The Relationship Between Manufactures And Retailers

During the second half of our trading period we focussed massively on the private label market and found our niche there. We had realized that the minimum cost of the product wins the market share so we started experimenting with S/Q Ratings and percentage of superior materials to come up with the best product with the least cost price. Adding minimum profit margin to the cost price we were able to seize a massive chunk of the private label market. Attached are a few snapshot highlighting our success in that market.

A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller 's good or service

The competition between the wholesale club industry is pretty strong but is mostly dominated by the three main competitors which are: Costco, Sam’s club and BJ’s Wholesale club. These three wholesale clubs for the most part dominate the industry and take away customers from other retail stores because they can offer much lower prices, brand name items and a wide variety of items to purchase from them. When it comes to shares of warehouse sales, Costco had roughly 56 percent of sales, Sam’s club had 36 percent and BJ’s wholesale had a low 8 percent. Unlike most retail stores, these three display all of their items on pallets or their inexpensive shelving which provides them with low cost on décor, labor and advertising.

The company was recently presented an opportunity by its largest retail customer to significantly increase its share in their private label manufacturing. The prospect of growth was risky, since it

However, when Franklins unsuccessfully attempted to reconfigure their position in regards to their consumers, they lost their hold on the market (Armstrong et al. 2012). It is also outlined by Armstrong et al (2012) that the inexperience of Franklins in regards to market segmentation resulted in the loss of existing consumers as well as future consumers, and ultimately resulted in an uncontested response to ALDI. 4. ALDI’s Private label strategy Smith (2006, p. 39) implies that due to the nature of the supermarket industry, stores that offer a larger range of products are often more efficient than those that offer fewer items. ALDI however tests this notion, as they stock roughly 700 private label products - which is less than other retailers who stock 25000 to 30000 products (Bonn 2006, p. 1), yet they are still able to secure their market position and contend with rival retailers (Armstrong et al. 2012) 4.1 Perception of Private Label Within the last 20-30 years, private label brands were initially targeted towards the lower classes; therefore people’s adoptions of private label brands were not very common (Kumar & Steenkamp 2007, p. 12). However, in recent decades private label products have become more favorable to Australian consumers. This is evident in 2010 Nielson Global Survey (The Nielsen Company 2010) as the total percentage of sales of private label products have increased

b. Does the issue of branded vs. private label enter into this consideration? Why or why not?

Brand competitors and the diversity of choice that is available to consumers, puts brands under pressure to offer high quality products and service, excellent value and a wide availability (Clifton et al., 2009). Brands must differentiate themselves from the competition and create an unforgettable impression.

A brief evaluation of Hanson Private Label (HPL) will reveal signs of an excellent, growing, and well run company. There are no danger signs within the financials of HPL. The following have seen growth with every passing year: revenue, current assets, owner’s equity, net working capital, and sales (even groceries). The following categories have grown every year with the exception of 2005, where a higher than usual COGS caused a dip in gross margin – 15% versus a historically high teen’s percentage: Gross Profit, EBITDA, EBIT, and Net Income. Utilization rates are high. During this same period, long term debt trended downward with decreases every year. Sales across HPL retail channels increased every year over year in the following

The industry within which Hansson Private Label exists is a very competitive and volatile one. It is dominated by two types of firms, namely, Branded and Private Labels. Tucker Hansson operates as a private label firm. Private Label firms are an emerging market which is competitive based on its ability to have a lower price than its rivals. This market has experienced growth primarily because of this affordability. However this growth would be regarded as organic.

According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), a brand is a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition”. However, as Keller highlights, a brand is also “something that has actually created a certain amount of awareness, reputation, prominence, and so on in the marketplace”. Therefore, a brand is an identity created to differentiate itself from the competitors and to be remembered in consumer’s mind.

As a manufacture of private label personal care products, Hansson Private Label, Inc. has a considerable amount (28%) of market share in its specific industry. However, private labels as a whole constitute less than 19% in the entire personal care industry. Therefore, growth of HPL depends on the growth of the industry and more importantly the growth of private label component within the industry. In terms of the personal care industry, market growth will not improve significantly in the future. As proven in the past four years, unit volumes in the industry increases less than 1% in each year and the dollar sales growth was only driven by modest price increases. Therefore, the opportunity for private labels

To understand the role of H-E-B’s Own Brands, we need to understand the role of private labels to a retail store. Retailers manufacture carry private brands since retail gross margins in the private labels are relatively high. Retailers are able to realize cost advantages since they do not have additional advertising and distribution costs associated with private labels. In addition to increasing profits, store brands help to attract and retain customers. Retailers however need the critical procurement revenue from national brands for ad space and displays on stores and hence need to maintain a balance between their Own Brands and national brands.

Since an increasing number of people focus on brand names instead of product, brands become important elements for customers to choose products (Carroll, 2008). When customers trust the brand, the benefits for the manufactures are generated. In the first place, brands can be used by products as the tool to identify and differentiate themselves from various products. Secondly, brands are helpful for companies to build a competitive advantage (Bick, 2009). Therefore, organisations take more attention to branding.

The Big 3 had high advertising to sales ratios of 10-14%, also deterring entry, because average first year advertising cost for a new brand was over $20 million. We can conclude that total costs related to producing private label products are lower than new branded products. Private label products can offer greater margins to grocers and still sell at lower prices. They have a considerable competitive cost advantage over the new branded products.

The word retail is derived from the French word ‘retaillier’, which means to cut off a piece or to break the bulk. A retailer may be defined, as a 'dealer or trader who sells goods in small quantities' or 'one who repeats or relates'. Retailing thus may be understood as the final step in the distribution of merchandise, for consumption by the end consumers. Put simply, a firm that sells products to the final consumer is performing the function of retailing. It thus consists of all activities involved in the marketing of goods and services directly to the consumers for their personal, family or household