Price Wars: Attack of the Private Labels | Reimagining Retail

Summary

Behind the Numbers: An EMARKETER Podcast
Episode: Price Wars: Attack of the Private Labels | Reimagining Retail
Release Date: May 7, 2025
Host: Sara Lebo
Guests: Ariel Fager, Skye Canaves

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Introduction

In the latest episode of EMARKETER’s podcast Behind the Numbers, host Sara Lebo delves into the evolving landscape of private label brands in retail. Titled Price Wars: Attack of the Private Labels, the discussion centers around how private labels are transforming from mere cost-effective alternatives to strong, branded competitors in the market. Guests Ariel Fager and Skye Canaves join Sara to explore this dynamic shift, its implications for retailers, and the broader impact on consumer behavior.

Defining Private Labels: Beyond Affordability

Sara Lebo initiates the conversation by questioning whether private labels are still synonymous with affordability or if they have transcended into distinct, branded entities.

Sara Lebo [01:01]:
"Private label has meant low cost products that can replace national brands. But as retailers work to build brand loyalty, differentiate themselves and boost sales, we've seen a lot more private labels with their own really strong branding."

Skye Canaves [01:35]:
"Private label brand products are typically priced lower than their national brand competition. On average, the price gap is around 20% in the CPG categories and that's held over time."

Ariel Fager [02:42]:
"65% of consumers associate private label with the phrase budget friendly. So I think the perception is there, even if prices are similar to national brands, they’re still viewed as more affordable."

While affordability remains a core attribute, private labels are increasingly adopting unique branding and packaging, distancing themselves from purely generic images. This strategic branding enhances their appeal and consumer recognition beyond just being cost-effective options.

The Strategic Importance of Private Labels to Retailers

Private labels offer several advantages to major retailers like Walmart, Target, and Amazon, beyond just lower prices.

Skye Canaves [03:15]:
"Private labels allow retailers to enjoy higher margins than selling products from other brands at wholesale. They also help expand product assortments and fill gaps not met by national brands, encouraging customer loyalty."

Sara Lebo [03:58]:
"Loyalty is a big one. If a consumer likes even one private label product, they're likely to return to your store to purchase it again, even if they shop elsewhere for national brands."

Private labels serve as exclusive offerings that can only be found at specific retailers, fostering a unique brand identity and encouraging repeat business. Additionally, they provide retailers with greater control over product quality, pricing, and margins.

Navigating Tariffs and Supply Chain Challenges

The episode addresses the impact of tariffs on private labels, especially in the context of recent global economic uncertainties.

Skye Canaves [05:02]:
"It depends on the retailer and where they're sourcing from. Many private labels in CPG and supermarkets are produced domestically, but they might still face tariffs on raw or packaging materials. Retailers like Target are shifting manufacturing from China to Latin America to mitigate high tariffs."

Ariel Fager [05:49]:
"Private labels might have more flexibility and agility in adjusting their supply chains compared to national brands, but they still face similar challenges."

Despite the pressures from tariffs, private labels have adapted by diversifying their manufacturing sources and maintaining relative price advantages. During high inflation periods, private labels have shown resilience, often outpacing national brands in growth rates.

Skye Canaves [06:27]:
"Private label grocery brand growth was 3.9% versus national brand growth at 1% in 2024, even while not keeping up entirely with inflation for national brands."

Private Label Penetration Across Categories

While private labels have made significant inroads in many product categories, some areas remain challenging.

Sara Lebo [08:42]:
"Is there any category that private label has struggled to penetrate?"

Skye Canaves [08:42]:
"Beauty is a big one. There are few private label beauty brands in the US, though some like number seven from Boots are expanding internationally. Pet food and baby food also show lower private label penetration due to trust concerns."

Ariel Fager [10:10]:
"Pet food and baby food require higher trust from consumers, which can be a barrier for private labels. However, brands like Costco’s Kirkland are making strides by leveraging retailer trust."

Categories that rely heavily on brand loyalty and consumer trust, such as beauty and pet food, pose challenges for private labels. Nonetheless, strategic collaborations and leveraging retailer credibility are beginning to overcome these barriers.

Building Trust and Consumer Perception

Trust in private labels is closely tied to the reputation of the retailer itself. High-trust retailers can transfer that trust to their private label brands.

