One of the few positive effects of the COVID-19 lockdown period in Italy was a double-digit growth in sales of private label products, a study has found.
An analysis by the Business Intelligence unit of Consorzio SUN (Supermercati Uniti Nazionali), based on IRI data, indicates that private label sales in the first quarter of 2020 increased by 13.5% year-on-year, while in March alone the growth was 25.2%.
Outperformed The Market
Consorzio SUN’s own private label brand, Consilia, outperformed the market, the group said, registering 30.2% turnover growth in Q1 2020 and 51.7% in March alone.
There was double digit growth in all categories, with products outperforming the Italian market average (in brackets) in the following categories: Drinks +24.9% (+2.4%); Frozen +29.8 (+12.8%); Fresh +27.3% (+17.09%); Grocery +17.2 (+14.6%); Fruit & Vegetables +35.0 (+11.3%); Personal Care +14.1% (+9.9%); Home Care +21.9 (+9.5%) and Pet Care +20.3% (+5.9%).
Gruppo SUN (Supermercati Uniti Nazionali) consists of local retailers Italmark, Gruppo Gabrielli, Alfi (Gulliver), Cadoro and Gros - Gruppo Romano Supermercati
Retail Sector Growth
Elsewhere, analysis by Nielsen has shown that the COVID-19 emergency contributed to a 13% annual increase in retail sector revenues during March.
The restrictions were particularly beneficial to proximity stores, with the best performers being independent retailers and supermarkets (+26.7% and +22.1%, respectively).
At the same time, hypermarkets and stores larger than 4,500 square metres (-9.6%) and drugstores (-9.7%) suffered a negative impact.
According to Nielsen, private label accounted for a 22.1% share of the large-scale distribution channel (+1.9%) and 29.6% in the hypermarket/supermarket/independent segment during the month.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
