By Mark Seavy  

Amid surging sales of private label goods, does the current cycle have staying power at retail? 

The answer may lie in the substantial investment retailers have made in developing and manufacturing private label products, a commitment that appears too substantial to be totally displaced by national and licensed brands. This would mark a change from past precedent, which saw private labels follow cycles in which they gained and lost favor with consumers. 

Yet with retailers like Target (which has more than 30 private label brands), Walmart, Costco, Tesco, and others increasingly expanding the quality and breadth of their private label assortments, there seems little doubt they’ve gained long-term traction with consumers.  

Private label products were 23.1% and 21% of unit and dollar sales, respectively, in 2024. And revenue is forecast to hit $280 billion this year, up from $272 billion in 2024, Private Label Manufacturing Association (PLMA) President Peggy Davies said recently at the group’s annual trade show. At the same time, store brand sales increased 0.4% during the first 11 months of this year, while those of national brands declined 0.7%, Davies said in quoting research firm Circana’s data. 

“In household products in the Americas, we see consumers reducing purchases and shifting to private-label alternatives,” said Michael Doss, CEO at Graphic Packaging International, which supplies packaging for many private label brands. “Mass retail, superstores, and discount grocers continue to take share from traditional grocers. That is one of the driving forces behind the surge in private-label offerings.” 

In grocery, the top retailers for private label are Aldi (88% of 1,100 SKUs in its stores), Trader Joe’s (86% of 3,876 SKUs), Dollar Tree (27% of 885 SKUs), Dollar General (21% of 989 SKUs), and Walmart (21% of 98,886 SKUs), according to Neil Saunders, Managing Director at the research firm GlobalData.  

The average grocer has 39,719 SKUs, 14% of which are private label products, Saunders said. Overall, private label now accounts for 21.6% of U.S. grocery sales, up from 17.3% in 2021, Saunders said. In the U.K., by comparison, private label represents 50.2% of grocery sales, up from 48.2% in 2021. In France it is 40.2% (up from 35.8%), he said. The countries with the smallest percentage of private label sales are China (3.5%), Japan (15.2%), and Poland (19.2%). 

As the size of the private label market grows, consumers’ perception of it has changed, Saunders said. Saving money remains the top reason for consumers to buy private label items, but “good quality” has gained traction.  

About 65% of consumers surveyed listed quality as a reason for buying the products, up from 45.3% in 2016. And 64% of consumers believed private label goods were on par with national brands (compared to 42.2% in 2016). In the next three months, meanwhile, 27% of baby boomers (58-76 years old) and Gen Z (21% of consumers aged 11-26) plan to switch to private label from national brands, said Christine Ojile, SVP of Client Development at the research firm Kantar Retail. 

Growing consumer demand for private label brands is a major attraction for retailers.  

Target, for example, introduced the Cat & Jack children’s apparel brand in 2016 as it embarked on a private label push that has produced several products with $1 billion or more in annual sales. That change partly came at the expense of the Cherokee brand, which Target licensed from Apex Global Brands but dropped in 2017. Apex was sold to Galaxy Universal in 2021.  

Kohl’s, meanwhile, is once again pursuing its proprietary (Vera Wang, Lauren Conrad) and private label brands. Its private label line includes Hotelier, Mariana, and Mingle & Co., which were introduced earlier this year in the bed, bath, and bedding categories. Kohl’s earlier efforts with proprietary brands have included pop stars Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony as well as licensed brands like Juicy Couture (Authentic Brands Group). 

“We are trying to offer a more balanced and curated line that fulfills the needs of all of our customers,” Kohl’s CEO Michael Bender said. “Our focus in recent years has been around attracting a new customer, which unintentionally led to not catering to our core, loyal customers’ needs.” 

The rebalancing of private labels at many retailers has also brought a sharper focus on beauty and health and wellness, the latter having seen soaring sales of protein-based products and supplements. 

The Boots pharmacy chain is fielding a Modern Chemistry wellness brand for supplements developed internally by a group of pharmacists, doctors, and chemists. And Superdrug has launched Me+ Skincare for cruelty-free and vegan skincare products, while Lidl is introducing a CRVIT sports label starting with electric bicycles. Lidl is also launching a new global private label pet brand in 2026 that will feature food and non-food items, Lidl U.S. CEO Joel Rampoldt told PLMA Live. 

“Retailers have increasingly focused on quality to build trust, narrowing the perceived gap between private brands and national brands,” Ojile said. “The store brands are enabling sharper price positioning while protecting margins, giving retailers a lever to manage inflation, value perception, and profitability on their own terms.”