Sara Lebo [11:37]:
"People trust big retailers, and that trust extends to their private label products. For example, I trust pharmacy private labels like ibuprofen because I trust the pharmacy."

Ariel Fager [11:57]:
"67% of consumers trust Costco’s Kirkland brand, showcasing how retailer reputation can bolster private label trust."

Skye Canaves [10:37]:
"Consumers trust retailers like Trader Joe’s and Costco enough to try their private label products, especially when backed by the retailer’s quality assurance."

By maintaining high standards and leveraging their established reputation, retailers ensure that their private label brands are perceived as reliable and of high quality.

Spotlight on Private Label Excellence: Unofficial Awards

The episode culminates with Sara Lebo presenting five unofficial awards recognizing standout private label brands. Each award highlights innovation and strategic excellence within the private label sector.

1. Niche Category Innovator: Good Little Garden by Target

Sara Lebo [12:30]:
"Good Little Garden is Target's first standalone floral-owned brand."

Ariel Fager [12:35]:
"It's interesting how Target is branding their flowers distinctly, moving beyond generic in-store offerings."

Target’s initiative to create a specialized floral private label brand demonstrates innovation in a traditionally generic category, enhancing the shopping experience and offering consumers a unique product line.

2. Vertical Integrator: Loudmouth Barbecue by Ace Hardware

Sara Lebo [14:10]:
"Loudmouth Barbecue is Ace Hardware’s foray into barbecue sauces, a category beyond their typical offerings."

Skye Canaves [14:10]:
"Ace Hardware expanded into a new category by developing their own branded barbecue sauce, showcasing a playful and memorable brand name."

By venturing into non-traditional categories, Ace Hardware exemplifies vertical integration, broadening their product range and enhancing brand diversity.

3. Premium Player: Better Goods by Walmart

Sara Lebo [16:08]:
"Better Goods is Walmart’s premium private label, offering high-quality products at accessible prices."

Ariel Fager [16:22]:
"Better Goods grew 200% in the 12 months ending December 31, 2024, indicating strong consumer acceptance."

Walmart’s Better Goods line successfully bridges the gap between premium quality and affordability, appealing to a broader demographic and driving significant growth.

4. Collaborating King: Kirkland Beer by Costco and Deschutes Brewery

Sara Lebo [18:35]:
"Kirkland Beer, a collaboration with Deschutes Brewery, highlights Costco’s strategic partnerships."

Skye Canaves [19:35]:
"The co-branding with Deschutes adds prestige to Kirkland Beer while maintaining value pricing."

Costco’s collaboration with a reputable brewery enhances the appeal and credibility of their private label beer, blending quality with value.

5. Viral Social Award: Trader Joe’s Private Label Success

Sara Lebo [21:05]:
"Trader Joe’s has created a cult following, exemplified by the frenzy around their mini tote bags."

Ariel Fager [21:05]:
"Trader Joe’s organically generates buzz through unique products and minimal advertising, leveraging social media trends effectively."

Trader Joe’s mastery of social media-driven marketing and unique product offerings, like their coveted tote bags, underscores their dominance in creating viral private label successes.

Conclusion

The episode wraps up with Sara Lebo emphasizing the significance of private labels in today’s retail environment. As retailers continue to innovate and invest in their private label offerings, these brands are not only surviving but thriving, reshaping the competitive landscape and consumer expectations.

Sara Lebo [23:39]:
"Thank you to our listeners and our editing team. We'll be back next Wednesday with another episode of Reimagining Retail."

Overall, Price Wars: Attack of the Private Labels provides a comprehensive analysis of the strategic movements within private label branding, highlighting how retailers are leveraging these brands to enhance loyalty, diversify offerings, and navigate economic challenges.

Transcript

[Sara Lebo]

In today's economy, every ad dollar counts. That's why performance marketers are turning to Rokt ads to reach over 400 million active shoppers in the transaction moment when they're completing a purchase online. You only pay when customers engage. Learn [e-mail] eMarketer that's R-O-K-T.com eMarketer hello listeners.

[Ariel Fager]

Today.

