Private brands have become products that consumers actively seek out, according to a new study by Bazaarvoice. The survey reported 55% of shoppers had purchased a private label in the past year and nearly 60% said they made their purchase because they liked the product. When asked if they purchased store brands only to save money, only 52% said yes, dispelling a myth that store brands are merely a low-cost alternative. This was further demonstrated in the report when it came to pricing. Shoppers said private brand pricing can be 20% to 25% less than national brands, but when asked about the quality of private label products, two out of three shoppers said store brands are just as high in quality.
Fifty-seven percent of consumers surveyed bought private label groceries, while 47% purchased apparel and 46% purchased store brand home goods. The pandemic obviously fueled a lot of private brand purchasing within essential goods over the last year, as 60% of shoppers reported that they were seeing product shortages.
The report also examined what type of private label products consumers purchased. A majority of consumers surveyed purchased private label in the grocery vertical (57%), followed by apparel and accessories (47%) and home goods (46%).The study of private label was one section of the complete report, entitled “2021 Shopper Experience Index.”