Growth is strongest in the States; the recession’s impact is likely to linger
Across the world’s largest economic zones —
Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific —
nearly 60 percent of shoppers say they are buying more store brands as a result of the economic downturn, according to a just-released report from The Nielsen Co., New York City.
While store brands are strongest in Europe, the report’s authors say private label has “taken off” in the United States, with store brand unit sales averaging 22 percent across all departments. The report is based on an online survey. Survey results were supplemented with measurements of private label consumption by market.
The highest levels of private label purchase intent due to the economic downturn were reported by consumers in Colombia, Spain, Portugal and Greece, in a range from 70 to 80 percent, while the lowest reported came from Sweden, Thailand, Hong Kong and Denmark, in a range of about 60 percent.
Fully 88 percent of shoppers globally currently trying house brands say they intend to keep buying private label. The authors conclude that, having tried private label, consumers found the quality and selection acceptable.
Store brand share is typically strongest for commodities like milk, eggs, rice, edible oil, vinegar and sugar, or products with little differentiation, such as first aid and wrapping materials. It is lowest where there is strong marketing support for top brands, e.g., detergents, deodorant, and cosmetics.
In most Asian markets, private label is relatively undeveloped with only Hong Kong having a share above 5 percent. Private label has a stable presence in Latin America, but remains below 10 percent overall.
Nielsen cautions that while online surveys allow tremendous scale and global reach, a true sample of total populations isn’t attained through such surveys.
