How to Win the Multi-Brand Retail Game?

Store owners are finding new ways to attract customers and some of them have followed the road of multi-brand retail. This developing direction has proved huge efficiency as it brings fruitful results for the merchants. Today, let’s find out everything you want to know about multi-brand retail. If you’re wondering this style is tailor-made for you, we promise you can find the answer from our article. But first,

What is Multi-brand Retail?

As its name suggested, multi-brand stores are those who sell more than one brand. Different from single-brand retail where store owners set up the location to sell the same brand, multi-vendor stores have a wide range of products for consumers to choose from. For example, department stores or outlets are the traditional multi-brand retail since visitors can easily find various brands and pick the suitable items. With the booming of eCommerce, many retailers can agree to sell their brands on only one site. On the other hand, stores like Nike or Zara only have the products of the brands. There are lots of famous multi-brand retail that you’ve already known like Walmart or Amazon. These businesses have simplified the process of shopping for millions of people around the world. 

Types of Multi-brand Retail

There are three types of multi-brand stores currently. The first type is based on the brand’s identity: Customers can differentiate products through brand images, and all the services are a branch of the main enterprise. FedEx is the most reputable name that follows this trend. FedEx has many services such as FedEx Services, FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery, etc. All the businesses are a part of FedEx Corporation, and consumers can easily point it out. The second type you may see is based on brands’ names. People can call each brand differently, however, they are supported by the same company. You can find this phenomenon at Virgin Group Ltd. The last type is when you don’t see any relation between brands since the names and designs are kept separated. Instagram and Whatsapp belong to Facebook but not everyone knows that. I bet consumers have no idea that Gap is the owners of the Old Navy and the Banana Republic.   

The surprisingly huge benefits of Multi-brand Retail

Some may say following multi-vendor business will bring you to a dead-end since it’s nearly impossible to put every element into order. Well, they haven’t looked far enough.

Diversify in products

The most important advantage of multi-brand retail is its wide range of products. Consumers can easily find a suitable choice for them, both in quality and price since the business offers various options from different brands.  This also a great choice for brand-switchers – the buyers who always want to experiment with different products.  You don’t have to worry about running out of items as the connected system between your partners guarantee that consumers can always find the products that they like. Thanks to the diversified categories, multi-brand stores can quickly satisfy the needs of the market and catch up with the newest trends. With the variety of brands you got, your store can create superiority over the market and your competitors. Customers will always choose your store because of the quick update and high adaptation to the demand of the market.

Advertise more effectively

With more than one brand in your store, you can get support from your partners in the marketing field. Rather only advertise by yourself, you have other brands promote your images to more consumers.  Besides, you have more options to showcase your strength. Lots of brands partner can be a sign of a reliable business. Your diversity is a winning point for customers: Who doesn’t love to save time for more necessary tasks?   With more features to be advertised, you can create many marketing plans to bring you closer to the consumers. This will definitely increase the traffic to your page as people want to explore more about the possibility of your business.

Organize the budget smartly

Cooperation with other brands also means saving lots of resources. 

Firstly, you are helping them to sell more products, so there will be an affiliate fee for other brands to be a part of your business. This helps you maintain and upgrade your store according to the brands you’re working with. Next, as the multi-brand retail, you don’t need to have an inventory, since each brand will have its own storage. You definitely save the cost of renting a location and human resources to follow its performance. 

What to prepare for a successful Multi-brand Retail?

After understanding the amazing benefit of multi-brand retail, now you must wonder how to make this vision come true. Below are some recommendations on what to prepare for the new business.

Get permission from other cooperating brands

It will mean nothing for a multi-vendor store to have no brand working with it. So the first thing to do is contacting the chosen businesses that fit your style and offer them to let you sell their products.  Getting permission will clarify the process and profit for each party, as well as strengthening mutual trust between brands to avoid fraud.

Create a workflow for orders and shipping management

To ensure the process is smooth, you should draw a comprehensive plan for orders and shipping management. As distributing products from different brands, it is important to follow all the transactions. A clear workflow also helps you create satisfying customer experiences, which increase your revenue and influence shortly. 

Set the price

Pricing is the most important factor to decide the success of a multi-brand business. If you set it too high, customers will come to the single-brand store and purchase right away. So it’s better to prepare suitable pricing to fit with all the brands and at the same time guarantee the profit for each individual provider.

Choose a suitable online platform

With the booming of eCommerce, bringing your multi-brand store online is the strategy of many store owners right now. It’s crucial to create a user-friendly platform that is trustworthy, scalable and safe. You cannot run your business on an unstable service.   We suggest you choose Magento – the best open-source eCommerce platform right now. 

How to actually win the Multi-brand Retail game?

Now you know what to prepare for the real battle. However, let us show you how to win the multi-brand game. With careful preparation and smart moves, you can boost sales higher than you’ve ever expected.

Understand your targets

The ultimate goal of every business is to make customers buy more and gain profit. So if you don’t understand your customers, you cannot win in any business. For a multi-vendor store, this issue is more severe: You sell lots of different product categories but if they don’t serve the needs of your targets, you won’t go anywhere. It’s a huge problem not only for you but also for your partners.  So remember to do market research before any big decision.

Optimize online platform

Even when you have chosen the number 1 platform, it’s vital to equip it with modern tools to maximize its performance. Your huge database should be put on clouds, which is a better way to keep your info safe and organized.  Multi-brand retail should not ignore the power of the extensions like Mega Menu or Shop By Brand. It helps you group your products based on brands, create a brand page and manage all the activities relating to brands and their products. For Magento-based websites, we introduce you to the best Magento Brands extension by Magenest. The product is trusted by hundreds of stores with helpful features and easy configuration. This will bring a helping hand to the development of your multi-brand store.

Ensure a streamlined and standard process

According to research, 74% of customers walk away because of poor customer service and difficult buying process, while the same percentage falls in love with a brand for its helpful support. As a multi-brand store, you should maintain the quality of your services by keeping a smooth and simple session for your business.  Integrating a secure and smart payment gateway will ensure customers enjoy the shopping journey at your store.

Check-up regularly

Managing many different brands can be a tiring job, however, you cannot forget to keep track regularly. Reports to answer important questions like ‘Is the inventory available?’ or ‘How’s the performance of brand A this month?’ should always be thoroughly conducted. This info plays a major role in determining your future tactics.  Besides, checking up frequently allows you to update and adapt to new changes in the modern world. 

To conclude,

Multi-brand stores are becoming more and more familiar with consumers. This is a smart strategy to tackle the problems of product diversity and cost reduction. Based on practical needs, you can choose this road to take your business to a whole new level. Although managing multi-vendor retail can be stressful, when you get over the challenges, your brands will witness a strong growth that guarantees to payback for all the hard-works before. So if this is your choice, take the chance and reach for bigger goals!