Grocery Leaders Prioritizing Private Brand Growth in 2023, but Point to Poor Digital Marketing for Lackluster Performance

Grocery Doppio, a free, independent source of grocery insights and data operated by next-generation industry insights firm Incisiv and digital commerce and fulfillment solutions provider, Wynshop, recently unveiled its State of Digital Grocery: Unlocking Private Brand Growth report, in partnership with FMI—The Food Industry Association.

The report, based on interviews with 117 senior industry executives, revealed fresh new insights about the state of private brands in the grocery market. This, and other up-to-date grocery industry reports are now available to download on the Grocery Doppio website.

Key findings from the State of Digital Grocery: Unlocking Private Brand Growth report include:

• Improving sales of private brands is a priority in 2023
  —83 percent of grocery executives said that private label should be a C-level priority
  —91 percent claimed to have a private label strategy and roadmap
  —85 percent intend to increase the quantity of digital assets for private label in 2023, while 83 percent will expand their private brand digital marketing campaigns

• Private label lags name brand marketing in grocery
  —97 percent of grocers deploy emails and 95 percent use banner ads for name brand marketing, but only 32 percent and 16 percent, respectively, do the same for private brands
  —At 42 percent, digital circulars are the most widely used tactic for promoting private brands, but this, too ranks well behind deployment for name brands (86 percent)
• Grocers are dissatisfied with their private label performance
  —Only 38 percent of grocery executives reported satisfaction with their current private label performance
  —limited in-house business resources, inadequate budget, and limited software/solutions were cited as the top three factors holding private label marketing back
  —They also cited digital asset quality (46 percent), diversity (44 percent), personalization (33 percent), quantity (32 percent), and automated delivery (17 percent) as key sources of dissatisfaction

“Grocery executives are in consensus that private brands are critical to growth in 2023,” said Gaurav Pant, Chief Insights Officer of both Incisiv and Grocery Doppio. “But they also agree that private brands need an overhaul to live up to their growth potential.”

“During the Covid-19 pandemic more shoppers discovered the value and quality of private brands,” said Doug Baker, vice president of Industry Relations, FMI—The Food Industry Association. “Food retailers realize the opportunity on the table for private brands and this research outlines ways to enhance marketing strategies to bolster private brands programs in new and creative ways.”

“Digital is the most effective and economical way to promote private brands,” said Barry Clogan, Chief Evangelist at Wynshop. “But with limited marketing department resources, grocers need sophisticated digital capabilities like omnichannel personalization and automated campaign deployment to capitalize on the private brand opportunity.”

Grocery Doppio is a free, independent source of grocery industry data and insights. Every month it releases research-driven industry reports, fact-based observations, inspiring perspectives, and performance benchmarks designed to help grocers jumpstart, accelerate, and sustain digital growth profitably.

To download State of Digital Grocery: Unlocking Private Brand Growth, click here.

To learn more about Grocery Doppio visit Grocery Doppio.