BRANDS POST-LOCKDOWN
AFTER 18 MONTHS OF LOCKDOWN, WHAT DO BRANDS NOW NEED TO CONSIDER?
COMMENT
With the help of vaccination or previous infection, we in the world’s leading industrialized nations are gradually inching towards herd immunity.
This means we can soon expect stores to reopen everywhere. Experts are predicting a sudden and huge surge in demand.
As a brand, what must I do to make the most of this restart?
First off, secure stock with the least possible risk in case the pandemic ends up lasting longer than expected. Then it’s time to start giving your brand some fresh exposure. Eighteen months is enough time for your brand to be forgotten, and in such a highly competitive environment, retailers may start to look elsewhere. While online selling established itself as a dynamic – albeit the only remaining – business model during the pandemic, brick-and-mortar multi-brand retail is now making a strong comeback.
As wonderful as it might be to sell online directly, sidestep the retail sector and improve your profit margins, this route may also be treacherous if it becomes your only sales channel. Some familiar problems remain: returns, rising online marketing costs and growing competition from other brands that threaten your visibility. On the other hand, businesses with multi-brand retailers can grow more quickly and, most crucially, internationally, as well as hand over sales to professionals who have built up their own loyal community and thus help determine who buys what.
As most brands have since learned for themselves, direct online sales are nowhere near as straightforward or as lucrative as they appear. Quite the opposite. In fact, many brands have wasted vast amounts of money, not least on deals with some expensive so-called influencers where the benefit-cost ratio ended up being far too low.
The truth lies in the middle. We need both online and offline. And we need close partnerships with retailers. It is possible to sell your brand independently online. But a nearby retail store offers customers additional services, such as in-store pick-up and returns, allowing them to also profit. The model also provides other benefits. For instance, retailers no longer need to stock everything. The customer can see a selection to check the quality of goods and then order the correct item online. The brand then sends the order directly to the customer: a win-win for brands and retailers. It’s an area with many innovative models but one that requires plenty of work.
What matters right now is shaking off this Covid funk, getting back out there, advertising and investing. Those who opt to just save won’t survive long.
A businessman trades, invests and takes calculated risks. Doing nothing, i.e., zero risk, often results in the opposite: the failure of your business model.