What are store brands, and how do they impact brand protection?

 

Over the past few decades, store brands have evolved from budget-conscious stand-ins to serious competitors of nationally recognized brands. But what are the reasons behind the shift, and why should this concern you?

 

 

An introduction to store brands

A store brand, also called a house brand or private brand, is “a brand that is manufactured exclusively for one retailer, to be sold at its own store.” Large retailers, from supermarkets to sporting goods stores, offer store brands as a high-quality alternative to the more expensive, high-end products of national brands.

 

Products of a store brand are usually priced lower than their national brand counterparts and are displayed in simpler packaging. The products themselves may be very similar to those of national brands (the same manufacturers even create some on the same production lines), or differ completely from them. What’s common is that they are usually produced by third-party manufacturers, which makes them a viable option for retailers with no manufacturing capabilities.

 

Store brands assist retailers in capturing a better margin and increasing their market share while building loyalty amongst price-conscious customers.

 

The following screenshot illustrates the concept. Popular sporting goods store DECATHLON offers fitness leggings by widely recognized brands like Adidas, along with its own store brands, including DOMYOS. Although the leggings are similar in design and functionality, the price difference is noteworthy.

 

 

Screenshot of decathlon.fr displaying sports leggings produced by Adidas and DOMYOS

 

 

Pros and cons of store brands for businesses and consumers

Store brands provide both advantages and drawbacks for businesses and consumers alike.

 

 

Advantages

Retailers distributing store brands often do so because of various advantages. For example, selling their own products provides retailers with greater control over pricing, branding, margins, and supply chain organization.

 

In addition, providing a cost-conscious and yet high-quality alternative product line for your customers increases their loyalty and allows you to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

 

Consumers, on the other hand, can enjoy the benefit of a wider array of products to choose from. Nowadays, larger stores often target specific consumer groups with different store brand product lines, including budget, organic, free-from, and premium categories.

 

As store brands are lower priced than national brands and yet similar in consistent quality, consumers may also feel that they get a better value for their money.

 

 

Drawbacks

Store brands bring along a few dangers as well that, if left unmonitored, may lead to serious problems for some businesses.

 

National brands, for instance, may notice a gradual erosion of their shelf space and market share due to the increasing popularity of store brands. Even worse, the wide array of store brands may create confusion amongst consumers, allowing counterfeit products to be mistaken for legitimate store brand goods. Malevolent sellers may try to imitate both store-brand and national-brand products to gain customers.

 

For consumers, one very real disadvantage is the possible quality inconsistency among the lowest-priced store brands. In addition, the confusion created by the similar packaging of some store-brand versions of national products may lead to purchasing errors.

 

 

Related topics

What are dark stores?

 

What is a dotBrand?

 

6 best practices for building a comprehensive online brand protection program

 

 

How to combat the disadvantages of store brands

National brands need to up their game if they want to compete with the cost-effectiveness and easy reliability of store brands. They need to discover and firmly emphasize their unique selling proposition, and justify the price difference with innovation and consistently high quality.

 

Product packaging needs to be easily distinguishable from those of competing store brands, ensuring that consumers’ confusion over which is which can’t lead to lost sales. National brands must make sure they communicate openly with their customers, elevating their trust in the brand and setting clear expectations for each brand segment.

 

Some store brands may cross the line into IP infringement. To prevent that from happening, it is necessary to educate retail partners about intellectual property and how their store brands can steer clear of potential infringement issues.

 

Alternatively, you can also consider cooperating with some of your retailers to co-develop a common product. Such a cooperation can curb the competitive edge, strengthen your business partnership, and create some excitement for an exclusive limited product amongst consumers.

 

 

Brand protection measures that can help with store brand challenges

First of all, register all your trademarks as well as product and packaging designs to protect them from infringement. This is important for both national and store brands, as these latter can also be copied and counterfeited.

 

Registering IP rights is not enough; you also have to monitor for potential cases of infringement. As fraudulent content can pop up anywhere, it’s important to cast a wide net and keep an eye on marketplaces, social media platforms, domains, and even images to detect unauthorized use of your trademarks and copyrights.

 

Once the infringing content is spotted, it’s imperative to enforce your rights as soon as possible to ensure its prompt removal from the internet. This includes the takedown of counterfeit product listings, infringing imagery, and even entire fake webshops. Industry-wide cooperation with respective platforms (marketplaces, social media, domain registries and registrars, etc.) provides for the swiftest enforcement services.

 

Whatever measures you have in place, it’s important to periodically audit them to detect potential gaps in your intellectual property protection and further tweak your response to emerging threats.

 

 

Conclusion

Whether you own a national or a store brand, your IP rights can be infringed upon. Protecting them from fraudulent use is an essential task in today’s highly competitive commercial environment.

 

Contact us to learn more about the most effective measures to keep your invaluable IP rights safe!