Retailers Evolve Private Label Strategies in 2017

Retailers altered their private label strategies from imitation of national-brand products to differentiation from them in 2017, according to new research from branding and marketing firm Daymon.

The news comes as a “welcome change,” the Stamford, Conn.-based firm said, given that up to 98 percent of national-brand products are carried by the competition. The 50-retailer analysis found that largely driving the shift were unique products, price checking, customized promotion and consistent placement across stores.

In addition, 2017 saw retailers addressing customers’ desires for enhanced shopping experiences by launching new concept stores and racing to digitize both online and offline.

“Private brands have entered a renaissance period that has allowed them to become more differentiated than ever before,” said Daymon CEO Jim Holbrook. “We are seeing that retailers with distinctive, one-of-a-kind private brands will survive and thrive, while those with national-brand equivalents will struggle as competitive pressures mount.”

According to Daymon, four out of five shoppers now purchase private label goods every on almost every shopping trip, so it's not surprising that retailers’ own brands are positioned to “disrupt the industry.” As the firm puts it, if grocers don’t have a solid private label strategy, they’re “dead in the water.”