Question

Will you consider a store brand over a more well-known brand for all product categories or are there some products you seek out when only the brand will do? (you may think outside of apparel here).

Can you think of a recent private-label purchase that was either surprisingly satisfying or disappointing?

Answer 1

Personally I prefer well-known brands as much as possible compared to the store brands even though the quality is almost the same in many of the products, especially for the edible items. This is because well-known brands will be having the necessary quality certifications and licenses (like FSSAI in India, FDA in the US, etc., ) compared to the store brands. Apart from them, I used to choose store brands for products if they satisfy the quality needs and if I have tried and satisfied with them compared to the other brands. Before I had a perception that well-known brands are costlier because of several factors like the marketing strategies they have adopted, unique packaging, etc., but once I pushed myself to try them, I realized that most of them are not costlier compared to the quality while some of them even they, if they are costlier, seems reasonable. For example, If I buy a normal shoe from a regular store, I last for a year maximum. The same product, in a well-known brand, lasts for another additional year even if the price is high. By calculating the overall money I was sending, I realized that I am spending more on the regular store brands thinking that I am saving money while I am not.

The recent private-label purchase that I was surprisingly satisfied is Zara. Zara works on an internal product development in which they don’t sell other brands in their stores. This is mainly because of the quality of the product compared to its price. I bought a blazer in Zara that was used for a wedding function, and the price of the product is cheaper than I expected as the quality of the blazer was close to premium one. Apart from the quality of the material, the fittings best suited my body when I was trying different brands which didn’t suit me well. The brand surprised my very much that I was even wondering why I didn't consider the same for my previous purchases.