Shifting The Balance Of Power At Retail
By Ben Smith
The term “Couch Potato” has made it into pop culture, with its own wikipedia listing. So when my friend Doug Garnett mentioned a concept he kept coming back to when describing dud products at retail, “Shelf Potatos”, I knew exactly what he was talking about, and I figure that anybody who is reading [...]
By Ben Smith
So I thought I had come up with this revelation, but apparently I’m not the only one. The good news is that as you read this you’ll likely realize you’ve had the same thoughts too. Type A personalities might want to stop reading now.
We are in the age of “Good Enough”.
Wired magazine [...]
THIS IS AN EXCERPT; TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK ON THE TITLE:
As long as I can remember, only two brands of toothpaste have mattered – Crest and Colgate. I use Crest. Why do I use Crest, you ask? Because, as a very young child, our family dentist used Crest during my annual check-up and he then gave it a tacit recommendation that we should be using it too when he gave me a sample tube of Crest (along with floss and a new toothbrush). From that moment on, my Mother would look for the Crest brand of toothpaste for our family to use. When a brand is either directly or indirectly specified as “appropriate for optimal effectiveness” by an expert or by a complimentary good, then your brand’s ability to wield assortment, pricing, and promotional power at retail increase significantly. Sounds like a recipe for Retail Leverage (or inoculation against private label).
So how do you protect yourself?
THIS IS AN EXCERPT: TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK ON THE TITLE.
WHAT IS RETAIL MOMENTUM?
Now look at momentum from a retail perspective. Here at Retail Leverage, we’re defining Retail Momentum as when your sales velocity reaches critical mass. The definition works at all levels – it can occur in a single store, category, retailer, channel, or the entire market. Of course getting your sales to a high level and sustaining them is easier said than done. This is probably a good time to tell you this article isn’t about how to achieve a high level of sales and gain momentum. It’s about understanding Retail Momentum and ideas to keep from losing momentum.
By Vincent Young
Most categories at retail have room for a “good-better-best” stratification of category players. In today’s culture at retail, the retailer is predisposed to seek ownership of the “good” position by introducing an opening price-point category alternative under a private label or house brand. As a result, branded suppliers typically feel compelled to justify [...]
