The traditional retail branding landscape has undergone a sea change. Three factors have contributed to this aspect:

• Emergence and development of digital platforms.
• Emphasis on customer experience.
• Merging of physical and digital platforms.

Therefore, the entire branding process has become a lot more complicated than before. This complexity can be further attributed to:

•  The necessity of proper brand positioning in the eyes of the customer and the markets.
• Balancing online and offline brand image.

Therefore, brands must understand a few key aspects of branding for retail sector.

• Understanding the consumer decision process

Consumer decision processes have changed due to a shift in their approach to the retailers. This change in approach has also resulted in a significant reduction in brand loyalty. Meaning, customers might show a tendency to switch from one brand to another in a very short time span.

Therefore, it becomes all the more vital for retailers to understand the entire process of consumer decision making. This would help them build a brand strategy that consistently touches all critical points to ensure brand loyalty. Brand loyalty, in turn, actively increases consumer retention.

• Staying abreast of global trends

Actions of consumers are now primarily influenced by global trends. This too is a result of the growing significance of social media. Nevertheless, latest trends emerge and exit in the blink of an eye.

Therefore, brands must also make themselves flexible to these changes to stay within consumer visibility.

• Personalisation

The current branding scenario is characterised by creating person-specific experiences. Consumers today expect brands to cater to their specific requirements. However, a successful branding strategy involves providing personalised experiences to every customer.

This also means that brands must go beyond the digital space to ensure a better customer experience. Meaning brands have to strike a balance between offline and online marketing. Also, if a retailer has a strong physical presence, its branding initiative must capitalise on that first. Plus, it must focus on strengthening its digital presence while keeping its physical one intact.

What is a sustainable retail branding strategy?

There is no definitive retail branding strategy as such. Brands today must focus on maintaining a consistent market position. In addition to this, they must also focus on uniform communication on various touch points.

What are the various touch points?

Touchpoints today have spread across multiple channels, beginning right from physical stores to online purchase channels. Plus, these purchase channels have also spilled over to various social media platforms. This serves to increase the number of touch points involved making it even more difficult for brands to maintain their image.

How can brands cope with multiple touch points?

Brands have to look beyond the number of stores it has. Plus, they also have to adapt to the ever-changing consumer preferences. This further involves continuous investments in building a brand strategy. In addition to this, brands also have to focus on maintaining their core image. Meaning, brands today must also strike a balance between retaining their individuality while changing with emerging market trends. 

Branding for the retail sector, in current times, implies a thorough understanding of the customer's psychology. This, in turn, would enable businesses to build a connection with its target base, thereby enabling them to develop successful brand strategies.