Branded goods tend to dominate supermarket promotions, but there are always a small but revealing number of own-label offers on display. 

Last weekend, with the school holidays in full swing and the weather sizzling, most retailers were working hard to promote their hottest summer sellers, with barbecue-friendly goods at the top of the list. 

Overall, own-label offers accounted for 15% of the total featured space.Sainsbury’s allocated the most space at 22%. Meat promotions topped the chart taking 32%, fruit was second with 22%, chilled snacking third with 19% and vegetables and cooked/deli meats shared fourth with 14% each. The primary mechanic for Sainsbury was x-for-y, which accounted for 42% of offers.

At Asda, own label accounted for 16% of promotions. Meat was responsible for 41%, fruit 23%, cakes & pastries 18%, poultry & game 10% and chilled fruit juice and smoothies 8% . The primary promotional mechanic for Asda was x-for-y, which was used on 81% of its own-label promotions.

Tesco devoted 15% of its featured space promotions to own label. Fruit accounted for 29% of that, chilled snacking 22%, chilled ready meals 21%, and vegetables and poultry & game 14% apiece. The preferred mechanic was half price, representing 26% of its own-label offers.

Somerfield’s own-label promotions took 13% of its featured space. Laundry products and canned goods accounted for 25% of space each, dogfood and cooked/deli meats were 19% each and chilled food the remaining 13%. Two promotional mechanics were used in equal measure, x-for-y and save accounting for 35% each.

Morrisons allocated the least amount of featured space to own-label promotions at only 10%. Wine led the way with 25%, only one point ahead of chilled snacking at 24%. Meat came third with 18%, chilled ready meals fourth with 17% and fresh pasta fifth with 16%. The preferred mechanic was bogof, which was used on 35% of offers.