Private Label Plays A Key Role At Major Retailers

The frequency with which consumers purchase private label products continues to grow, with sales of store brands now accounting for more than 25% of sales at several major retailers, according to new data from Numerator.

For the 12 months ended June 30, private brand products continued to make up the lion's share of sales at Trader Joe’s and Aldi, with own brands accounting for 78% and 77%, respectively, of each grocer’s sales.

At Sam’s Club, products sold under its Member’s Mark brand account for 33% of sales, while Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand makes up 32% of sales. Other retailers with own brand product shares above 25% include Dollar Tree (31%), Walmart (26%), and Kroger (25%).

By retail channel, private label products account for 34.8% of total units sold by warehouse clubs, up 0.2% from the previous year. This is the largest percentage of the 12 channels tracked by Numerator. The office channel is second at 31.6%, down 0.9%, and mass is third at 28.8%, up 0.1% year-over-year.

Several Walmart private brands have a household penetration rate of more than 50%. They include Pen + Gear (50%), Freshness Guaranteed (70%), Marketside (71%), Mainstays (72%), Equate (76%), and Great Value (87%). The only other store brand with a household penetration rate above 50%, according to Numerator, is products sold by Dollar Tree under its name (65%).

The three fastest-growing own brands over the past year by unit volume are Walmart’s bettergoods, up 300%; Target’s Dealworthy, up 300%; and Well Market by CVS, up 300%. The trio of brands hit stores at their respective retailers in 2024.

Additionally, Numerator’s most recent insights into the private label segment found that 60% of consumers think private label products offer an above-average value for their price, with 40% of shoppers saying they buy own brand products to save money and 23% feeling store brand products are just as good as name brand items.