It’s a given that if you go into a supermarket, the name brand costs more. But, why do we keep falling for it? New website Brandless.com is disrupting the market by removing all labelling and selling everything from beauty goods to household items and food for $3.
The idea is simple, get rid of the ‘brand tax’ as CEO and co-founder Tina Sharkey refers to it. She figures that there is money to be made in a marketplace ruled by big name consumer giants like Procter & Gamble if you reimagine how branding operates. The company has calculated that customers generally pay 40% more on branded products and up to 370% more on branded cosmetics.
Compromising on quality is not an option for Brandless. For the website to work, they have gone out of their way to be as sustainable as possible, omitting animal testing and aligning with all necessary earth and safety regulations. For instance, their feminine hygiene products are made from hypoallergenic certified organic cotton, free of chlorine, rayon, fragrance, or dyes. They believe this will make dubious consumers trust the quality of what they are buying.
As the company is online-only the cost of real estate isn’t passed on to the consumer. Cutting costs in smart ways like this and creating a Costco-style membership option, where customers can subscribe and receive incentives, helps Brandless cut corners and keep their price stable.
Though the website is only available to American shoppers right now, it hints at how the marketplace might be changing. After the 2008 recession 93% of grocery store shoppers swapped to private-label products, and now they’ve experience first-hand the quality, one can only imagine with Brexit looming and consumers feeling pinched more and more they will begin to turn their back on flashy labelled goods once again.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.