RISMEDIA, November 2, 2009—With the kids back in school and winter just around the corner, a new survey of supermarket prices on 25 commonly purchased items found that shoppers could save more than 35% by buying the retailer’s brand instead of the national brand.
Want a hearty breakfast for the family without breaking the bank? Store brand breakfast cereal and refrigerated orange juice cost only $4.91 in the store survey compared to a whopping $7.13 for the same national brand products.
How about lunch? You can save $3 by choosing the store brand. Hot dogs and hot dog buns, along with a 12-pack of soda costs $10.53 for the national brand items, but only $7.52 for the private-label products.
But store brand savings go beyond the food aisles. When kids bring home the germs, the survey shows that shoppers buying cold and flu medication, hand sanitizer and nasal spray could spend $18.47 for national brands, but only $10.65 for the same products sold under the retailer’s brand.
The research, conducted by the Private Label Manufacturers Association, tracked the pricing on grocery and household items at a typical supermarket. The results indicate that consumers buying the store brand would save $32.93 on average on the total market basket, representing savings of 35.3% when compared to weekly purchases of national brands in the same categories.
Included in the survey were food items such as fruit cups, peanut butter, grape jelly and juice boxes in addition to non-foods such as vitamin C, cough drops and facial tissue. Savings on individual products ranges from 13% (hot dogs) to 66% (nasal spray).
A leading national brand product was compared to a similar store brand product in each category and prices were adjusted to account for all known discounts, coupons and promotions available for each of the weeks included in the study. The survey was repeated on a weekly basis during a recent 4- week period in a suburban supermarket located in the northeast.
Annual sales of store brands have climbed to $85 billion in 2009, according to the latest industry statistics, and the products accounted for an unprecedented 23% of items sold in U.S. supermarkets. Rather than a temporary effect of the economy, there are indications that retailers are winning new adherents to their brands- even among die-hard national brand loyalists- as more and more shoppers give them a try and find satisfaction with the high quality of the products.
For more information, visit www.pmla.com.