Brands vs Private Labels

When was the last time you did shopping for groceries?

Last week???

Last month???

Probably 1st of every month??? 😅

I was doing mine, as usual online on #Jiomart, while I noticed one thing which is not a surprise per say but does feel like witnessing a retail strategy that not only Reliance Digital has been trying to implement for long time, but almost majority of the retailers do on regular basis!

What would that be???

You must be wondering! 🤔🤔🤔

Take a look at the below picture:

What do you notice???

If you’re scratching your head…then let me try to help you!

While searching for a product, I’m given wide variety of options (of course) to choose from.

But one thing, if you look closely, is that top products are not from well-known brands in the category of the product searched!

In my example above, where I’m trying to find a ‘bathroom freshener’, I’m not given brands like airwick or odonil in top results!

Plus, if you drill down more, you’ll see that the price difference between these branded products and not-so-known products shown at the top is decent if not more!

“What are you trying to convey here, Sanket?” you must be thinking. 🤔

The point is the brand in top of the search result page is Reliance retail’s own manufactured brand, known as a ‘private label’ in retail industry, where they can have good margins compared to the standard branded products as the retailer has control over whole process of manufacturing and distribution!

Now as a consumer, what do we want the most???

Good products at a good [bargain] price, correct???

If one goes to compare certain products which are available on retailers’ websites with a known brand & a corresponding retailer owned (not so known) brand, they will most likely find the latter being cheaper and will of course believe that the quality will be more or less the same as a branded product.

Unless of course if one is a brand-loyal customer (‘bhakt’ as some might say!) 😅

The point is that retailers, after years of operations, reach a stage where they can mimic or sometimes even make better products than very well-known brands. With inflation taking a toll on customers’ pocket, the competition being fierce, majority of retailers & customers are moving towards private label brands as they get benefited by it!

What is your choice when buying goods???

Do you prefer a particular brand when buying certain categories of products???

Do share your thoughts below! 😄 #Sankuwrites