Retail branding is an essential part of any retail business. A strong retail brand will help you to stand out from your competitors, attract your target customers, and create a memorable impression for them that keeps them coming back time and time again.
Getting your brand identity right also shows your customers and clients what they can expect from your retail business in terms of quality, range, and pricing.
The retail industry is a very competitive and customer-based sector. Strong retail branding will also help you stand out from the competition and foster customer trust and loyalty while growing revenue.
This blog explains why it is so important and provides some tips about how to create successful retail branding.
What is retail branding?
All successful brands and retail stores know what their customers want and understand their decision journey. The digital revolution has changed consumer engagement and behaviour immensely, with purchases now happening in physical stores and online. Both of these ways of shopping come with different expectations and challenges making it more important to have a sustainable retail branding strategy that can evolve to meet customer expectations. Some things to consider with your strategy are:- building long-term customer loyalty
- customer preference
- how your brand makes your customers feel: this includes when they enter a physical store or shop digitally
- create cross-channel consistency
Why Is Retail Branding Important?
Successful retail branding can help your business stand out from its competitors. It draws new customers into your physical store with the increased footfall leading to more sales. Building and maintaining a strong and sustainable retail branding strategy helps make a memorable shopping experience for customers. In turn, this can increase your brand's image and value, helping customers, both old and new, to know what to expect from your company. A key part of your retail marketing strategy is having an effective design that gives customers a comprehensive understanding of your brand, helping them to enjoy the products which leads to increased sales. Good retail branding design helps to narrate your visual identity and brand image. This helps you to meet consumer expectations by creating a positive emotional connection with your products. All of these factors help to establish a strong brand story and personality which encourages customers to have confidence and trust your company. Developing the trust of your target audience is one of the key challenges many brands face both in the physical and online world.Popular Retail Branding Strategies
| What It Is | Branding Strategy |
| Consistent Visual Identity | A consistent brand identity is essential so that customers get to know your business and its values. In-store design and layout, POS, social media, and customer service all need to be consistent both in the visuals and messaging. |
| Customer Experience Focus | It's crucial to engage with customers to draw their attention to your brand. A highly engaged customer will buy more therefore creating a personalised experience is a key element of a successful branding strategy. |
| Storytelling and Brand Narrative | Your brand narrative tells the story of your business and is a value-driven connection between you and your customers. The most powerful stories are authentic and relate to your brand values without force-feeding a direct narrative about what you sell. |
| Engagement For Target Audience | Brand marketing is the process of establishing, maintaining, and growing a relationship between your brand and your target audience. Your branding should encourage the people you want to buy from you to engage with your brand not just by purchasing, but by sharing and reviewing what you sell. |
| Sustainability and Social Responsibility | Brands can inspire their customers to adopt sustainable practices by setting a good example. An integrated approach to green branding involves minimising a company’s environmental footprint, promoting social responsibility, and ensuring long-term economic sustainability, for example, by using green deliveries, and eco-friendly packaging. |
Some Other Areas Of Retail Branding To Consider
Customer Engagement
Customer engagement is the emotional interaction between the consumer and the business, both online and offline. The competitive nature of the retail environment means it's crucial to repeatedly engage with customers as this will draw their attention, and hopefully business, to your brand. A highly engaged customer will buy more, promote more, and show more loyalty, which is exactly what any business wants. Personalised experiences are vitally important for today's consumers with the most successful branding strategies generating perceptions that truly focus on customer experience.Brand Identity
Brand identity is how a company portrays itself to consumers, this relates to all of the visual aspects of the brand - colours, logos, design, packaging. The visual identity of a brand is also made up by reputation and customer service, all of which contribute to building the customers image of your brand. Your aim should be to distinguish your brand from the rest, through distinctive print marketing to an established online presence - the more unique and personal it is, the more recognisable your brand will be.Brand Awareness
It goes without saying, but you need to get your brand out there! Brand awareness is a term that describes how familiar consumers are with a brand or its products. You want your brand to be recognisable and memorable to your target audience, ensuring to distinguish yourself from the competitors and clarifying what it is you offer that makes you the better choice. In order to increase footfall and encourage consumers to choose you over competitors you need to get yourself out there.Consistency
Consistency is key! A consistent brand is essential because the more consistent you are, the more familiar you will become, which over time builds trust and loyalty. In-store design and layout, POS, promotions, your product range and your social and other online channels all need to demonstrate a similar look, feel and tone so consumers become familiar with your business and subsequently build trust.Brand Marketing
Brand marketing is the process of establishing, maintaining and growing a relationship between the brand and consumer. Rather than focusing solely on the products of services, brand marketing promotes the entirety of the brand itself.How Can Simpson Group Help With Retail Branding?
Simpson Group can ensure all of your print marketing materials are consistent with your retail branding. To find out more about any of our services don’t hesitate to contact the team!