Store brands’ sales reached $118.4 billion in 2015, an all-time record and an increase of $2.2 billion over the previous year. In the past two years alone, annual sales increased 5-percent, or $5.4 billion, in the major retail channels, according to PLMA’s 2016 Private Label Yearbook. The PLMA Private Label Yearbook compiles sales data provided by Nielsen for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 26, 2015.
Store brands’ dollar share came to 17.7 percent, also the highest mark ever. Across all outlets combined store brands sales grew 2-percent, a performance that equaled that of national brands, which also rose 2-percent. In unit sales, both store brands and national brands were off fractionally, less than a half percentage point each. Unit sales of store brands were almost $44 billion, nominally on par with last year. As a result, store brand unit share held at 21.1 percent. Store brands continue to represent outstanding value to the American shopper.
Looking at supermarkets, total sales of store brands were $62.5 billion, roughly even with the prior year. Over a two-year period, sales are up in the supermarket channel by 2-percent, or $1.1 billion. With unit share at 22.9 percent, store brands accounted for nearly one in every four items sold in U.S. supermarkets last year. As for drug chains, store brand dollar sales rose nearly a percentage point to $8.4 billion last year, while national brands fell about a point.
Store brands continue to represent outstanding value for consumers. Shoppers could save an estimated $44 billion a year by buying store brand products over national brands, according to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, while market basket research by PLMA consistently reveals that shoppers can save about one-third on a basic food and household items in a typical supermarket by opting for the store brand over national brands.