Retail Marketing

An important issue facing large retailers that design and contract for the production of private label merchandise is the best way to select a manufacturer. Retailers use production facilities located in developing countries for much of their private label merchandise because of the very low labor costs. To counterbalance the lower acquisition costs however there are other expenses that can in crease the costs of sourcing private label merchandise from other countries. These include relative value of foreign currencies, tariffs, longer lead times and increased transportation costs. Once the decision has been made about which and how much private label merchandise will be acquired the designers develop a complete specification and work with the sourcing department to find a manufacturer for the merchandise.

Counterfeit merchandise includes goods made and sold without the permission of the owner of a trademark or copyright. They are intellectual property that is tangible and created by intellectual effort as opposed to a physical effort. Gray market goods also known as parallel imports refer to the flow of merchandise through distribution channels other than those authorized or intended b the manufacturer or producer. The selling of counterfeit merchandise is illegal but the selling of gray market goods is not illegal. I dont think that the selling of counterfeit merchandise should be legal because it is an inaccurate product that was not invented by that person. Gray marketing is simply finding a better more profitable outlet for your merchandise.

The difference between national and private label brands are stated here. Buying from vendors of national brands can help retailers build their image and traffic flow and reduce their selling/promotional expenses. Many customer have developed loyalty to their specific national brands. National brand vendors devote considerable resources to creating images of their brands that build customer loyalty. As...