Brands that 'fly' off the shelf and are more appealing to shoppers, bring more income to the retailer and increases brand's market share for the company.
Retailers such as Walmart in USA have an annual turnover of 290 billion dollars compared to 50 billion of Unilever, Ranasinghe told the gathering of Sri Lanka's top marketing professionals.
"The retailers are getting bigger at the expense of the brands. If brands are not able to fly of the shelf, retailers would not take them," he said.
Ranasinghe says brands should therefore understand retailer business model and come to an understanding since retailers are also customers for the brand.
Both parties must collaborate for the brands to overcome the 'squeeze', as retailers are interested only in shoppers and how much a shopper can spend while brands target consumers.
Brands that 'connect' with the consumer or make the right value proposition in the mind of the shopper will fly off the shelf increasing market share for the product and raking in more money for the retailer.
Managing Director Singer Sri Lanka Asita Abeysekara says the company has created eight distribution channels that focus on different target groups to increase its market share.
The separate channels have connected with customers that have made Singer set targets for a one billion rupee market this year.
Apart from retailer and consumer pressure on market share and sales, private labels also squeeze brands Ranasinghe says.
Retailers coming up with their own brands to compete with products will apply significant pressure in the future, he said.
With the proliferation of media, the consumer choice expands which in turn affect brand sales and share.
Brands also need to fragment according to the media taste of consumers, to drive sales, Ranasinghe said.
