HITWISE UK FASHION UPDATE

Primark lures style-savvy web users as budget brand’s appeal grows

London, 10^th August 2005

It may once have been the bastion of budget basics, but Primark has recently undergone an image transformation and fashionistas are clamouring for its cheap chic clothing. Hitwise, the world’s leading online competitive intelligence service, today reports that online demand for Primark has soared over the past few months, and the discount retailer is hottest amongst affluent urban trendsetters.

Online searches for ‘primark’ soar as profits and press coverage grow

While many high street retailers are reporting ailing profits and slow sales this season, Primark has been one of the few big success stories, with annual operating profits up 18% in April this year. With the chain receiving an increasing amount of favourable press coverage in 2005, online searches for ‘primark’ have correspondingly skyrocketed – leaping 143% since the start of the year. The latest Hitwise data for the retail industry also reveals that ‘primark’ is the 15^th most searched-for term amongst all fashion retail websites.

In addition, visits to Primark’s website (www.primark.co.uk) have increased dramatically since January. Despite the fact that the site offers no online shopping component, visits have jumped by almost 50% since the start of the year as Internet users have logged on in search of store locations. Within the Shopping & Classifieds – Apparel & Accessories category, the Primark site has jumped from #101 to #56 from January to August based on weekly rankings, an increase of 45%.

Well-heeled professionals prey on Primark bargains

With the latest examples of Primark’s chic-as-chips fashion ranges appearing in recent editions of Vogue as well as The Sunday Times Style magazine and a host of other glossies, the budget brand has gained a cult appeal amongst many of the more affluent segments of society, and this is reflected in Hitwise Lifestyle data. According to the latest data for August, Primark has 20% more visitors from the trend-savvy Urban Intelligence group than other websites in the online fashion sector, and 18% more visitors from the swanky Symbols of Success segment.

This is a dramatic contrast to Primark’s Lifestyle profile earlier this year, when visitors from the Symbols of Success demographic were actually 18% less likely to visit www.primark.co.ukthan average for the online fashion sector. Conversely, January’s data shows a much higher proportion of users from low-income groups such as Municipal Dependency, which has dropped off substantially in August.

This sizable demographic shift corresponds strongly with the increase in press coverage for Primark in upmarket publications such as The Sunday Times during this period; a Lifestyle profile of www.sundaytimes.co.ukshows that Symbols of Success is the group that indexes most highly with the Sunday Times.

Visits to Primark by rank within the Hitwise Apparel & Accessories category, January – July 2005

Weekly Volume of searches for ‘primark’, January - July 2005

Top 20 search terms sending traffic to sites in the Shopping & Classifieds – Apparel & Accessories category, based on data for the 4 weeks ending 6^th August 2005.

About Hitwise:

Hitwise is the world’s leading online competitive intelligence service. Each day, Hitwise monitors how more than 25 million Internet users interact with over 500,000 websites across 160 industry categories.

By monitoring more people, more websites, more often, Hitwise provides marketers with timely and actionable marketing insights on how their online presence compares to competitive websites.  Companies use this information to maximize the return on their online investment, in efforts such as search marketing, affiliate programs, online advertising, visitor segmentation, content development and lead generation.

Hitwise collects Internet usage information via a combination of ISP data partnerships and opt-in mega panels, and complies with local and international privacy legislation as audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Founded in 1997, Hitwise is a privately held company, headquartered in New York City and operates in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. 

More information about Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.co.uk

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jannie Cahill
jannie.cahill@hitwise.com

Tel: 020 7378 3619