Private labels made up 16% of the market before the pandemic, up two percentage points since 2014, according to market research firm IRI. Since the start of the pandemic in the U.S., private-brand sales grew 29%, outpacing regular-branded product sales, which grew by 24%, according to the most recent data from Nielsen. During the crisis, around a quarter of consumers have tried private label brands for the first time, according to a survey of more than 1,000 consumers in late March by research firm AlixPartners. At least 30% of consumers who tried new private label products during the crisis plan to stick with them, Alix found.
Part of the reason private brands are thriving is that shoppers were forced to try store products — like toilet paper — when their preferred brands were sold out. Another factor is the lower price point of retailers’ private-label products.