US: Store Brands Cap Decade of Growth with Gains Across Three Major Channels

Store brands capped a decade of strong growth with sales increases across all three major retail channels in 2010, pushing dollar market share to new all-time highs, according to the 2011 Private Label Yearbook. Published by the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) of New York, the yearbook tracks private label sales and market share trends based on data from Nielsen, New York, for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 25, 2010.

PLMA said total private label sales in U.S. outlets (supermarkets, drugstores and mass merchandisers, including Walmart) rose nearly 2 percent in 2010, while dollar share advanced by almost half a point to reach a new record level. Overall, sales were at $88.5 billion.

An estimated $15 billion to $20 billion in additional store brand food and non-food grocery sales in channels not included in Nielsen’s databases (such as club stores, limited-assortment stores, c-stores and dollar stores ) likely would have produced a grand total exceeding $100 billion in 2010, PLMA added.

Broken down, 2010 store brand sales saw gains of more than 2 percent in U.S. supermarkets and nearly 5 percent in drug chains, PLMA said. During the past decade, annual sales of store brand products increased by 40 percent in supermarkets and 96 percent in drugstores.

PLMA also noted that:

• In supermarkets, store brand dollar sales increased by $1.2 billion and accounted for 100 percent of the channels’ growth, offsetting a national brand dollar sales drop of $149 million. Private label unit sales were essentially flat, while national brand unit sales grew 1 percent.
• In drugstores, store brand dollar sales increased by $300 million, comprising 60 percent of all incremental revenue in the channel. Private label unit sales were off marginally, and national brand unit sales were even.
• In total outlets, private label dollar sales were up $1.5 billion, while national brand dollar sales were down $4.6 billion. Store brand unit sales dropped 0.9 percent, and national brand unit sales fell 0.6 percent.

For more information, visit www.plma.com.