Taking A Pause To Soak In What's Happening

We love to talk about trends and what’s next. Our retail readers want to know what’s next. Our supplier readers want to know what’s next. And, frankly, I want to know what’s next. In my many years of writing about retail, the question of “what’s next?” is perhaps the question I’ve asked most in my career.

What we don’t do often enough is hit the pause button to evaluate what is happening. And in the world of private label, there’s lots of good happening.

Sales of store branded products continue to grow across all channels of retail and grocery remains the heart of the business. But the success and continued growing consumer acceptance and consumption of private brand products has given retailers permission to expand their efforts into categories such as cosmetics and health and wellness, to name just two.

What we’re seeing now is the “trend” of private label sales growth is evolving into a norm. Listen to the quarterly conference calls of major retailers, and the C-suite is talking about the success of their private brands along with future growth opportunities. And many retailers during 2023 have invested marketing dollars to showcase their respective private brands to consumers. They don’t talk about price, they talk about quality and value and are working to teach consumers that their brands are actually national brands.

This marketing effort may seem new to some, but for those old enough, think back to Sears. The once-iconic U.S. retailer promoted its brands – Kenmore, Diehard, Craftsman, Toughskins, and others – as quality brands that you could only find at Sears. Growing up, I didn’t think of those brands as private label brands. I thought of them as brands that could be purchased only at Sears. Why? It’s how Sears promoted them to consumers. Plus, the quality and value was spot on.

While we take this pause, it’s also important to realize today’s private label industry is different than it was just a few years ago. To take advantage of the growth we’re seeing today and will see tomorrow, the business needs to continue evolving. What was done five years ago may not be good enough for today’s rapidly changing and growing segment.

Those companies who are willing to think differently, explore new opportunities, and expand how they market themselves to retailers or consumers, will be the ones that come out on top.

Ok, pause over.