This white paper reviews the types of retailer / own brands and compares them to “owned” brands created by retailers and available exclusively through their own retail chain.

Why as a retailer would you want to create owned brands, rather than go the basic value or retailer branded proposition? First of all you can create something of longer-term value, which remains yours, rather than creating brand value for someone else. Secondly there is the potential for margin improvement. Admittedly that may be less significant than you think initially – for example if you are going to invest in creating a real brand, then the gross margin improvement will be offset by the brand building costs, but again these are investments in something that is yours. Finally you can create a real brand which is genuinely exclusive to you.