Brands and Retailers: How to Reach Better Collaboration

The pandemic stirred up eCommerce waters. Customer behavior and customer relationship suddenly became more important than ever and we’ve been overwhelmed with different research regarding this topic. While customer behavior received huge attention, one sphere was left less-documented – how the relationship between brands and retailers was affected by this situation?

We are witnessing an enormous spike in the retailer’s eCommerce sales which has brought them to the point where they struggle with meeting the demand. On the other side, many brands were faced with supply chain disruption and with significant price drops. The million-dollar question is how do brands and retailers maintain a collaborative relationship and save what can be saved in this challenging situation?

New Ways of Collaboration Between Brands and Retailers

There is no business area that wasn’t affected by the changes that COVID-19 has brought. Everyone had to rethink ways of doing business – including brands and retailers. 

Let’s discuss some of the possible steps for overcoming this challenge.

1. Work in Advance For Preparing The Buyers For Their Store Visit

• Create personalized offers for your customers. The most effective ways of delivering these offers would be via email or via some mobile apps.
• Brands and retailers need to invest the time and effort into targeting buyers before they come to the store. By doing so, you’ll appear as a search result while the customers are surfing on the Internet, and they’ll become aware of you and your offer.
• Additionally, empower your presence on social media channels – they usually don’t require too much money but provide effective returns.

2. Leverage The Popularity of Home Activities 

During the pandemic, customers have been forced to change their habits, including the ones regarding shopping. Everyone returned to home activities – preparing meals instead of going to restaurants, thinking of new ways of reorganizing the living space, finding ways to spend time at home and entertain ourselves, etc. What can brands and retailers do with this information?

• Use this opportunity to connect with potential customers by inspiring and educating them. You can always publish a blog post. Offer them some fresh, interesting idea of how they can spend their time at home by using some of the products that you’re offering. That way you’ll encourage them to order or to come to the store with the set goal and purpose. 
• As people are forming new habits, think of social channels that would be most suitable for creating engagement with customers.
• Focus on planning – if you’re a brand, provide the retailers with your trade and seasonal plans on time. That way they’ll be informed about your activities and they can also prepare their strategy for attracting customers.

3. Brands and Retailers Need to Make The Most Out of The Full Shops

Paradoxically, shops have never been fuller and emptier at the same time, especially at the begging of the pandemic. People were afraid of shortages, therefore they’ve been buying excessively. That’s when supply chains received the first hit.

• Where supply is strong, retailers can again introduce promotions. They just need to make sure to limit the number of offers across brand variants.
• Although customers tended to buy only the essentials, as time went on, they were also searching for something new to spice up their routine. Therefore, retailers and brands can come up with new essential products. Customers will appreciate some variety. 

4. Have a Better Understanding of The Competitor’s Actions

The changes that the whole world has faced during previous months were huge. Those changes affected the shopping habits, and even though some sense of normality is back, it’s questionable if the shopping experience will ever be completely the same. 

Both brands and retailers are investigating the market to find the best possible solutions in these unpredictable times. Since everyone is seeking and experimenting with new plans of action, it more important than ever to have an understanding of competitor’s behavior. 

One of the most used answers to this disrupted market situation is a frequent price change. Usually, both brands and retailers have a lot of competitors, hence it’s very challenging to keep track of everything on their own. Therefore, it’s very handy to use some of the price monitoring tools, such as Price2Spy. With the help of Price2Spy, you’ll be able to monitor your competitors and to make more precise pricing decisions, regardless if you’re a brand or a retailer.

In Conclusion

Brands and retailers must find a way to understand each other’s new priorities and make the best out of their collaboration. Brands need to help retailers in offering customers a variety of choices, while retailers must reciprocate by ensuring that brands can profit as well in this unknown situation for everyone.

If you’re also a brand or a retailer who’s been struggling with defining the best prices and keeping up with the competition, we invite you to try Price2Spy’s 30 days free trial.

What kind of challenges have you faced during the pandemic? Share your experience with us in the comment section.