Gill Aitchison, President, Ipsos Marketing, Global Shopper & Retail Research, says "... store brands are challenging national brands on a number of key brand attributes... (and that is) very alarming for national consumer packaged goods marketers."
Global consumers are confident that store brands perform just as well as national brands: 81% say that store brands offer food products that taste as good and home products that work as well as national brands. The notion that store brands offer a sub-optimal product experience, the trade-off for lower price, seems to be fading in consumers' minds, says the report.
Consumer Perceptions Toward Store Brands Vs. National Brands (% of Respondents) | |
Brand Offers: | Percent Saying Store Brands are the Same As or Better Than National Brands |
Good value for the money | 89% |
Products that meet my needs | 87 |
Convenient products | 87 |
Good for the family | 86 |
Products my family requests | 83 |
Products that taste good | 81 |
Products that work well | 81 |
Products that I trust | 80 |
High quality products | 73 |
Unique products | 69 |
Innovative products | 69 |
Appealing packaging | 65 |
Source: Ipsos, April 2010 |
Aitchison opines that "...store brands are flourishing as a result of product quality improvements in conjunction with the effects of the poor economy on consumers... the level of trust in store brands... at a time of distrust in other sectors... may mean that shoppers may be less likely to return to more expensive brands... "
The report suggests that national brands greatest strengths vs. store brands are packaging, innovation, uniqueness and quality.
For additional information, please visit Ipsos here.