This retailer dominates private label household penetration
One retailer sells five of the top 10 private label brands by household penetration.
According to the latest “Private Label Trends Tracker” from Numerator, five Walmart brands had over 50% U.S. household penetration in the past year, and was the only retailer to exceed the 50%. These included Great Value (86% of U.S. households purchased), Equate (75%), Mainstays (70%), Marketside (69%) and Freshness Guaranteed (67%).
In addition, 47% of U.S. households purchased Pen + Gear from Walmart. Dollar Tree, Aldi, Target and Costco rounded off the top 10 private label brands by household penetration.
The retail sectors with the highest private label share were office (38.7%), home & garden (32.5%), tools & home improvement (29%), and household (26.7%). The other sectors analyzed were grocery (23.8%), baby (22.7%), pet (17.6%), health & beauty (17.4%), toys (16.1%) and electronics (11.1%).
Among 20 of the largest U.S. retailers, Aldi and Trader Joe’s rely most heavily on private label products, with their owned-brands accounting for 80% and 69%, respectively, of their overall sales volume.
Costco (34%), Sam’s Club (33%), HEB (33%), Walmart (30%), Dollar Tree (29%), Lowe’s (28%) and Kroger (27%) also see more than a quarter of their overall sales volume come from private label products. In contrast, only 3% of Amazon’s sales volume is attributable to private label.
Looking at the fastest-growing private label brands, Numerator found that Kroger’s Smart Way led in private label growth, but store brands from Dollar Tree and Walgreens are close behind. Launched in late 2022, Smart Way was the fastest-growing private label brand in the past year, increasing sales volume by 135%, followed by B Pure (Dollar Tree, 92%) Complete Home (Walgreens, 59%), Market Basket (Dollar Tree, 54%), and Skyra Icelandic (7-Eleven, 52%).
Private label items accounted for a leading 33.1% of sales in the club channel (e.g., Costco, Sam’s Club), followed by office (30.3%), mass (e.g. Target, Walmart, 28.0%), home improvement (26.8%), and pet (25.5%).
[READ MORE: PLMA: Store brand dollar sales hit new record in 2023]
Product sectors by percentage of household penetration
| Brand (Retailer) | U.S. Household Penetration |
| Great Value (Walmart) | 86% |
| Equate (Walmart) | 75% |
| Mainstays (Walmart) | 70% |
| Marketside (Walmart) | 69% |
| Freshness Guaranteed (Walmart) | 67% |
| Dollar Tree (Dollar Tree) | 65% |
| Pen + Gear (Walmart) | 47% |
| Aldi (Aldi) | 45% |
| Up & Up (Target) | 43% |
| Kirkland Signature (Costco) | 43% |
| Good & Gather (Target) | 41% |
| CVS Health (CVS) | 40% |
| Kroger (Kroger) | 40% |
| Member’s Mark (Sam’s Club) | 38% |
| Clover Valley (Dollar General) | 37% |
Consumer private label behavior
Numerator also surveyed U.S. consumers on their private label habits:
- More than four-in-10 (43%) surveyed consumers purchase private label items to save money, and almost six-in-10 (58%) say private label brands offer an above-average value for their price.
- Fewer than one-in-three (29%) surveyed consumers think they are as good as name brands.
- All surveyed U.S. households purchased a private label grocery item in the past 12 months, followed by health & beauty (99.2% of households), household products (98.9%) and home & garden (97.6%).
Numerator’s Private Label Tracker provides private label share information from Numerator TruView and Numerator Insights based on the last 12 months ending June 30, 2024. Numerator also collects first-party data from over 1 million U.S. households.
