For the first two months of 2023, the share private label productswith consumers, through inflationlook for cheaper solutions, while their large participation in well-known “shopping basket”. However, the transition to private label products is expected to continue at least this year, especially since seven out of ten suppliers and retailers are planning a new round revaluation this year.

The latter was revealed yesterday by NielsenIQ’s head of Greece and Bulgaria. Vayos Demoragaspresenting a survey of supplier and retailer executives at the annual Shopping Trends Conference.

It is no coincidence that the growth in turnover expected by chain managers in 2023 Supermarket and light industry will be inflationary, with 50% of them expecting sales to fall even more than 5% this year. However, in the first quarter of 2023, the decrease in sales, according to the leading factor in the supermarket market, is about 4-5%.

According to data released yesterday Alexander Floros, the leading retailer in Greece and Bulgaria, every fourth product that Greek consumers now buy in a supermarket is a private label. In particular, if 2022 ended with a share of these products at 23.8% (including sales of Lidl, the main discount chain in the Greek market), then in the first two months of 2023, the market share of goods under private labels exceeds 25%. %. Even excluding Lidl sales, the share of private label products is high, already more than one percentage point compared to what it was in 2022: in the two months of January-February 2023, it reached 16.2%, from 14.8% in total last year and 13.4% in 2021.

Electronic “basket”

In December 2022, prices for private label goods increased by 16.6% compared to 12% for brands.

Private label products are also taking up more and more space in the online shopping cart. According to the data provided Panagiotis Gezerlisfounder and president of Convert Group, in the first quarter of 2023, the share of private label products (in value terms) in e-supermarket sales was 15.2%, up 1.5 percentage points from the corresponding period in 2022. the share in the volume amounted to 18.7%, having strengthened by 1.4 p.p. compared to the first quarter of 2022.

However, the introduction of the “home basket” also gave impetus to the development of private label products. Most retailers, even if they started with a different strategy, have gradually increased the number of these items in order to present a more competitive “basket”, especially since the cheapest items receive special advertising from the retailer himself. Development Minister.

According to research data based on actual market data released yesterday by the company Nicoleta Sperelakiregional client business partner of NielsenIQ, the share of private label goods included in the “basket” increased from 21.8% in the third quarter of 2022 to 24.4% during the implementation period “basket” (data from November 2022 to February 2023). The study is based on data for 39 product categories and sales in the three largest supermarket chains. Other non-basket product categories increased their share over the same period, but by less than one percentage point (to 13.6% during the basket period from 12.7% in the third quarter of 2022). In total, 72% of the categories participating in the “basket” are increasing the share of products under their own brand.

Significant price increase

Behind private label products, of course, there is also a myth, or rather confusion: their prices are lower than those of branded goods, but this does not mean that they do not rise in price. In fact, during 2022 they increased more and even earlier than in branded ones. In December 2022, private label prices rose by 16.6% compared to 12% inflation for branded goods.

Consumers are “chasing” for deals and low prices

Deal and low price hunters and disciplined in the shopping list they predetermined now make up a large percentage of consumers in Greece as they have not only seen their incomes drop significantly due to inflation in 2022, but have also assessed that the unfavorable the economic situation will continue for more than 12 months. In fact, it is worth noting that although the Greek economy is growing, citizens believe that they are living in a recession. At the same time, the proportion of consumers who are looking for quality and possibly more expensive goods, as well as those who do not pay attention to the price, is declining.

For example, according to a study of “shopper tribes” by Ms. Vivi Papadopoulou, NielsenIQ’s Head of Customer Experience in Greece, three out of 10 consumers in Greece are so-called “tense bargain hunters.” “tribe”, the percentage of which in 2019 was only 10%. There is also a large percentage of so-called “focused (disciplined) buyers” who strictly adhere to a pre-arranged shopping list and budget, while not making so-called “spontaneous purchases”. Their share in 2022 rose to 21% from 16% in 2021, while the share of so-called “quality seekers” decreased to 17% from 21% in 2021 and 24% in 2019. A key characteristic of consumers who fall into this category is that they are willing to pay more for quality products, and that willingness seems to be weakened by the weight of accuracy.

Only one in ten now belongs to the tribe of so-called “comfort shoppers”, a percentage that was 20% in 2019. These are shoppers who pay more for quality products, ignore sales and promotions, and shop flexibly to get the best shopping experience. The largest, of course, remains the tribe of “regular shoppers” (24%) who like to shop in the supermarket, but they are looking for good prices and great deals.

While the economy is growing, citizens feel they are living in a recession.

The savings trend continues this year, with 45% of consumers (compared to 29% in Europe) saying they now eat yesterday’s leftovers much more often than they did in the past. And this trend may also have an environmental footprint, but it seems that this is mainly due to the savings that consumers want to make, and to a lesser extent their concern about the impact of food waste on the environment.

In addition, 43% (vs. 35% in Europe) say they will shop more at discount stores this year, 45% (vs. 30%) will buy more private label products, and 41% (vs. 30%) will shop at discount stores. shops with bonus programs.