Gone are the days when store brands or private labels were considered cheaper alternatives and copycats of national brands. Just as is the case with any brand building activity, building a store brand or private label requires strong amount of customer orientation and an innovative strategic approach. Across the globe, it has been found to be a potent weapon for retailers to create differentiation and strong customer loyalty. They have also been found to enhance category profitability and negotiation power of retailers. There are severalnproduct categories where private labels or store brands have been found to earn greater revenues compared to national brands. In India, the significance of store brands is fast increasing. It is not just the grocery retailers that are developing various private labels in order to cater to regional palettes but also the apparel retailers like Pantaloons and Shoppers Stop, who are developing their own clothing line. In all, the prospect for store brands looks quite promising as it seems to be an attractive proposition not just for the retailers but also for the customers.

1 Pradeep S. and Dhamayanthi L.,Private Labels/ Store Brands- The Money maker”, http://www.indianmba.com/ Occasional_Papers/OP132/ op132.html, November 2006.
2 Khicha Preeti, “What’s in Store for Private Labels?”, http://www.brandchannel.com/ features_effect.asp?pf_id=399, December 10th 2007
3 The Power of Private label, h tt p : //a t . n i e l s e n . com/p u bs / documents/PrivateLabel_RMS.pdf, March 2008.
4 The Power of Private Label: A Review of Growth Trends, http://www2.acnielsen.com/reports/documents/ 2005_privatelabel.pdf, March 2008.