Primark’s chief executive Paul Marchant has slammed claims that COVID-19 has brought about a permanent shift to online shopping, Marchant took aim at pundits who claim “COVID-19 has merely speeded up an inevitable and permanent shift from in-store to online shopping”, calling them “wrong” and “naïve”.
He goes on to argue that physical shopping is an “extremely important” aspect of our social lives across demographics.
The second lockdown hit Primark hard, seeing its parent company Associated British Foods report a £430 million sales decline, significantly more than the £375 million it had previously anticipated.
To make up for lost time Primark announced plans to open 11 of its stores for 24 hours on December 2 when lockdown was lifted.
