Private label

Two brands of aspirin. Left: a national brand made by Bayer. Right: a private-label brand. Note the price difference and similar boxes.

A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses.[1][2] A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by the firm that owns it, although in rare instances the brand is licensed to another company.[3] The term often describes products, but can also encompass services.

The most common definition of a private label product is one that is outsourced: company A makes a product for company B, which company B then offers under their brand name.[4][5][6] However, it can also define products made in retailer-owned firms.[7][8] For example, in 2018, The Kroger Company had 60% of its private brands produced by third parties; the remaining 40% was manufactured internally by plants owned by Kroger.[9] Private-label producers are usually anonymous, sometimes by contract. In other cases, they are allowed to mention their role publicly.[10][11]

  1. ^ Hargrave, Marshall. "How Private Brands Matter". Investopedia. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022.
  2. ^ Fitzell (1982), p. 9: "Any time a product is packaged under a label owned by a retailer, it can be called private label."
  3. ^ Fitzell (1982), p. 4.
  4. ^ Morrison, Stella. "How Private Labeling Works". business.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2022.
  5. ^ MBA Skool Team. "Private Label Meaning & Definition". MBA Skool. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020.
  6. ^ Mahmoud, Rasha (31 May 2020). "Private Label: Definition, Example, Pros & Cons". Retail Dogma. Archived from the original on 2 May 2022.
  7. ^ "What is Private Labeling?". Ecommerce CEO. Orbit Local LLC. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fitzell_(1982)_p10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Aylward_(2018) was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hirsh_(2022) was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dixon_(2017) was invoked but never defined (see the help page).