Bol.com has been leading the way as the strongest retail brand in the Netherlands since the start of the Retail Brand Survey in 2015. That other homegrown growth spectacle – Action – is entering the top three for the first time. Both can expect the largest growth in the customer base, according to the Retail Brand Survey 2023.
Action also wins the award for the best price-quality ratio, which Retail Trends presents for the first time.
Top 5 Price - Quality Ratio in the Netherlands:
Action
Lidl
Ikea
Kruidvat
Hema
Top 10 strongest retail name in the Netherlands:
Bol.com
Kruidvat
Action
Hema
Albert Heyn
Ikea
Lidl
Blokker
Jumbo
Coolblue
There is absolutely no question of a quiet time of flourishing after the hectic corona period in retail land. The competition is fiercer than ever, with each side fighting hard for a small gain over the competition.
Never before have the position shifts in the top hundred strongest retail brands been as large as this year. No less than a third of all retailers have seen their position rise or fall by at least five places since 2022.
Major outliers are Holland & Barrett (rising from 61st place to number 46) and BCC (dropping from 40th to 51st place). However, even for these two retail chains, the absolute brand value development is limited, if we make a comparison with the previous research measurements. The battle for the consumer euro is increasingly about the details.
MediaMarkt is falling again
Just like two years ago, MediaMarkt will be in the list of strongest fallers in 2023. According to the research results, the strength and image of the German electronics chain is less strong than parties such as bol.com and Coolblue, which are able to strengthen their brand position. According to consumers, Bol.com and Coolblue distinguish themselves on convenience, the quality of their range and the attractiveness of the price. MediaMarkt is not only sinking because of the reduced visibility of the brand. Developments are also negative on the other two pillars of brand power – appreciation and loyalty. In total, the brand is shrinking by three percent compared to last year.
MediaMarkt has surrendered 3% of its brand value
It is striking that consumers now experience the electronics chain as less visible. MediaMarkt spent more than 1.1 million euros on advertising in the Netherlands in the run-up to the World Cup, making it the largest advertiser among retailers.
Competitor BCC will lose a similar part of its brand value this year, mainly due to a drop in awareness. This may be caused by the end of the collaboration with Wehkamp. Wehkamp has been offering BCC electronics products since 2018. Due to disappointing sales figures and high costs for maintaining double stock, the partnership came to an end after four years.
Jan Linders says goodbye in place 88
The fact that the Jan Linders brand, just before the rebranding to Albert Heijn, is one of the biggest fallers of 2023, will probably not interest the parties involved. More annoying is the comparable decline of Vomar Voordeelmarkt and Nettorama. It is vital for these supermarket chains to positively distinguish themselves from the major players.
The significant drop in awareness and appreciation in the period 2022-2023 does not help to avoid the continuous threat of takeovers. None of the other Superunie members (Boni, Coop, DekaMarkt, Hoogvliet, Nettorama, Poiesz and Spar) succeeded in increasing their brand value.
Wehkamp again among the strongest descenders
While Wehkamp was the Dutch market leader in online shopping for many years, the Zwolle company will be back in the list of strongest fallers in 2023, just like three years ago. Wehkamp does not succeed in making its distinctive character clear compared to other online players or physical stores. This may change if the company starts setting up more specialized webshops, as previously announced.
Jumbo back to position of 2017
Due to the load of negative publicity surrounding the departed CEO Frits van Eerd and the advertising miss during the World Cup, the brand value of the Jumbo supermarket chain has dropped significantly. The cliché that negative attention is also attention is once again true: all the fuss makes Jumbo's brand awareness rise slightly.
However, the brand value is falling considerably due to a decline in appreciation for the chain and the connection that consumers felt with the always so sympathetic Brabant company. For five years, Jumbo held eighth place in the national ranking of strongest retail brands. In 2023, the chain will be back in ninth place from 2017.
Holland & Barrett now only at the level of De Tuinen
The enormous impact of a brand name change on a brand's value becomes clear when we look at Holland & Barrett. This year, the brand is experiencing a growth spurt, which means that it is now 46th in the top hundred strongest retail brands. A year ago this was still the 61st place.
However, only seven years after the rebranding, it is now just as strong as the old De Tuinen brand. In the meantime, the reputation has changed considerably. While De Tuinen had a much more soft and creative image, Holland & Barrett is known as a price and promotion driven health store. Thanks to the marketing efforts, the appreciation for the chain and the bond among consumers is now much stronger than at De Tuinen.
Shein, the Chinese online fast fashion retailer, is the second strongest riser of 2023. A remarkable development after all the negative publicity about poor working conditions and forced labour. The research results show that consumers quickly forgot about media reports. The appreciation for the international fashion giant has even increased significantly in the past year.
Likeability is the most important brand personality factor
In order to explain the development of brand power, retailers are monitored on sixteen brand personality factors in the Retail Brand Research. This offers insight into the atmosphere around the brand as if it were a human being.
The strongest relationship with brand value appears to lie in how sympathetic consumers find an organization. In 2023, Dutch consumers have by far the most sympathy for HEMA. The numbers two and three, IKEA and bol.com, follow at a considerable distance.
Value for money most important brand performance factor
Even before inflation erupted, the relationship between price and quality was already the most important functional characteristic of a successful brand. Over time, however, the importance of this factor has further increased, as has the often related promotion intensity of a retailer.
You get the most value for money at Action and Lidl, according to Dutch consumers. This is followed by IKEA, Kruidvat and HEMA. Especially at Kruidvat, Action and Lidl, the strong price position appears to be the result of a continuous stream of price promotions.
Bol.com again leader in brand strength and growth expectation
The turnover potential of bol.com appears to increase every year. For the ninth time in a row, the online department store is head and shoulders above the other retailers when it comes to brand strength.
According to Dutch consumers, Bol.com is also number one again when it comes to the greatest future growth in its customer base. Since 2022, however, bol.com has had to share this leading position with Action. Shoppers in the Netherlands have by far the most admiration for the two companies in terms of innovative entrepreneurship.
The only party that has dropped out of the top five expected growers compared to last year is Amazon. The American competitor of bol.com falls back to eleventh place. With Action, Lidl, Aldi and IKEA as other top brands of the future, physical shopping is clearly on the rise. The competitive price profile helps these players enormously in inflationary times.
Source: RetailTrends
#smartdiscount #action #netherlands #retailtrends #brand #preferance #research #winner #pricequality #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting
