From shop floor beginnings to driving digital growth, this interview delves into Andy Furlong's career journey and the strategic thinking behind Primark’s approach to eCommerce trading and Click & Collect.

To start off, tell us a bit about your journey. What originally drew you to ecommerce, and how did your early career evolve?

My move in to Ecommerce is actually fairly recent - I spent the majority of my career so far in traditional bricks-and-mortar buying-and-merchandising. I have always worked in retail, beginning on the shop-floor during my studies, and then on to the merchandising grad-scheme at Matalan. Merchandising was the path that most appealed to me, as it combines my love of data and analytics with the opportunity to shape future product collections and drive commercial growth. I moved on to merch roles at F&F, and then Primark, where I have worked since 2014. 

In 2021, I began working on what would become our Click-and-Collect business. It was a great opportunity for me to immerse myself in something new and develop additional skills. In my current role, I lead the trading function, with responsibility for developing the product strategy, ownership of the digital KPIs, and developing operational efficiency.   

If you could go back, what advice would you give your 20-year-old self about the retail world?

I’d emphasize the importance of balancing creative vision with commercial strategy – blending instinct with insight ensures we’re making smart, data-informed decisions whilst also keeping the customer at the centre of everything we do. From a growth and development perspective I would also stress the importance of developing emotional intelligence early – retail is a fast-paced and demanding environment but the ability to motivate diverse teams, handle pressure and adapt quickly to change are all valuable tools for a leader to have.

Primark Precision: Performance, Pivots & the Power of Trading

From your perspective, what are the hallmarks of a high-performing ecommerce trading strategy in today’s retail environment?

Effective stock management and great on-site SKU availability are key metrics for me, as they are crucial to optimising conversion. Frictionless journeys and operational agility are also crucial as we must be able to react to sales, trends and viral moments. To have a truly high-performing Ecommerce trading function, the team must also have great relationships with all areas of the business, including best-practice processes, open feedback channels, and regular performance reviews.  

With such a fast-moving product cycle, how do you make real-time decisions about pricing, stock, and promotions?

The trading team effectively performs the role of ‘store manager’ for click-and-collect. We react to sales patterns and ensure our fulfilment centre has the correct stock profiles. Promotion and markdown decisions are taken centrally, dependent on the overall stock position for UK in totality, and we always maintain price-parity online with our stores.  

When it comes to performance, which trading metrics do you believe are most meaningful — and how do they guide your day-to-day decisions? 

Clicks-per-option, rate-of-sale and conversion combine to give a good view on customer intent. We also keep an eye on search-terms and what is working well in our stores, to ensure we learn as much as possible about what the customer is wanting. 

With customer behaviour evolving so rapidly, how do you keep your online strategy aligned with what shoppers expect today — especially in a high street-first business?

There is an ever-increasing amount of data points available which we use to help us better understand customer expectations; these include real-time data analytics, in-store sales, on-site search, social media content, associated social traffic, and customer feedback loops. We also utilise test-and-learn product trials, which help to identify big-volume opportunities. 

You’ll be speaking at eCommerce Expo about the rollout of Click & Collect. What were some of the key trading considerations in launching a service that connects online convenience with in-store experience?

From the outset, we’ve had a big focus on ensuring that our Ecommerce arm is something that is an opportunity for stores rather than a threat. Click and Collect has benefits for everyone because we’re bringing range and convenience to customers, but also driving footfall to stores, where collecting customers are tending to then make additional purchases.  Responsible stock management is always a big consideration, as we aim to find the sweet-spot between maximising the sales opportunity and not bringing in stock which would be more needed elsewhere.  

Andy will be speaking at eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing on the 24-25 September at the Excel London.

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Quick-fire questions

Your ultimate ecommerce trading no-no? Ignoring customer insights. If we’re not harnessing the data, taking on board customer feedback, and adapting to changing needs, we’re harming potential conversion rates.    

Most valuable skill for someone working in your kind of role? The 3 C’s… Commerciality, Communication and Collaboration.   

Best piece of advice you've received in your career? People won’t remember what you said. They’ll remember how you made them feel. 

One ecommerce metric you think is overrated? Growth in traffic isn’t valuable if it is temporary or poor-converting. Long-term loyalty and sustainable traffic acquisition is what we must be targeting. 

If not ecommerce, what would you be doing? I suspect another area of Retail. Before discovering Merchandising and Ecommerce I was very interested in pursuing store management. Many of the skills are transferable and I enjoy a role which has some level of financial targets to measure against, whilst also affording the opportunity to think creatively.