A Walk Down the Grocery Aisle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Walk Down the Grocery Aisle - Essay Example As national brands are typically considered to be cutting-edge and associated with higher quality, they must emphasize that they are irreplaceable, that they are a better value despite their higher price, and get on board with Internet marketing to earn repeated business and ensure product availability. When retailers co-brand with national brands, both tend to profit. To stay competitive and ensure profits, both sides must focus on the unique advantages that only their products can provide consumers, whether it is quality, price, locality, availability, value, or variety. New difficulties and opportunities show their face in the grocery business during changing times. A tough economy poses great challenges for national brands, which see consumers often sacrificing quality as they purchase lower-cost store brand alternatives. This added challenge for national brands opens up greater opportunities for retailers, which can better cater to the financial struggles of customers with their cheaper store brands. However, when an upturn in the economy hits, store brands must prepare for consumers returning to the familiar national brands, as they can afford the more expensive national brands. But because store brands have been perceived as having higher and higher quality, national brand companies cannot always count on customers returning to their products, as they might not see the dividends in paying a lot more for a national product that is not that much different than the retailer’s cheaper substitute. A shifting economy can pose problems for both store brands and national brands, bringing to the forefront issues with pricing, quality, and value. There are many things that both store brands and national brands can do to overcome challenges brought about by changing economic times so that they can ensure success. Changing up their game plans and crafting effective marketing approaches can make both sides winners. With the rising