3. “Look Good, Pay Less”
“Amazing Fashion, Amazing Prices”
Penneys branded as Primark in GB as the name Penneys could not travel to
Britain as the American retailer JC Penney had the right to use the name in the
region, is a Dublin based fashion retailer owned by ABF (Associated British
Foods) Primark offers a diverse range of products, stocking everything from
baby and kids to women’s, men’s, homeware, accessories, beauty products and
confectionery.
Primark is now run by Paul Marchant but for the fast-fashion chain It all began
in 1969 when Arthur Ryan, who was poached by Garry Weston from Dunnes
Stores, joined forces with finance director Paddy Prior to open the first store in
Mary Street, the success in Ireland led to expansion to the UK, and the company
opened a large store in Belfast in 1971 and one in Derby, England, in 1973 and
now, the company sells more clothes than any other retailer in Britain.
Primark expanded rapidly in the UK in the mid-2000s. In 2005, they bought the
Littlewoods retail stores, retaining 40 of the 119 stores and it was a major
turnaround. Meanwhile, close attention was paid to catwalk trends that Primark
could make it chic as well as cheap for its customers. Today Primark operates
in over 300 stores in eleven countries across Europe like Netherlands, Portugal,
Germany, Belgium, Austria and France. Sales rose by 150% between 2009 and
2014, making Primark a new force in the global rag trade.
The company has also expanded to America with stores in Boston, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and will soon open a brand-new store in New York.
Primark opened its current international headquarters back in 2015 in a
redeveloped Dublin building, Arthur Ryan House, formerly Chapel House.
4. Primark is a very buying led business, so you have to know a lot about the merchandising - As the business continues to grow and grow, there is a lot more
responsibility within the buying teams One of the responsibilities being attending trade fairs in places like Hong Kong and Bangladesh to meet, connect and
negotiate with manufacturers. Around 700,000 people work in the Primark supply chain, meaning that there are numerous factories in the developing world
producing clothing items season after season.
Primark’s buying team works hand in hand with their ethical trade team, they receive regular updates and detailed reports of all suppliers and factories
producing for their department. The report includes: ethical performance, recent audit results, and any outstanding non-compliance, along with other key
sourcing data and that allows buyers to make informed sourcing decisions.
The interface between Buyer & Exporter is the Merchandiser, responsible from order analysis to shipment. Merchandising is not only able to adjust to
market variations rapidly but is capable of actually anticipating and helping to create market changes. The Merchandiser is the one who analyzes and decides
on “How Much, How Many, How Often, How long & Where”.
Planning product ranges and stock with buyers are parts of a Merchandisers role, as well as:
• Planning Budgets
• Forecasting Sales and profit margins, presenting forecasts to
managers
• Visiting manufacturers with retail buyers to learn about
production cycles
• Quality Control
• Guide visual merchandisers on store layouts to promote key
lines & special offers
• Competitor’s analysis
• Setting prices and sales targets for stores
• Negotiating prices and orders with suppliers
• Negotiate delivery times & track stock deliveries
• Training and supervising staff
5. • Market research, Trend forecasting, and Design: I believe that first a buyer has to work with the design and research team to select and build the
perfect range of clothes to the Department they are going to source for.
• Technical Pack: Once the clothing items are identified and the product has been sourced the communication with manufactures starts, an informative
sheet is created with all the necessary components needed to construct the products. Typically, the sheet will include measurements, materials,
colors, labels, tags, etc. Any crucial aspect of the designs needs to be described.
• Suppliers and Sourcing: The technical pack is then delivered to the sampling rooms of the supplier with Primark’s specifications briefs. Primark
has their basic garments sourced and produced in Asia while “fast fashion” items are manufactured in Turkey or East Europe.
• Product Sampling and Range Preparation: After the sample is approved, the range starts to be produced with a lead time of about 45 - 60 days
for Asian Manufactures, while “fast fashion” items have a lead time of 1- 8 weeks which allows Primark to respond quickly to demand for popular
items.
• Delivery: For Primark, there is an extensive amount of work and a multistep process when it comes to delivery there is a very high volume of
garments arriving every week mostly by sea, only key pieces or pieces that are late arrives by air with a lead time of 12 days.
• Product placement: Consumer behavior research, planograms and promotion, there is a definite science to placing products in retail stores, it all
starts with how the general consumer thinks and acts when he or she enters a store. It’s no different for Primark, bigger stores are located in prime
locations and carry a wider range of items combined with fresh and modern shopping environment and a well thought out layout usually decided by
the Merchandiser in a collaboration with the buyer and arranged by the Visual Merchandiser.
6.
7.
8. September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017
• 1h
Autumn Begins – Welcome Autumn
Promotions and Discounts
• 6h
- Back to School
• Promotions and Discounts on uniforms
& School Supply
• 7th
- NYFW
• 15th -
19th
London Fashion Week s/s
• 26th
Paris Fashion Week s/s
• 20th
- 27th
Mans Fashion Week s/s
• Trends Research, fabric, prints and
material selection. Attending to trade
fairs.