[Sara Lebo]

Today is Wednesday, May 7th. Welcome to behind the Reimagining Retail, an Emarketer podcast made possible by rokt. This is the show where we talk about how retail collides with every part of our lives. I'm your host, Sara Lebo. Today's episode topic is Attack of the Private Labels. Shout out to Marcus for coming up with that idea, that name. Let's meet today's guests. Joining me first for today's episode is Ariel Fager. Hey, Ariel.

[Ariel Fager]

Hello. Happy to be here.

[Sara Lebo]

Also with us is Skye Canaves. Hey, Sky.

[Skye Canaves]

Hey. It's good to be back.

[Sara Lebo]

Good to have you. Okay, let's start with exactly what we're talking about when we talk about private label. So in the past we've used private label as a synonym for a generic brand or a store brand. Private label has meant low cost products that can replace national brands. But as retailers work to build brand loyalty, differentiate themselves and boost sales, we've seen a lot more private labels with their own really strong branding. So let's start with this. Is private label still a synonym for affordable?

[Skye Canaves]

So I think it certainly is in the sense that private label brand products are typically priced lower than their national brand competition. And there's data from Circana that shows on average that price gap is around 20% in the CPG categories and that's held over time. So even as prices go up with inflation, the national brands are raising their prices and so can the private label retailers.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah, I think this is especially true for pharmacy brands. Like that's an area where I know if I go to Band Aids and I look to the left of them, I'll find a cheaper, not name brand product. Other places not so much, particularly like clothes or other CPG products, private label can have higher end products.

[Ariel Fager]

Yeah. According to data from Numerator, 65% of consumers associate private label with the phrase budget friendly. So I think the perception is there. Yeah, even if maybe we're seeing prices maybe a little more similar to national brands, people still perceive them as being more affordable.

[Sara Lebo]

At the same time, we are seeing some private brands that maybe aren't even getting like perceived all the way as private Label brands. Because Target has so many private label brands, some of them might not look like they are Target. Target brands. They're not all called Target.

[Ariel Fager]

Yeah. And I think a lot of that has to do with, like, packaging and how they're presenting it. I think previously private label felt really much like a. A generic copy of the national brand.

[Sara Lebo]

Whereas they weren't spending money on marketing.

[Ariel Fager]

Exactly. Now they have their own look, their own feel, and I think that's contributing a lot.

[Sara Lebo]

Why is private label so important to retailers like Walmart, Target, Amazon?

[Skye Canaves]

So a couple of reasons. One is they can generally enjoy higher margins on the private label goods than on selling products that they get from other brands at wholesale. And then they really allow the retailers to expand their product assortments, fill in gaps that are not being met by national brands. They can encourage loyalty. If you develop a strong brand that really appeals to customers. There's that exclusive exclusivity of the brand that you can only get it at that particular store, so it draws consumers. I think those are the key advantages of private label for retailers.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah, I think the loyalty is a big one. If a consumer likes even one private label product, they're probably gonna come to your store to get that. Because other stores will have the national brands that you also wanna buy.

[Ariel Fager]

Yeah. And they're also probably gonna be more likely to switch brands in different categories. Right. Say you like something from Target in one of their private label lines and you want to try something else. I think they're a little more likely to switch.

[Skye Canaves]

Right. They will build trust in the private label brands that carries over to other brands.

[Sara Lebo]

Okay, so everyone who listens to this podcast is probably so sick of hearing about tariffs, but I want to talk about them in relation to private label. In the past, private label has benefited from things like high inflation, economic uncertainty, global unrest. In those cases, we've hedged that consumers will buy more private label products in order to save money. But private label brands are being impacted heavily by tariffs. So is this pattern going to happen again with heavy tariffs?

[Skye Canaves]

I think it depends on the retailer and where they're sourcing from. So for the retailers, like, a lot of private labels are in CPG and supermarkets, and those are being produced domestically. They can still face tariff impacts from having to import raw materials or packaging materials. You also have a shift in sourcing among private label retailers like Target. So they spoke at their last investor presentation pretty in depth about how they've moved a lot of their private label manufacturing out of China and into other markets, into Latin America. For example. And while those countries may still be subject to tariffs, remains to be seen, it's not quite at the level of the tariffs on Chinese imports.

