Retailers are breaking down barriers in positioning their brands for innovation.

That is the takeaway from day one of the Velocity Institute (RBI) online Innovation Summit, which drew close to 700 attendees across 37 countries. It featured presentations from speakers at companies including Kroger Co., CVS Health, Longo’s and Sobey’s.

“Private Brands like those from Kroger do not grow to such big businesses as cheap, low-quality knockoffs,” said Natalie Taake, Senior Innovation Manager, Kroger. “You need people focused on innovation in dedicated ways. You need to carve out time for them to be working on innovation. Kroger does this so well.”

Brenda Lord, Vice President of Private Brands and Quality Assurance, CVS Health, emphasized the importance of understanding shoppers on deeper levels to drive Retail Brand innovation.

“There are unmet customer needs we can solve for,” she said. “You shouldn’t just look at your competitive set. You need to spend time and effort listening to customers.”

Jenny Longo, Senior Director, Private Brands, Culinary Innovation and Central Kitchen, at Canada’s Longo’s, said the pandemic underscored the need to bring timely innovation to shoppers.

“Guests have been coming in for meal solutions to avoid getting bored and suffering meal fatigue,” she said.

Introducing the Velocity Institute

The online Summit began with an innovative announcement of its own. The audience learned about the launch of RBI as a new and innovative global professional membership organization committed to advancing retailers and their brands across all categories and channels.

Launching with a founding advisory board of more than two dozen retailers and solution partner companies, RBI will replace My Private Brand, the groundbreaking thought leadership website introduced in 2008.

Christopher Durham, President of RBI, said the name Velocity Institute reflects the evolution of this industry sector.

 “Private label is dead because it’s a term for cheap stuff you have to sell,” he began. He said the word “private” in Private Brands is an unnecessary qualifier because “retailers are talking about their own brands and taking possession of their brands. That’s why we call this Retail Brands.”

Innovation Requires Speed

Summit speakers said innovation is needed to drive growth across omnichannel retail, and speed to market is an important element.

“Speed to market is everything right now,” said Stacie Sopinka, Vice President, Own Brands, Sobey’s. “If you take a year to get to market, the product may be redundant by that time.”

There’s more to come at Day Two of the Summit tomorrow, including with presentations from executives at Whole Foods Market, Staples and Walgreens.