• 24h
– Halloween Merchandise
arrives, POS placed around the
store
• 31h
– Halloween Promotions &
Halloween Discounts
• A/W ’18 Range Design
• Sourcing
• 12h
Remembrance Sunday-
Promotions in Store and
Online (social media discount
codes)
• 20th
Christmas Collection
arrives in store
• 24th
- Black Friday
• 26th
Pre-Fall Collection (New
York)
• 27th
Cyber Monday
• 21th
Winter Solstice
• 22th
Christmas Promotions
• 25th
-Christmas
• 26th
Boxing Day
• 27th
- 29th
Christmas Sales
• Technical packs Development for A/W ‘18
• 31th
New Year’s Eve – In Store Event (day) and
Online Promo Codes (Social Media)
January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018
• 1th
January Sales
• 16th
Blue Monday Promotions
• Technical packs sent and samples
ordered for A/W ‘18
• 7th
Valentine’s Day Merchandise
and decor arrives in store
• 4 th
- 14th
NYFW, London, Paris
& Milan Fashion week
• 14th
Valentine’s Day Promotions
in store events
• A/W ’18 Samples received and
approved
• 10th
- 17th
St Patrick’s Day
Promotions
• 24th
- 26th
Mother’s Day in
store event
• Production order for A/W
’18 placed
• 14th
- 17th
Easter Merchandise Promotions
• 19th
- 24th
Mid-season Sales
• A/W ’18 (Samples) Photoshoot and
Campaign Development
May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018
• Wedding season starts
• 4th
Star Wars Day In store event
• A/W ’18 Marketing Campaign
Development
• 18th
Father’s Day Promotions
• 20th
- 24th
Summer Music
Festivals Starts- Festival clothes
Promotions
• 1th
- 5th
Haute Couture (Paris)
• 31th
A/W ’18 First Shipment
arrives, garments inspected
and approved
• Launch of the A/W ’18
Campaign & Promotion
• 19th
World Photo Day- Online Social Media
Campaign
• 28th
Bank Holiday- instore event Summer
Garments Last Clearance
• 28th
A/W ’18 Last Shipment arrives
• 31th
A/W ‘18 Range arrives in Store
9. Amanda is a sales assistant and student living
within walking distance of Dublin city centre where
her work is located as well as her school. She lives in
a student house and have her own room. She
studies journalism and hopes to move to London
one day for a BA (Hons) in Fashion Journalism. She
runs a lifestyle blog focused on events around
Dublin City and where she practices her writing and
content creation skills.
Amanda only prize quality in some items she buys
like gadgets, when it comes to fashion she belongs
to the tech savvy Trend- aware generation, fashion
is an essential part of her lifestyle, she takes
purchasing decisions according to her social needs,
such as the desire to belong and to be on trend
while favouring lower priced clothing in order to
save money, rather than buying less.
10.
11. I’ve made my planogram inspired by the layout of Penneys Mary St. Ground floor.
Letter + SKW Number:
AW346/001 AW346/002 AW345/001 AW345/002 AW352/001
AW352/002 AW351/001 AW351/002 AW354/003 AW354/002 AW354/001
AW348/002 AW348/001 AW353/001 AW347/001 AW347/002 AW347/003
AW350/001 AW350/002 AW350/003 AW349/001 AW349/002 AW349/002
12.
13. In terms of advertising and communication, Primark shines for its talent to
create a buzz with few resources. Targeting young consumers, the Irish retailer
essentially relies on social networks to get the word out, with contests, store
opening events and new fashion pieces’ arrival announced on social media by
the current favorite blogger, with that, Primark has managed to create a real
community, for very low costs.
For my A/W 2018 Womenswear Promotion, the clothes will be displayed
and featured on Fashion Articles, Blog posts and it will be introduced through
Social Media Marketing, the garments will be shown in trendy Window/Visual
Displays and screens around every store being part of the modern and cool
shopping environment that Primark is becoming (even more) famous for.
And for the Launch, an event will be held at Primark’s Head office and
livestreamed giving Primark’s 2.4 million followers a chance to “look around”
the head office and be part of the event, every person on the event will be
wearing something from the range and also livestream on their Social Media
during the duration of the event.
Also, promo codes will be given during the event so people can come instore
to get the new pieces with an exclusive discount of 10% on new items and
have a chance to be featured on Primark’s Social Media Channels by putting
looks together with the new range and sharing on their social media profiles
using a unique Primark Hashtag.
14. Shauna Twamley
Trainee
Merchandiser
Emma Kehoe
Assistant Buyer
Merchandiser Olga Metcalfe
Buying
Controller
The picture can't be displayed.
Ann McCarrick
Senior Buyer
Joanna Doyle
Junior Buyer
Shauna Whelan
Trainee Buyer
Paul Marchant
Chief Executive Officer
Arthur Ryan
Chairman
Aidan Shields John Lyttle Ben Mansfield Breege O’Donoghue
Chief Finance Chief Operating Sales Director HR, PR Sales Director
Officer Officer
Richard Hogan
