Private-label products continue to gain ground in supermarkets
Private-label product sales grew at a rate of 5 percent per annum from 2010 to 2013 due to the economic crisis and the slide in disposable incomes that has driven consumers from big brands to such products, which include supermarkets’ own brands, according to a survey by the Institute of Retail Consumer Goods (IELKA).
The rise in popularity has come about as private-label products are 45 percent cheaper on average than their big-brand competitors, while in some cases, such as personal hygiene and domestic cleaning products, they cost up to 50 percent less. Despite these products’ high growth rate in Greece during this period when consumers are feeling the squeeze, their market share remains relatively low, at just 20 percent, compared with the European Union average of 37 percent.
The IELKA survey also found that 79 percent of the 2,000 respondents believe that supermarkets contribute greatly toward positive neighborhood development. This figure was up from 69 percent in the same survey conducted in 2010. Three in four Greek consumers (74 percent) believe that supermarkets also serve to strengthen the Greek regions, thanks to the extensive branch networks that now stretch across the country, as they create jobs and cooperate with regional producers.
Seven out of 10 consumers believe that supermarkets support domestic products, either by offering access to a wide range of goods from both small and large Greek producers or through the production of private-label commodities.
The supermarket chains that are active in Greece, of local or foreign ownership, have increased the number of Greek products on offer considerably in recent years, while several of those goods, especially in the food sector, can also be purchased at the stores of the same chains outside of Greece, too.
