Consumers increasingly turn to private-label products

Shoppers are reaching for privately owned brands over big-name products, both for lower prices and increased availability during the pandemic, as well as a myriad of other conveniences, according to trade body the Food Industry Association’s (FMI) 2022 Power of Private Brands report.

Why it matters

For consumers looking to save money during the COVID-19 pandemic, private brands posed a viable alternative to national ones. But more than two years after the onset of the crisis, many shoppers are still maintaining a focus on small brands, for the price and value proposition, putting the onus on marketers to make products available and accessible in order to win against the competition.

Takeaways

• Forty percent of consumers have reportedly increased their store-branded purchases since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Three quarters of that portion of consumers said they will continue shopping private labels in the future.
• Sixty-three percent of the study’s respondents who purchase private brands said that they do so because of increased value perceived from the transaction.
• In contrast, 55% of respondents said that they purchase private brands because of lower cost.
• “Less than 2% of shoppers say the only reason they purchase private brands is because other products were out of stock,” said Doug Baker, vice president of industry relations at FMI.
• Additionally, “when asked about 14 product attributes,” shoppers pointed to a handful of essential reasons for choosing private-brand products. 
  These reasons included: taste (42%), quality (43%), meal planning needs (24%), and health needs (20%), as well general interest and curiosity (20%).
• Forty-two percent of respondents said they liked the taste of private-brand products.
• Forty-three percent of respondents reported choosing store-brands for superior quality.

The big idea

“When it comes to taste and quality, shoppers clearly see private brands as a good option, on par with national brands” - Doug Baker, vp/industry relations at FMI.

Sourced from Supermarket News