The newly created role brings together Primark’s customer and digital teams, Marketing Week can reveal, following increased emphasis on the retailer’s digital offering, including the introduction of click-and-collect.
Primark has appointed its first chief customer and digital officer, with the new role bringing together the customer and digital teams into “one integrated function”.
Matt Houston will take on the role. He joined Primark in 2018 as strategy and transformation director, before being promoted to group digital and strategy officer in 2021. Houston is credited with “establishing” the business’s digital function and leading the delivery of the strategy.
Houston is Primark’s first chief customer and digital officer, his appointment comes as chief customer officer Michelle McEttrick departs the brand after just under three years.
Primark has appointed its first chief customer and digital officer, with the new role bringing together the customer and digital teams into “one integrated function”.
Matt Houston will take on the role. He joined Primark in 2018 as strategy and transformation director, before being promoted to group digital and strategy officer in 2021. Houston is credited with “establishing” the business’s digital function and leading the delivery of the strategy.
Houston is Primark’s first chief customer and digital officer, his appointment comes as chief customer officer Michelle McEttrick departs the brand after just under three years.
McEttrick joined the retailer in 2022 as its first chief customer officer, and was tasked with further developing the brand and customer strategy at the business, as it looked to expansion across new markets, channels and products. McEttrick also led the brand’s sustainability strategy, Primark Cares.
The new chief customer and digital role brings both the customer team and the digital team together, in a way the business says will drive a “clear, consistent experience” for customers across all channels.
Primark has expanded its digital offering significantly over the past couple of years, having been a brand that previously only sold its product in physical stores. It first trialled click-and-collect in selected regions in November 2022, with the service now available across Great Britain.
In his previous position, Houston played a key role in this expansion of click-and-collect, the retailer says. He is also credited with growing the brand’s digital marketing team and relaunching Primark’s website.
Before joining Primark in 2018, Houston spent 11 years at retail advisory firm Javelin Group, latterly as managing director.
Commenting on the appointment, Primark interim CEO Eoin Tonge praised Houston’s “deep understanding” of the brand’s business model and hailed the newly unified team structure.
“Bringing together our customer and digital teams creates a stronger, more integrated function that will unlock new opportunities for the Primark brand and play a key role in driving our international growth,” Tonge said.
Primark has hailed the impact of its enhanced focus on digital in driving growth in recent times. However, it has hit choppy waters recently, with the brand reporting a sales drop of 4% in the UK and Ireland for the 24 weeks ending 1 March, with like-for-like sales decreasing by 6%. This resulted in a 0.2% drop in market share. This was attributed to both weak customer sentiment and tough competition.
Interim CEO Tonge also praised outgoing chief customer officer McEttrick’s “significant” contribution to the brand. McEttrick is departing the retailer to pursue a portfolio career.
Before joining Primark, McEttrick spent six years at Tesco, before departing the role in April 2021. She was credited with playing a “key role” in the supermarket’s turnaround, after it posted a historic £6.38bn pre-tax loss the week her appointment was announced in 2015, following an accounting scandal the year prior.
At Tesco, McEttrick was tasked with revamping the Tesco brand and “rebuilding it from the inside out”. By 2020, Tesco was named Brand of the Year at the Marketing Week Awards, and as she stepped down, McEttrick said the turnaround was now complete.