[Ariel Fager]

Yeah. I think private labels maybe have a tiny bit more flexibility with their supply chain and maybe a slight bit more agility to be able to kind of adjust accordingly. So they might have a little bit of an advantage that way. But I do think that they're still going to be dealing with the same things that national brands are dealing with.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah. There is like the argument also that like a rising tide boosts all ships. That's usually a positive thing. But if everything is becoming more expensive, then even though private label brands will likely become more expensive, they'll still benefit. Cause they'll still be like less expensive.

[Ariel Fager]

Yeah, it's all kind of that relative price that's gonna matter.

[Skye Canaves]

Yeah. And that's what we saw when we had high inflation in 2021 and 2022 is that private label brands really surged now. They had a little bit of drop off in growth at the height of the pandemic just because supply chains were so snarled. But then they came back so strong and that's been sustained. So in 2024, according to the Private Label Manufacturers association, private label grocery brand growth was 3.9% versus national brand growth at 1%. So that's not even keeping up with inflation for the national brands while private label brands were booming in this time.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah. I definitely think of that era 2020 to 2022 as like a huge time for private label brands. I think that's when we saw a lot of launches and a lot of branding on private label brands. We saw the packaging look more similar to national brand packaging.

[Skye Canaves]

And now some of that packaging is starting to assert its own identity where it's not even looking like a copy or a dupe, but it's, it's becoming its own brand that consumers can look out for that or that can catch consumer attention when it's a new brand.

[Ariel Fager]

Yeah, absolutely. And I think something thinking about tariffs, I mean, again with the kind of context that yes, private label brands are going to face the same challenges. I do wonder. I remember, you know, during kind of 2020 and you know, when shelves were really empty, there was a lot of people trying new products because that's just what was left on shelves.

[Sara Lebo]

They also were all sharing themselves trying new products on social media, which has been huge for private label.

[Ariel Fager]

Yeah. I'm just wondering, I mean, it's a little bit of conjecture, but I wonder if there's gonna be A little bit something similar where people are a little more willing to go outside of their comfort zone to save a few bucks or if something is out of stock.

[Sara Lebo]

I mean, if things get more expensive, if we see product shortages, those are the kinds of things that make people willing to experiment with new brands. So, yeah, it could be a high time for private label. Is there a private label for everything? Is there any category that private label has struggled to penetrate?

[Skye Canaves]

Oh, beauty is a big one. There still are not a lot of beauty brands created by retailers in the us. There's a bit and there. But there is potential. Like one of the biggest beauty brands in the UK is number seven, which is from the Boots pharmacy. It actually became so big after Boots and Walgreens merged. Yeah, they sell that in the market. They spun it off. Well, first they spun off Boots as its own brand, maybe potentially to look at a sale of that brand as the bigger company had other issues. But it's also gone international and expanded internationally. So, yeah, it's sold at not only at Walgreens in the us, but at places like Target and Walmart, maybe even Amazon. And just this past weekend, I was watching TV and number seven ad popped up and I was surprised to see, like, that kind of advertising for a private label brand, because that's been very rare. But it does show how much a private label brand can expand, even in a category that's been considered resistant to private label.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah, I do feel like beauty is a really challenging area because you have a lot of brand loyalty there, because people need to trust brands because they're putting it on their face. But also you have really cheap dupe brands already like Elf or Mix, so it's hard to undercut those and it's hard to dupe better than the dupes have already duped.

[Ariel Fager]

Duped dupes. Pet food's actually another area where there's kind of lower penetration, which I think makes sense. You know, it's something that, you know, I think I would also assume. I think baby food is along similar lines where you want to trust the food that you're feeding to your pet, to your child. And maybe that trust just isn't there with private label brands, but I think there could be possibilities.

[Skye Canaves]

Yeah. And I think that's changing a lot because in the beauty space, for example, I know I've bought dupes at Trader Joe of a certain sunscreen that was recommended on social media. And maybe because I trust Trader Joe's to begin with, I will trust that brand. And I'll also say that with pet food. We joined Costco as members finally because we realized our cost savings on pet food, if we switched to the Kirkland brand would more than offset the Costco membership. Of course, it doesn't offset all the extra stuff that we buy when we go to Costco, but that's another story.

[Sara Lebo]

Well, yeah, I'm talking about private labels. Like, people don't have as much trust of them as national brands, but that's not necessarily true. I mean, people definitely trust big retailers. And when I think about what I buy private label, I'll buy ibuprofen or advil. Private label, 99.9% of the time, it's much cheaper. And that's a pharmaceutical. So clearly I do trust whatever pharmacy I'm at to deliver on that.

