Development of retailers' own label products in Taiwan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish an understanding of the development of retailers' views on own label in Taiwan. In particular, the study aims to investigate the extent to which the development of retailers' own label in the region resembles or differs from the historical development of that in the West as documented in the literature. Design/methodology/approach – This study is exploratory in nature and adopts a qualitative approach. Primary data were obtained from managers responsible for own label development strategy in eight key retailers in Taipei through the use of a structured questionnaire with both closed and open‐ended questions. Secondary data from various sources were also used. Findings – The development of retail own label products in Taiwan does not follow the pattern witnessed in the West as described in the literature. Only some of the strategic motives of using own label as stated in existing literature are fully echoed in this study. Furthermore, the progress of most of the retailers studied in Taiwan does not mirror the typical stages of evolution as advocated by Laaksonen and Reynolds. Originality/value – Many retailers, especially the international ones, believe that use of own label in Taiwan is important. However, an understanding of the development and strategic use of own label by retailers in Taiwan is not yet well established. The current study serves as a first step to fill this gap and sheds some light on the implications for own label development strategies to grocery retailers in Taiwan.