Label your merchandise

Building brand identity is certainly not a cake-walk. Experts, entrepreneurs, brand gurus say establishing brand identity is the toughest job of the retail game and once that is achieved, you are almost a winner. In doing so, labeling of your merchandise helps a lot. Established labels easily gain confidence of a new customer, which ultimately helps in letting a stronger grip over sales.

The benefits

To create the brand identity, private label contributes much. The private label brand is becoming a favorite amongst many retailers. Even without having a brick & mortar store, many retailers opt for a private label to enhance their brand identity.  Labeling improves visibility and sales in long run. Whereas, non-labeled merchandise usually fails in gaining recognition, owner of such merchandise can never gain a market hold.

Challenges for startups

Undoubtedly, it could be a tough task for the beginners. For them, it is extremely important to have strong and resourceful team from the beginning. The major challenge in developing a private label primarily includes achieving recognition. Also reaching out to retailers is a challenge. With patience, and a lot of hard-work and networking, a brand can successfully launch their private label and establish in the market psyche. Addressing the same, Akhilesh Prasad, COO, Reliance Trends, shares, "There is always a need of thorough research before jumping into developing a designer label. You must pick right trend and pulse of the market before developing any label in any specific industry, this formula also apply on clothing industry." Trends is a recently launched apparel brand from Reliance.

Label vs brand- Are these two interchangeable?

These two terms are considered as synonyms. However, there is fine line between these two. Label can be just a name if it lacks of intrinsic value; whereas a brand is about quality and value in product. Brand comes after recognition in market. 

”label is a brand that is sold under a prestigious marquee. In terms of customers, we believe that the market responds better to brands that have established themselves as reputable and sophisticated labels that offer statistically well-received products”, says  Krsna Mehta, Owner, India Circus.