Primark has said its UK market share has increased after customers flocked back since it reopened all its stores.
The High Street Chain’s owner Associated British foods said that as all Primark stores reopened during May, June and July, trading during the fourth quarter has been strong. In the latest four-week UK market data for sales in all channels Primark achieved our highest ever value and volume shares for this time of year.
Total customer spend on clothing, footwear and accessories has been impacted by COVID-19 they added and has been recovering from a low point in April and the rate accelerated with the reopening of stores.
Since reopening we have seen increasing numbers of transactions driven by footfall. The average basket size was initially significantly higher than last year, reflecting some pent-up demand, and while this outperformance has reduced in recent weeks it remains higher than a year ago. We have continued our policy of offering the best prices, and markdowns for the period since reopening have been low.
“Compared to pre-COVID-19, sales performance since reopening has in aggregate been reassuring and encouraging. By store the performance has varied, reflecting the current circumstances of our customers including increased home working, less commuting and much less tourism. Sales at our stores in retail parks are higher than a year ago. Shopping centre and regional high street stores are broadly in line with last year and large destination city centre stores, which are heavily reliant on tourism and commuters, have seen a significant decline in footfall. Our 16 largest destination city centre stores contributed 13% of total sales pre-COVID-19 and 8% of sales after reopening.”
The Company added that
“In the UK sales since reopening are expected to be 12% lower on a like-for-like basis and if the four large UK destination city centre stores are excluded the decline is 5%. After a period of store closure we are encouraged by the strength of our sales. In the latest four-week UK market data for sales in all channels Primark achieved our highest ever value and volume shares for this time of year.2
