A Focus On Future Growth For Private Label
A combination of retailers, suppliers, and industry insiders spoke about the growing opportunities in the world of private label during Day 1 of the Velocity Conference + Expo in Charlotte, N.C.
As retailers in all segments continue expanding their assortments of store branded products, the conversation now is shifting to what’s next and how new assortments hitting stores or in the product development pipeline will keep consumers engaged and further drive sales.
During a panel discussion “Strategies for Retailer-Owned Brand Success,” Shannon Calomarino, director of Brand Strategy at Giant Eagle, said it’s important for retailers to ask and answer several questions as they expand store brand assortments.
“What are people trying to solve? What can we do to help people who have $100 a week to feed their family?” she said. “How do we get away from offering me-too products to offering buy-me products to ensure that our store brand items are making the journey home with our customers?”
Charlene Codner, founder and chief creative officer with Fish Agency, echoed Calomarino’s comments, and encouraged conference attendees to stop chasing national brands with products that are merely national brand equivalents.
She pointed to Walmart’s recent launch of its bettergoods own brand, an assortment of consumables Codner feels is blurring the traditional good/better/best lines.
“(Walmart) is offering products that have traditionally been viewed as premium but most of the new assortment is priced at $5 or less,” she noted.
Launched in April, Walmart’s bettergoods assortment includes 300 items across a host of categories including frozen, dairy, snacks, beverages, pasta, soups, coffee, chocolate and more. The items fall within three distinct category pillars: culinary experiences, plant-based and made without.
While Walmart grabbed the headlines with the launch of bettergoods, they are not alone in working to develop private label assortments that combine high value with uniqueness.
Dan Fairbanks, vice president of Global Private Label with PriceSmart, highlighted the retailer’s new pet food assortment as filling a need with shoppers in the retailer’s home geographies of Latin America and the Caribbean.
“In our market pet products have a lot of fillers and things that aren’t great nutritionally for pets,” said Fairbanks. “The new line allowed us to offer products that are better for your pet that normally would have to be purchased from a veterinarian. We are able offer a much better value than our customers are used to finding.”
In addition to offering high quality products with better ingredients, designs of the pet food packaging highlight the types of proteins and other fresh ingredients contained within. Various colors are used to convey to shoppers the difference in each item based on the pet’s age or if the product addresses a specific dietary need.
The product development process at Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) mirrors that of retailers, with one important difference. While watching trends is an important component of this effort, the company is focused on meeting the needs of its 1,100 retail owners and those who shop its 3,400 stores.
“We are always thinking about how we can leverage the insights of what is happening in the category to help us identify the right product mix for our retailers and their end consumers,” said Emily Detwiler, executive director of AWG Brands.
AWG over the past year has developed an array of new private label products in a host of categories including oral care, yogurt, cereal, and most recently paper products. With additional new store brand products in the development pipeline, strong relationships with product suppliers are vital to AWG’s ongoing efforts.
Detwiler said the company works with domestic and international suppliers to find the right manufacturing sources and is flexible when working through the product development process.
“If the product is something we are seeking, we will do some research upfront to identify a variety of suppliers that could produce the product,” she said. “We also have suppliers that bring products to us, which we’ll look at as well. Either way, we extensively test every one of our products before we launch, and we also do annual testing to make sure we are meeting our targets.”
