Primark at the heart of the reopening fun

The easing of lockdown restrictions on April 12 allowed non-essential retail stores to reopen nationwide – and data from YouGov BrandIndex UK suggests that Primark has been a particular beneficiary.

The budget fashion chain recently returned £121m to the Treasury, following record sales in the week after the lockdown restrictions were relaxed. In the days following its re-opening, Primark’s Buzz scores (which measure whether consumers have heard something positive or negative about a brand in the past two weeks) increased from 1.5 to 7.9 (April 11 to April 18). Word of Mouth scores, which gauge whether the public have talked about a brand with friends or family members in the past fortnight, also doubled – rising from 14.3 to 29.0 (+14.7).

Excitement about Primark’s return was potent enough that its overall Index scores – a measure of brand health – went from -4.3 to 2.5 (+6.8) over the same period, and kept climbing. By April 22, these scores had reached 3.8.

Importantly, these positive movements extend to more commercially-focused metrics. Purchase Intent (which asks consumers which brands they would be most likely to buy an item from) increased from 10.5 to 15.1 (+4.6). Consideration scores, which track whether consumers would be likely or unlikely to consider a brand the next time they are in the market for new clothing, saw an uptick of five points – going from 24.6 to 29.3 over the week (+5.3). Current Customer scores, which measure whether consumers have bought products from a particular clothing store or brand in the past three months, increased from 2.1 on reopening day (April 12) to 4.4 by April 18 (+2.3).

What’s more, Primark’s customers appear to have enjoyed the brand’s return. Satisfaction scores, which measure whether consumers are a satisfied or dissatisfied customer of a brand, climbed from 17.0 to 25.9 (+8.9) and Recommendation scores, which track whether consumers would recommend a brand to a friend or colleague, climbed by seven points: rising from -1.3 to 5.6.

Lockdown easing had a significant effect on many high street retailers, many of whom have struggled with the restrictions imposed by the pandemic and still face an uncertain future. Whatever’s in store for Primark, the brand has good reason to be pleased about getting back to business.

This article previously appeared in City A.M.