pRIMARK USA sTRATEGIC Analysis Case Study
Key Learning Outcomes
By the end of the case, students should be able to:
- Understand the broad macro-environment of Primark USA and the clothing retail industry in terms of political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors (PESTEL/PEST/STEEPLE).
- Understand the major strengths and weaknesses of Primark in the USA using the SWOT framework.
- Analyse the American clothing retail industry and how the five forces have affected Primark and rival firms and the impact on industry structure, attractiveness, and profitability.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Primark is an Irish clothing and accessories retailer with its headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1969 by Arthur Ryan and is a subsidiary of British food processing company Associated British Foods (ABF). Primark operates over 345 stores in over 11 countries worldwide according to Statista (2018b). In 2017, Primark recorded a 7053 million GBP revenue that was an increase from its 5949 million GBP revenue in 2016 (Statista 2018c).
In the following sections, the report uses a PESTLE analysis framework to describe how external factors such as the new enacted laws by the state of California affect Primarks profitability, how trends like growth of the plus size population in US can influence its revenues, among others. Through a SWOT analysis framework, we identify Primark’s major strengths, weaknesses, threats and discover major key drivers and opportunities for growth. In addition, Primark being a low-cost clothing brand faces intense competition in the market and through a Porters Five Forces Analysis, we describe how competition has affected the growth of Primark and the points at which its most intense.