Had a chance to look over a study that was unveiled during the PLMA show last month, been meaning to read up on it for a while. Shikatani Lacroix out of Canada put together a look at those relationships in conjunction with Hotspex to create a Re:Store index of the top companies who met customers’ emotional needs and their satisfaction, as well.

Amazon.com was by far the leader, scoring highly in emotional connections and satisfaction. Costco, apple.com’s bookstore, Target, and CVS rounded out the top five retailers in the group.

Among the takeaways from the survey were the role that private label programs should play in connecting retailers with customers.

“To effectively build stronger emotional connections, retailers will need to rethink their corporate brand platform to provide new offerings that are differentiated beyond price,” the report said.

I’m reminded of Safeway’s Joe Ennen speaking at our conference in June, talking about the response that consumers had to finding out that private label products were less expensive than national brands.

He said something like, “Well, yeah, duh! We already KNOW that!”

Moving forward, to make inroads on the best retail companies, whether you’re in the grocery and mass channels or ones such as drug, convenience, dollar and club, retailers need to find a way to reach their customers emotionally. Carol Best of Schawk called it creating Another brand. Going beyond what customers expect, beyond simply better price.

Here again, another group, another study, another country, showing the way forward is not simply beating CPGs at the bottom line.

“Retailers should explore the emotive and lifestyle needs of their customers to ensure their overall corporate brand portfolio meets customers’ growing desires and aspirations,” the Re:Store report said. “Well-positioned and properly executed corporate brands provide retailers with an effective tool to differentiate their offering from online retailers, and allows them to become more nimble in responding to their customers’ needs.”