From the above discussion it can be concluded that the company current pricing is doing
really well but it is likely to affect the operations of the company in near future due to the
increasing emphasises on quality products and customer satisfaction approach (Wasson, 2015).
CONCLUSION
The summation of the above report can be made by saying that the modern marketing is a
far extensive process of than the transactional approach. All the activities of the Primark and the
other organization revolve around the customer satisfaction and meeting their needs and
demands. From the present marketing strategies of the concerned enterprise it can be concluded
that it is adapting itself with the changing environment and technology to cope up and survive in
the competitive market. Furthermore, reviewing and evaluating the impact of leaving EU on the
Britain and the UK, it can be analysed that there is less harm or risk to the Primark Company
(Armstrong and et.al., 2014).

REFERENCES
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