[Ariel Fager]

Yeah, it's interesting that sky brought up Costco. 67% of consumers say they trust. I think it was. It's the Kirkland brand. And so I think that's just a really good point. Maybe it varies from retailer to retailer. How much you trust that retailer is kind of then how much you trust the private label brands that they're selling and what products you would buy.

[Sara Lebo]

Okay, so I want to close out this episode with something we love doing on the podcast. Completely arbitrary awards. They're not completely arbitrary. We'll say unofficial. We came up with five awards for what we consider to be five interesting private label players. I'm going to deliver the awards and we'll chat a little about why we assigned these awards. So let's start with our niche category Innovator. We gave the niche category innovator award to Good Little Garden by Target. Ariel, what is Good Little Garden?

[Ariel Fager]

It's Good Little Garden is Target's quote. First standalone floral owned brand.

[Sara Lebo]

I did not know that you would have the quote right there, Eddie.

[Ariel Fager]

I came prepared. Yeah. So it's a private label flower brand, which I find kind of interesting.

[Sara Lebo]

So I thought that the garden. I thought that the flowers that they have at the grocery store were sort of already generic private labels. So this just puts branding on it. What's the difference?

[Ariel Fager]

Yeah, I'm not entirely clear on that. So I don't know. But I definitely think that, like, it is a little bit strange to think about the differences in flowers. Like, are they gonna have a separate, you know, section with the flowers they already carry? And what makes Target's branded flowers different? I think they're going to have to do some marketing work there to really make up for a category that's. That's a very occasion Driven category, too.

[Sara Lebo]

But it makes sense that they're no. Their target is making itself known as a flower provider that's not as a florist ahead of Mother's Day, which is like, what, the number one flower holiday.

[Skye Canaves]

Yeah. So the timing is great for their marketing. And they're going to launch in store activations or events around it, which I think is really critical to successful private label brand launches. Getting people into stores, showcasing the private label in a unique and fun way that can appeal to more consumers.

[Sara Lebo]

Next up, we have our vertical integrator. We're sort of using vertical integrator as a loose term here. This award goes to Loudmouth Barbecue by Ace Hardware. Sky, I'll leave it up to you to explain what this is.

[Skye Canaves]

Sure. So it's kind of like the retailer's brand extension into a totally different category because your hardware store doesn't typically sell barbecue sauce, or they may, but it would be kind of like an accessory. So they decided to take this into their own hands rather than working with a vendor. They developed this in house and they gave it a fun name, Loudmouth. That has a bit of personality. I find one of my critiques of private label brands is that sometimes their names can be a little bland or hard to remember. And they've really launch season stores kind of to capture, like, barbecue season and interest in their products. And I think they also were doing in store activations with, like, block parties where they're grilling and showcasing the sauces. So it's just a fun twist on what we usually think of private label brands. Having to fit into a retailer's core categories and going a little beyond that.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah. I mean, if you sell grills and you sell charcoal, then why wouldn't you sell barbecue sauce?

[Ariel Fager]

I mean, it makes sense, but I think it's up.

[Sara Lebo]

They should have beer.

[Ariel Fager]

Yeah, they should.

[Sara Lebo]

The Ace Hardware beer right by the cash register.

[Ariel Fager]

It's just such an interesting play. I mean, it obviously is a very different type of, like you said, Sky, a very different private label play than, like, you know, Walmart adding something or Target adding something. Because you're not necessarily going to Ace Hardware every week or even every month necessarily.

[Sara Lebo]

You don't know the dads that I know.

[Ariel Fager]

That's true. I mean, I'm not a dad, so I cannot speak to the dads. I do think it's just such a fun offering that it really kind of wins me over.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah. Okay, Next up, we have our premium player. This is going to better goods by Walmart, which is a more Premium private label brand that Walmart launched last year, a couple years ago. Last year, in order to sort of fill out this like good, better, best.

[Ariel Fager]

Kind of tier, Better goods is it grew really fast. Numerator Data, it grew 200% in the 12 months ending December 31, 2024 though take that with a caveat. Because it was introduced in April 2024.

[Sara Lebo]

It'S impossible for it not to grow.

