Branded Vs Private Label: Who is going to come out on top?
With a recent rise in the popularity of private label, the battle for shopper preference is heating up. ?
Rising inflation and cost of living pressure means price is now the key driver for many shoppers, creating the space for private label to flourish and reposition itself in shopper perceptions.??Furthermore, private label no longer simply provides shoppers with competitive price points, it is now starting to win-out on quality, cost, and shopper experience.? ?
With continued private label investment and expansion, how can brands stay competitive, and what can both retailers and brands do to equip themselves with winning omnichannel strategies??
With Western Europe leading the forefront of growth in private label, totaling a 36% increase in market share alongside a 26% increase in sales value, who better to unpack this topic than our Western Europe Retail and Supplier Directors? ?
In this edition of Hear from the Experts, we’ve turned to Ross Baker , Western Europe Supplier Associate Director to explore what this rise in private label means for brands, and Sean Roberts , Western Europe Retail Associate Director to learn more about how retailers are investing in the omnichannel experience for their private label ranges.
Q&A with Sean and Ross:??
How has shopper behavior shifted in recent years concerning branded and private label products??
Ross – Within the Industry we are certainly seeing the market share of private label increase more than ever before, with more retailers increasing their private label range sizes to offer shoppers a wider price point on product types. With the cost-of-living pressures across the globe, shoppers are more than ever looking for value and this is how retailers are driving loyalty and ensuring they are competitive in terms of cost.?
Sean – We've seen a significant change in the way shoppers see and purchase private-label products over the last few years which has supported the growth and loyalty of private-label products globally. Shoppers have shifted to purchasing private label products for a number of reasons which include the following:?
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What are the biggest challenges brands face when creating and distributing branded product content in your experience??
Ross – Simply put, it being visible online and standing out from the crowd. That’s why here at NIQ Brandbank we have focused on being able to give brands the opportunity to differentiate themselves online, from our Content Health service which allows brands to add off-pack attributes to help with search to our Connect suite of rich media packages to allow brands to enrich product content on product description page. These solutions then helps brands become visible, educate the shopper and drive brand loyalty.?
Sean – Providing the right level of product content and ensuring this content is online in time is crucial. The process of managing and setting up products across one or more retailers is complicated. Coupled with the need to differentiate and provide additional imagery, data and more makes this tricky. This is why NIQ?Brandbank?developed our Computer Generated Image service as it means products can “digitised” from artwork renders, often weeks before a products is ever manufactured. This gives Brands and Retailers enough time to focus on listing products and adding in additional components like imagery and enriched product attributes to enhance the shopper experience. ??
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How can brands balance informational content with promotional content in their product content to best connect with shoppers??
Ross – It is obviously important that allergen and regulatory information is always present, as shoppers are often shopping by food type or lifestyle preferences, so it is important brands have this information present. However, it is also? important for brands to differentiate and tell their brand story in a crowded marketplace, online is also the perfect opportunity to do this and this level of shopper engagement cannot be matched instore.?
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How do companies ensure that their branded content reflects their brand's / retailer identity and values??
Ross – With the ever-increasing percentage of shopper shopping online, Brand’s now need to consider not only how the product looks on shelf but also how it will come across online. Brands must ensure that when developing their NPD and products for the future they can market that product well online. ?At NIQ Brandbank, we do provide services such as Mobile Optimised Imagery which allow brands to call out key attributes on pack, knowing that shoppers are increasingly using small handheld devices to shop.?
Sean –? Right now everyone is focusing on using Retailer’s Media Network (RMN) to convey the right message/content to the right shopper. Content (imagery, data, media etc) needs to be engaging, it needs to educate, and most importantly, it needs to stand out. Retailers have invested heavily in their RMN over the last few years as it’s a huge opportunity to reach shoppers to ensure both the retailer's message and Brands message/proposition align. This same principle applies to online product pages as it closes the shopper loop. With NIQ Brandbank, Brands can provide content more dynamically than ever before. Following Retail guidelines and practice but utilising NIQ Brandbank API product management systems and API technology, Brands can manage and activate content quickly and easily.??
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What role does brand loyalty play in purchasing decisions? And what other factors can influence shopper loyalty??
Ross – Brand Loyalty pays a big part in purchasing decisions online, most online sites have functionality around repeat add-to-basket and previously bought. This again highlights the need for brands to set themselves apart, telling their stories online to encourage first time basket-adds?which then lead to this repeat purchasing. ?
Sean – Price and promotion are still huge drivers in the way shoppers shop and heavily influence why they purchase certain products. Where the two are not driving forces, brand messaging is key to driving shopper understanding and informed purchase. When almost 90% of shopping and purchasing is done in “favourites” and areas like brand/promotional zones – you need to focus on your product page messaging and the information present on your page. It’s no longer “good enough” to have just on-pack information present for shoppers. You need to focus on shopper reach and engagement using things content like Mobile optimised imagery, video, comparison tables, and more on your PDP to help shoppers make informed decisions.
eCommerce is not only about driving online sales anymore, but also driving search, supporting shoppers as they are researching your products and most importantly it’s about creating consistency across all channels which ultimately drives the purchase loop.??
