Trust: it’s what business is built on. But can you trust any retailer not to steal a good idea or a great product? The answer, of course, is no. Retail is built on plagiarism. The saying goes ‘there is no such thing as a new idea in retail’. So how safe should small suppliers feel when they pitch their products to a retailer?
I would say they should approach any multiple retailer in any sector with a sense of trepidation. The recent case of Holland & Barrett allegedly copying a product it had been shown at a trade show highlights the dangers of having a good idea!
Grocery retailers are always looking for new products and very rarely will they come up with a brand new idea. They have teams trawling trade shows, other retailers, online marketplaces and any retailer on the high street, all looking for the latest new idea or trend.
The H&B allegations pretty rare – I wouldn’t say it’s common practice for retailers to be copying a product that has been presented to them. M&S was accused of it in 2022, when it launched chocolate matchsticks. In that instance, the idea had been pitched to M&S buyers by a small supplier, but the team heard nothing back. After a social media backlash, M&S agreed to sell the original products on its shelves.
But the plagiarism we have come to expect generally comes in two forms: the first one is copying a product you have seen, the second is copying a product you have sold.
In both instances, the hard work is done by someone else. The idea and originality has been thought up by someone free of the rules you encounter when working within a large-scale retailer. Big retailers are inherently low risk-takers. This means they need someone else to take the risk first.
The first route – copying a product you have seen – is something Aldi blatantly does and has got away with for years (until its latest court case). As a buyer, we would have innovation trips, looking for new ideas or products. I spent a week eating cupcakes in New York looking for new ideas for our home bake range, and eating burgers for that same purpose!
The second, more common route is for retailers to launch a product as a brand, see how it goes, and then launch their own version if it proves successful. This is accepted by the large, branded manufacturers, but when a small supplier has it happen to them, they can’t believe it and are justifiably outraged.
There is a flip side to the argument. The innovation teams in the retailers will see and taste literally hundreds of products. Sometimes they will see something, forget about it and then the idea will come back to them, so they are convinced it is their idea. Every product manager wants to launch successful products, not failures, and innovation is littered with more failures than success stories. Is it any wonder we see retailers looking to take shortcuts to success?
It was said that it was quicker to have a baby than to launch a new product, as typically the process would take 12 months. Retail is moving at such pace now that these timeframes are too long. Small, independent manufacturers can launch products faster, and then use social media to create demand.
When this happens, don’t be surprised to see it on the shelves of a major retailer. It’s just what they do.
Ged Futter is the director of The Retail Mind
No comments yet