// Primark boss has made it clear the retailer will not be making an ecommerce offer
// George Weston told the Financial Times that Primark “is and always has been a high street retailer”
Primark boss George Weston has made it clear that the retail powerhouse has not been tempted to push full steam ahead with an ecommerce offer.
The Associated British Foods chief executive told the Financial Times Primark “is and always has been a high street retailer”.
“At our price points and our basket sizes [online] doesn’t just take some of the margin, it takes all of it.”
Weston said those that insist the value retailer will have to embrace ecommerce sooner or later should “get over it”.
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The decision not to launch online saw the discount retailer burn through £100 million of cash each week of lockdown following total store closures.
As a result, the retailer reported it had made less than a third of its forecasted operating profit of £1 billion in the year to September 2020.
While the retailer refuses to move online, it has launched click-and-collect.
The retailer rolled out the service to 25 stores last month allowing customers to collect their orders at select locations across the Northwest of England, Yorkshire and North Wales.
In its most recent financial update, the retailer reported sales had surged 43% year on year to £7.7 billion for the year to 17 September.
The retail powerhouse is continuing to ramp up its global expansion strategy with the opening of a new store in Manhattan, New York and Romania.
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