Windhoek
Team Namibia launched the campaign to raise awareness and educate customers on local products available in retail shops across the country.
The retail merchandising campaign, which started as a pilot phase last year, is conducted in partnership with the Namibia Trade Forum and aims to change the competitive retail landscape in Namibia. It also aims to assist businesses to occupy more than just shelf space but become more profitable, generating larger sales volumes and increasing their customer base.
“Team Namibia wants consumers to start familiarising themselves with local products occupying shelf space in retail stores, and purchase the products and inevitably make them part of their daily lives,” Team Namibia’s chief executive officer, Roberta da Costa, said yesterday at the launch of the campaign in Windhoek.
The campaign, which ends on the last day of November, will move to Otjiwarongo, Ongwediva, Ondangwa, Oshakati, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Outapi in retail stores Checkers, Spar, Shoprite, Engen Service Station, Fruit & Veg, Pick n Pay, Woermann Brock, Agra and Pupkewitz.
Throughout the duration of the campaign, products will benefit from increased brand visibility and awareness, as a large number of local businesses in Namibia are financially unable to market their products on radio, television and print media, or take advantage of in-store promotional activities to create visibility for their products. The retail merchandising campaign will also see products spending less time on the shelf, translating into consistent revenue and reducing the amount of losses that could have been incurred as a result of expired products.
According to the Namibia Trade Forum’s chief executive officer, Ndiitah Nghipondoka-Robiati, the annual campaign had unquestionably become a pillar in assisting Namibia to meet its Growth at Home Strategy, by helping local products access markets at home, as well as increase the consumption of local products domestically and abroad.
“The Namibia Trade Forum’s vision of facilitating public/private dialogue to create a conducive business environment cannot be achieved without firstly exploring different methodologies that can bring local products closer to the consumer. We also believe that the retail campaign will assist in assessing the factors that continue to hamper growth in our local markets by measuring results and give us a better understanding of the purchasing trends of our consumers,” Nghipondoka-Robiati said.
Da Costa also highlighted the challenges local products face, stating that in comparison to imported products, local products were manufactured on a smaller scale and were unable to enjoy prominence in retail outlets, as shelf space was determined and allocated to products based on the volume of products sold.
“Local products are still perceived by consumers as more costly and inferior in quality to imported products, which also prevents consumers from purchasing these products,” she added.
In consultation with its members, Team Namibia’s long term plans are to create permanent designated areas for local products to be more visible in retail shops, work closely with businesses on enhancing their product’s brand image and make them more visually appealing.
“It’s important that our brands start competing on the quality of their packaging as research conducted by Team Namibia in the past revealed that shoppers indicated that product packaging contributed to their purchasing decision as they associated product packaging with quality,” Da Costa said.
Other focus areas will involve fostering a culture of expansion among Team Namibia members by encouraging them to diversity and provide a wider product range.