The Importance of a Branding & a Branded Product

Today the opportunities to create online businesses are numerous. Many people can sit at the comfort of their desk and import products online through the array of b2b platforms that exist. With large ecommerce platforms like Amazon, Ebay and here in NZ TradeMe it makes it even easier for importers to sell their products. Some people don't even purchase their products themselves but use a concept known as 'drop shipping' - where once a customer has purchased a product the product is shipped directly from the factory to the customer. Other online sellers will go the extra step and create a little website for themselves to make them look a little more authentic and genuine. This means there are thousands of products out there that look exactly the same and how is the consumer to choose between them? Especially online where the consumer is unable to touch and feel the product it becomes increasingly difficult. In more traditional retail spaces the modern day consumer understands the difference between a $5.00 white t shirt from some seller on TradeMe and a $50.00 white t shirt from say Country Road. The consumer knows that the cheaper shirt is going to be made of cheaper material and not feel as nice as the more expensive one, also the quality isn't going to be as good so after a few washes it begins to loose it's shape; the consumer also knows they are more likely to get great help if they have an issue with the $50 t shirt. 

Here at Larala Lights we've noticed the same thing has start to happen. We're starting to get the odd enquiry from New Zealand based customers who have purchased a cheap no branded product from Trade Me, an online store or even a physical shop and they lose the charger, the battery dies or the whole light stops working after a short while. They are then stuck with no one to resolve their issues. Just last week we had someone with 2 x mini lamps and a large LED Flower Pot (which combined would have been worth at least $700) contact us for help. Unfortunately they had lost the chargers and had never had remotes for them in the first place. We were able to help them immediately with a charger we had from our range that thankfully fitted their Mini Lamps. The large LED Flower Pot which is 80cm tall and 77cm in diameter at the top was a bit trickier as it never came with a remote and it was a unique charging system. However we were able to replace the entire LED light base with a Larala Lights LED base. This then allowed the customer to be able to charge the LED Flower Pot as well as control it by a remote. Without the help of Larala it is likely the LED illuminated Flower Pot would have remained unlit.

This is why it is important for consumers to ensure they are purchasing from a reputable supplier. If you're buying a product from a retailer and it has no brand or labelling on it make sure you enquire with the retailer what will happen if there is a problem say 6 months down the line. If you're buying from the internet make sure you find out what their return policies and guarantees are. If a product costs you $20 less but breaks in the first month after the warranty ends, and another product could have cost you $20 more and last three times as long then obviously it's a far better decision to pay $20 more in the first place.