“The opportunity for Indian retailer is twofold”

Any retailer that treats his private labels as lesser than manufacturer brands is doing injustice to both business and consumers!

Private labels are BRANDS. And any retailer that treats private labels as lesser than manufacturer brands is doing injustice to both business and consumers. Private labels are not a substitute for the real thing. They compete with ‘manufacturer brands’ in every respect, be it quality, packaging or pricing.

In a developing economy like India, there is limited presence of brands available in the market and visible gaps in options available to fulfill consumer needs. Modern retail is still in its nascent form in creating excitement for customers and giving them a whole new way to shop. However, one can easily spot the limited brand proliferation in both mass as well as niche product categories. The opportunity for a retailer in India is therefore twofold: The possibility of creating a unique brand proposition for customers for its private labels and the opportunity of marketing its brands to a captive customer base walking into its stores.

Retailers should base their strategies on maximising profits through private labels. Not only can retailers benefit from higher margins on store brands versus manufacturer brands, but can also use the presence of private labels to negotiate higher margins from manufacturer brands over a period of time. Customers who purchase store brands tend to be more loyal to the store. Herein lies a word of caution for retailers who base their private label marketing strategy on copycat tactics to take on category leaders or on one-dimensional pricing strategies. This would lead to reduced customer profitability and impact the overall basket value negatively as well. Customers are sensitive to quality, and a small variance in quality has a detrimental impact on the image of the store. There is a visionary approach that retailers should apply to their private label branding strategy: “Greater Private Brand Strength = Greater Private Brand Responsibility = Greater Private Brand Reward”.

As an industry we have traditionally looked to the national manufacturer brands to take the lead. Private brands play second fiddle, following their lead and using their systems and processes to achieve the end result. However, private brands are slowly beginning to capture share of market in almost every category and in almost every type of retailing. Sales are increasing at rates faster than the national brand counterparts. Margins are improving and customer allegiance is strengthening as consumers decide to shop at a particular retailer because the brands they offer can be found nowhere else. All three of these facts – increasing sales, improving margins and strengthening customer allegiance – are nice to experience and they help a retailer to survive and compete effectively. But these alone will no longer be enough. And there is a possible next step to take that can reward a retailer. This next step is not without risk, but potential rewards might outnumber the risks with time.

With success comes responsibility. To capitalise on success, retailers can take the lead in emerging areas of interest to the consumer. For instance: Ingredients and composition, nutritional value, effect on environment, appropriate testing, chemical processing, interests of original producers and farmers. Some of these are legitimate consumer concerns and need to be addressed by someone. Waiting for national brands to do so will take more time than the consumer may be willing to allow. Waiting may also bypass an opportunity for retailers to cement a stronger relationship with their consumers.

So, it’s retailers who now need to decide on how they want to use this exciting “new tool” private branding. Continue to follow the leader or take the leadership position? My bet would surely be on the former.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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