A Comparison Primark Vs Woolworths Marketing Essay

A Comparison Primark Vs Woolworths Marketing Essay In this report, we aim to compare and contrast the strategic planning and moves of two retail giants- Primark from Ireland and Woolworths from United Kingdom. Since both deal in the same domain and merchandise, their operation, processes and strategies provide a solid and a relevant ground for conducting strategic management studies. This will help in not only applying the theoretical concepts to some practical entity, but also in honing the skills to adopt a visionary outlook to perform future strategic planning. An overview of Primark History- Primark Stores Ltd. is a clothing retail giant with its headquarters based in Dublin, Ireland (34 stores). Its operations extend to Netherlands (1 store), Spain (8 stores), Germany (2 stores), United Kingdom (125 stores) and Portugal. Primark trades under the name of Penneys in Ireland and the entire chain is an ancillary of Associated British Foods. Products- Primark operates majorly as a clothing retailer with apparels and garments for eve ry age, size and group. Being a subsidiary, its merchandise id specifically built and not sold at other retail counters. As such, it has been able to create a brand of its own in apparels and clothing items. Its brands include women wear, girls wear, footwear, baby wear, menswear- both formal and casual, clothing accessories, cosmetics, young and old boys wear, lingerie, cheap items, luggage, home items, night wear and beach wear also. In a nutshell, you can find garments and clothes for almost any occasion or moment. Departments- as a logical move, since Primark deals in such a huge variety of merchandise, it has different departments in place, all under separate supervision which shows the clarity of its strategy and controlling function. The departments in Primark Stores Ltd. are health and beauty, hosiery, footwear, home ware, gift wear, menswear, children wear, accessories, women wear and nightwear. In all, there is a separate department handling an individual set of apparels. Evolution- originally Primark was established as a clothing store by Arthur Ryan and Micaela Mitchell in 1969. With piling success in apparel business, registering huge profits and elated at elevated gross income levels, both the partners decided to expand and open up new stores in local and regional areas. The success mantra of Primark is catering to the budget end of the market segment. Their strategy is to provide fashion clothing at reasonable prices. Their apparel designs are simple, made on simple fabric but are branded as of high quality and to fashion conscious young individuals below the age of 35. Recognition- Primark has been ranked as the second largest clothing retailer by TNS in terms of sales volume and has also received the â€Å"Best Value High Street Fashion† by GMTV. Primark’s business structure and management Primark’s business structure embarks not only upon clothing but other apparel and clothing accessories, which in a sense adds on to the diversity of the retail store. Its store operations are simply and efficiently managed by a dedicated team of professionals. Each store is managed by a manager to control and oversee the business operations. There are different levels of hierarchy within store management where big stores have managers and small or medium ones have deputy or assistant manager. There are separate sales floor officers for looking after cashiers, customer’s desks and support teams.