Management Process Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management Process - Case Study Example Quoting The Guardian "In spite of the recession, and in contrast to rivals like Marks and Spencer and Debenhams, the company could report a 20% increase in sales to 2.3bn, for the year to the end of September." Primark has been flexible in understanding its customers' needs and offering them the latest at affordable prices. The company has been open to expansions and acquisitions. It has 193 outlets today, all over U.K and Europe, not to mention the parent country of Ireland. When its rival BhS wound up its operations in Ireland, in 1992, Primark was quick to seize the opportunity and set up a 50,000sq ft showroom in the upmarket area of O'Connell Street, Dublin. In 1995, it bought out BhS's One-Up discount chain and in 1999, it acquired 11 stores from Co-Op. In 2005, the company acquired 6 stores from 'Allders'. According to Sarah Segal, Primark is a high street retailer that has a line of brands and focuses on buying, logistics and supply chain management rather than branding, when compared to its peers like TK Maxxx. The buying team from Ireland and U.K travels worldwide to acquaint itself with fashion trends and look for inexpensive suppliers. Computerized customs clearance helps the company achieve speed to market. Dedicated warehousing and distribution facilities also help reduce time and cost for the movement of goods in the supply chain. New fashion trends have been copied quickly and thus products have reached their stores before the competitors. After carefully selecting the new fashion designs that would appeal to the target consumer, the company is quick to add stocks when these items are in high demand. Constantly updated records of daily sale and stock information sent to the warehouses helps in restocking fast selling items immediately. Quality While the company claims itself as a no frills seller, it has never compromised on the quality of the finished product. "Style, quality and affordable prices" are the attributes associated with Primark. Value for money is the idea behind this retailer's success. When a company can grow by leaps and bounds the way Primark has since its inception 1969 and continue to make profits much above the industry average even in times of recession, it speaks volumes about the quality of the products sold. It is hard to imagine that such a huge retailer does not need support through advertising campaigns. Obviously, the quality has to be so good that the company can sell products like hot cakes even during the recession. Cost Primark promises to deliver high fashion clothing at very affordable prices. True to its slogan "Look good, pay less," it offers clothes at very reasonable prices (like jeans for 4). Its success formula in keeping the cost low seems to be it target group: the fashion conscious below the age of 35.Outsourcing the workers from other countries where labour is cheap helps in significantly reducing the production costs. Here is a company that can afford to do away with advertising, thus saving the company billions of s that would otherwise have been spent on advertising. Susan Segal feels that their success is due to the fact that they are positioned clearly at the cheap end of the market, thus avoiding a middle of the bracket position like its