Navigating retail brands for staying alive

Abstract

Purpose

A retail brand is an asset of value to the stakeholders. Nurturing it enhances quality and stability of earnings. Franchising it across emerging countries provides an opportunity for growth. The challenge, however, is to ensure that the brand stays “connected” with the local markets and “relevant” during changing times. Current research is highly inadequate in guiding the retail brands to stay vibrant when traveling to emerging markets. This research aims to look at how a successful fashion brand in the UK is struggling to grow its retail business through franchise in the Middle East. While the opportunity is vast, the retail brand has been struggling for it has not stayed “relevant”. The paper seeks to present a framework for monitoring its performance so the retail brand can “stay alive”.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative research was done to understand the profile of the walk‐in customers, their shopping behavior, spending motives, and lifestyles. Quantitative research was done to ascertain how the retail brand was perceived in comparison with other brands in the choice set. Further, the study investigated if the shoppers’ profile and preferences varied across different outlets located in different malls.

Findings

By carrying out the analyses, distinct segments were deciphered. It has been noticed that the customer profiles for the retail brand studied varied across different retail locations. Variations in their shopping preferences implied that different merchandising and in‐store promotion activities are required at different outlets to connect with different segments.

Originality/value

The research addresses the gaps in existing literature. The study emphatically confirms that a retail brand franchised cannot take its existence for granted. The study also presents a framework – a dashboard of retail metrics, for measuring, monitoring, evaluating and rejuvenating the performance of retail brands.

Citation

Grandhi, B., Singh, J. and Patwa, N. (2012), "Navigating retail brands for staying alive", EuroMed Journal of Business, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 66-82. https://doi.org/10.1108/14502191211225383