Publishing: 18 April

Advertising deadline: 2 April

Submissions deadline: 27 March

Contact Vince Bamford (vince.bamford@wrbm.com)

The Story

  • Own label has become a key weapon in the price war. As the discounters advance with cut price own label lines and ‘as good as brands’ pledges, many of the mainstream multiples have responded by developing upper tier and specialist own label lines. So how has own label’s share of retailers’ sales changed over the past year? And how has this affected retailer performances? Which categories are they focusing on and what are their strategies?

Key themes

Pricing: With the wider grocery market gripped by deflation, how are prices holding up in own label? With retailers increasingly pushing upper tier, specialist and tertiary lines are prices holding up or are they in decline as the supermarkets are forced to compete on price with the discounters? How have the discounters’ own label prices changed in the past year?

Tiering: Ever since Tesco introduced the concept of ‘good, better, best’ tiering of own label offers in the mid-90s, more and more players have been developing tiered own label ranges. The discounters are increasingly doing so too. What effect is this having on the market? Who’s doing what?

Promotions: This feature will explore how the promotional strategies of retailers and brands have changed over the past year. We are particularly interested in how ‘Dine In For £10’ type deals are affecting the market and driving growth.

Health & functionality: Retailers are continuing to develop own label lines centred on health and functionality. How successful have these lines been and why? What’s next in this area? Is free from ripe for development?

Tertiary brands: This feature will pay close attention to so-called ‘tertiary’ brands and their significance in the price war. Which tertiary brands have been most successful and why?

Innovation: This will be key to this feature. We will be investigating how new product development has shaped the category over the past year and what is in store for shoppers in 2014. We will be profiling four of the most interesting launches in a separate innovation panel.

PLMA – show preview : The vital details (what, where, when) and a short run down of what’s in store

Key questions the feature is likely to address

  • What consumer trends have impacted the category over the past year?
  • How have individual retailers’ strategies impacted the market?
  • What’s next for the category?