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How can brands/retailers utilise the abundance of space on product description pages to help shoppers access more key purchase decision drivers??
Ross – Product description pages are the brands page on a retailer site, where a shopper goes to learn more about a product. Brands need to maximise this space as this is their opportunity to sell their product to shopper. Whether enhancement comes from improved marketing information, the addition of image content to represent your products in many different ways or?publishing video content online which is now a popular and common feature of successful product pages. NIQ Brandbank can support in all these areas to help maximise sales online.?
Sean – With the rise of technology and the ability to do more with?rich media content, Brands and Retailers can now enrich product collateral online more than ever before with little development. In any age where shoppers are looking for more personalised product information, this must be the answer. Initiatives like QR scanning in-store opens up more information for shoppers than ever before. We’ve been working with several retailers to open space on the product page for Brands and Retailers to add more contextual information for their shoppers. Information is driving search, it supports the shopper journey, and it gives Brands and Retailers a live mechanism to reach shoppers in the most cost-effective manner possible.?
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Ross's Advice for Brands
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How do you see the future of branded content evolving in the next 5-10 years??
Ross – Over the next 5-10 years branded content is going to continue to advance and grow,? the need for higher rankings online will grow, the need for greater detailed content will grow, and the need for educational content will grow. Brands will be launching products specifically for online and identifying ways to stand out online, I believe online grocery shopping will overtake shopping in store over this period.?
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How can brands effectively tie advertising and campaigns to the product page??
Ross – All advertising now needs to become connected, if that be TV, social media or Retailers sites. Brands need to ensure the content is consistent across all platforms to drive brand loyalty and discoverability.?
Brands often have an abundance of content and collateral that can be put on a product page. How do brands know what information to put where and in what format to present it? ?
Ross – NIQ Brandbank offer wider range of services that can help support all of a brands collateral, for example we have recently added to our Connect suite with new functionality where brands can customise content at a product level also now at a retailer level. If a brand wants to target an audience with their content on a specific retailers site, we are now giving brands the opportunity to do this, enabling them?to be a lot more strategic with the content and who, when and where the shopper sees it.?
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Sean’s Advice for Retailers?
How do you see the future of private label content evolving in the next 5-10 years??
Sean – Across the globe Private Label will continue to win share against National Branded products and in Europe this is predicted to be roughly 1-2% growth a year based on NIQ data. We’ve already discussed some of the reasons as to why shoppers are moving to purchasing Private Label products, but we still need to keep the following in mind:??
Taking this into account and answering the above, we will see packaging changes like we’ve seen in Tesco with Fire-Pit, Tesco’s Finest and Root & Soul. This focus on engaging packaging will expand online where we see retailers like Walmart hold multiple images, full back-of-pack data and more. Retailers, to an extent, will want to elevate content online to match their?in-store investments and this is something we see this with retailers like?Asda, Morrisons and Booths, who all use our CGI service to create additional imagery for marketing and online requirements.??
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What is the approach to creating content for private label products? How does it differ from content for branded products??
Sean – Due to the number of SKUs and ranges retailers produce and manage, creating content across all these SKUs can be costly. Retailers need to keep costs down to ensure their pricing strategy can remain as is and win as it’s currently doing. With that in mind, we have collaborated closely with retailers to develop more efficient processes and services that reduce costs. An example, of this is Asda launched Just Essentials range last year and we were able to create all digital content and MOI using artwork removing the need and cost for physical samples.??
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How are retailers investing in their omnichannel strategy that you’ve seen at NIQ Brandbank??
Sean – In the past, front-on product images were good enough for products being sold online and being used in marketing points of sale (POS). Whereas now retailers are looking for images that resonate in the aisle, support mobile shopping, help “Pickers” in-store find products faster, marketing images for POS, and Media to help shoppers engage more with the product on the Product Page. This is why services like our content creation solution had to evolve and generate more imagery in the most cost-effective way. We are also looking at how we manage non-shopper data and evolve this with AI and other technologies to deliver more engaging information online. All of this content is being held in more flexible PIMs meaning retailers can ingest more content than before and ensure this content is surfaced and used in all areas of their business.??
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Private Label brands are rapidly expanding, and retailers are keen to get them in front of customers onto the shelves quickly. What can retailers do to speed up the online process for product content???
Sean – Review your Product Lifecycle process with your?NIQ Brandbank?team to look at where we can support in creating content further upstream, enriching content and personalising shopper information via our systems and technologies. Re-shaping your process will ultimately deliver on more content, automation and elevated content to continue to compete and position your products in front of shoppers more than ever before.??
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Learn more about the battle between Private Label and Branded products in the full article which you can access here. ?
NIQ Brandbank offers a range of solutions for both brands and retailers to excel across the omnichannel, get started on your journey to omnichannel excellence by contacting us today.??
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3 个月Insightful conversation between two industry experts! ?????