Numerator, a market research data and technology company, has released its updated Private Label Trends Tracker, which provides ongoing insight into the performance of private labels across product sectors, channels and retailers, as well as consumer sentiment from verified buyers of private label products.

Nearly all U.S. households purchased private label products in the grocery, health and beauty, household, and home and garden categories in the past 12 months, and in ten major product sectors, private label products accounted for 24% of all units sold.

Key findings include:

• Almost half (43%) of consumers surveyed buy own-brand products to save money, but not all are convinced that they offer the same quality. 58% of respondents believe that own brands offer above-average value for money, but less than a third (29%) consider them to be as good as branded products.
• Across the ten most important product sectors, own-brand products accounted for almost a quarter of the unit volume (24%). The sectors with the highest share of own brands were office (38.7%), home & garden (32.5%), tools & DIY (29%) and household (26.7%). The other sectors analyzed were food (23.8%), baby (22.7%), pets (17.6%), health & beauty (17.4%), toys (16.1%) and electronics (11.1%).
• Almost every U.S. household purchased a private label product last year. All U.S. households purchased a private label grocery product in the past 12 months, followed by health & beauty (99.2% of households), household products (98.9%), and home & garden (97.6%). The largest changes were in the home & garden (-2.8% HHP vs. YA) and electronics (-1.8% HHP) sectors.

Product sectors by percentage of household penetration

• Measured by the total number of units sold, club stores recorded the largest share of own brands.Private label brands (e.g., Costco, Sam’s Club) accounted for 33.1% of the club channel, followed by office supplies (30.3%), mass merchandisers (e.g., Target, Walmart, 28.0%), home improvement (26.8%), and pet supplies (25.5%).
• Eight out of ten units sold at Aldi were own-brand products. Among the top 20 U.S. retailers, Aldi and Trader Joe’s rely the most on private label products, with their private labels accounting for 80% and 69% of their total sales, respectively. Costco (34%), Sam’s Club (33%), HEB (33%), Walmart (30%), Dollar Tree (29%), Lowe’s (28%) and Kroger (27%) also allocate more than a quarter of their total sales to private label products. Only 3% of Amazon’s sales come from private label.
• Smart Way led the way in private-label growth, but Dollar Tree and Walgreens’ private-label brands are close behind. Kroger’s Smart Way brand, launched in late 2022, was the fastest-growing private label last year, increasing sales by +135%, followed by B Pure (Dollar Tree, +92%), Complete Home (Walgreens, +59%), Market Basket (Dollar Tree, +54%) and Skyra Icelandic (7-Eleven, +52%).
• Walmart’s private labels dominate the competition. Five Walmart brands achieved penetration in over 50% of U.S. households last year, including Great Value (86% of purchases), Equate (75%), Mainstays (70%), Marketside (69%) and Freshness Guaranteed (67%). 47% of U.S. households purchased Pen + Gear at Walmart. Dollar Tree, Aldi, Target and Costco rounded out the top 10 private label brands by household penetration.

Top 15 own brands by percentage household penetration

Numerator’s Private Label Tracker provides private label share information from Numerator TruView and Numerator Insights based on the trailing 12 months ending June 30, 2024 year-on-year across ten industries (Office, Home & Garden, Tools & DIY, Household, Food, Baby, Pets, Health & Beauty, Toys & Electronics).