The tug-of-war between major brands and in-house “store brands” has escalated with the arrival of Amazon. Major product brand owners have always been nervous as grocery stores, hardware stores and big-box / warehouse stores rolled out their own brands. Amazon’s level of control over the consumer buying journey takes the conversation beyond digital “end-caps.”
Peter Horan and I discuss what happens when a retailer becomes the frictionless source for in-house and major brands simultaneously. Consumer access to brands and products has never been more frictionless. Should brand owners be worried?
We cover a lot of other topics including Apple Stores, the power of brands to extract profit from a market, and the “evacuation of the middle” and why boutique/niche companies and giants make high-profit margins, but middle-market players struggle.
Check out part two of the interview below.
