‘Big brand’ product sales make a come-back in Australia
Sales of ‘home brand’ groceries by supermarkets have fallen 0.7 per cent since this time last year, the first drop in five years. The research which appeared in the annual Retail and Shopper Trends report by market research firm, Nielsen, indicates that ‘big brand’ products are claiming priority again in Coles and Woolworths.
Nielsen reported that ‘household penetration’ of the supermarket’s own ‘home brands’ have dropped to 94.8 per cent in 2012, formerly 95.5 per cent at this time last year.
The research saw that retailer’s emphasis on prices had closed a gap in ‘home brand’ and ‘big brand’ products, significantly affecting consumer’s purchase habits. Despite this, the report also found that ‘cross-shopping’ between stores had increased to 88.1 percent in 2012.
Nielsen Retail Industry Group Executive-Director Kosta Conomos said that consumers indicated that ‘providing an enjoyable experience’ and ‘staff service’ were factors that would encourage store loyalty.
“As retailers continue to focus on the same initiatives such as private label, loyalty reward cards or low shelf prices, shoppers are increasingly seeing them as ‘hygiene factors’,” Mr Conomos said.
“Unless further differentiation occurs among Australian retailers, we’ll continue to see very high penetration levels and cross-shopping, with low levels of loyalty,” Mr Conomos continued.
The latest information about ‘home brands’ versus ‘big brands’ comes after earlier reports in Australian Food News about Tesco in the UK and Woolworths in Australia; regarding claims of excessive reliance on ‘home brands’ for revenue growth.