[Ariel Fager]

So obviously it was going to grow, but you know, it does currently, I think hold a 20.6% household penetration rate. So I think it took off really fast. And I think that, you know, Walmart consumers obviously have an appetite for things that are more premium.

[Sara Lebo]

Or do Walmart consumers have an appetite for things that are more premium?

[Ariel Fager]

According to the data, I think they do.

[Skye Canaves]

But according to Walmart, because they've, they've noted a lot of growth in more affluent consumers, households earning more than 100,000 a year have really been turning to Walmart for more of their groceries in particular. And that's who this line might appeal to. A lot of their products I think are mostly priced under $5, which is a really strong price point for a premium type of food product that competes with a lot of those, like what we call shoppy shop brands, those direct to consumer shopify brands that make fancy olive oils or nuts and things like that.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah, I mean what Better Goods does offer is I'm gonna sound like a Walmart ad. It has premium branding, all the lowercase. It's really chic, it has bright colors, but it doesn't have premium prices. Walmart, you can take that copy.

[Skye Canaves]

Yeah, the branding doesn't, the packaging is very eye catching and bright and kind of unique. It stands out more than its name though. I was trying to buy, I wanted to buy one of their products when I was placing an online order and I just couldn't remember the name because it seems to have like the same kind of name as like it's a little bland, like Target's Good and Gather and we're just talking about the Good Little Garden. I guess it's, it's being suggestive. Yes, these products are good. We get that.

[Ariel Fager]

They're really trying to lay it on thick, but you know, I guess it's working. So I don't know.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah, when I Google Better Goods, Walmart comes up first. But a bunch of other brands called Better Goods also come up. Okay, next up we have our collaborating king. This goes to a product I've mentioned many times since the start of this podcast. Costco's Kirkland beer, which collaborated with Deschutes.

[Ariel Fager]

Yeah, Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon. I think it's just. I think that's really smart. It seems like this brewery seems to have some really good, a really good reputation amongst beer drinkers.

[Sara Lebo]

You say that like you've never had a beer.

[Ariel Fager]

I know, that was awkward.

[Sara Lebo]

I've seen you have a beer I love.

[Ariel Fager]

Well, I've never had a Deschutes beer, so I can't personally speak to it. No, I think, you know, pairing, you know, collaborating with a local brewery that's known for its beer and, you know, just being able to put that Kirkland logo on it is a really smart move.

[Skye Canaves]

Yeah. And the co branding is interesting because you rarely see private label products with another brand on them. But I think the Kirkland brand is already so active, aspirational. And then the Deschutes kind of takes it to another level, but the value is still there. So I think the pricing is like several dollars less than what you'd pay for a case of competing beer. And they have some like, special releases too.

[Sara Lebo]

When did the Kirkland branding become so aspirational? Is this recent or has this always been the case?

[Ariel Fager]

That's a good question. I feel like.

[Sara Lebo]

Cause when I was drinking Costco beer in college, it was like, sort of quirky that we were doing like, we were like, this is our Kirkland beer. And people would be like, is that Kirkland beer? And now I feel like it's the.

[Ariel Fager]

Product a little more recent.

[Skye Canaves]

Yeah, I think it's the past couple of years as their product selection and assortment has expanded and people come to know that there is real quality there. And Costco itself, I think, is kind of an aspirational retailer because it's. The average incomes of its consumers are pretty high, like in the 120,000 range. And they tend to be college educated. To shop at Costco, you need to pay for the map. You need to be able to buy things in bulk. So like paying ahead for your groceries and also have the space to store them.

[Sara Lebo]

This is why I was drinking my Kirkland beer in college.

[Ariel Fager]

There you go.

[Sara Lebo]

I definitely was not paying for a Costco membership and I don't know Costco. Okay, next up is our viral social award. This one goes to. I don't think anyone will be surprised by this. Trader Joe's. We can't really talk about private label without talking about Trader Joe's, which is its own, like, sort of vertically integrated private label company. I think that's what you would call it. They sell Other products in Trader Joe's now, but not a ton. And, you know, Trader Joe's has a cult following. They're the social brand to beat.

[Ariel Fager]

Yeah. I do think I. In, in this conversation, when we were coming up with the awards, I think one of the things, one of the reasons we decided on this was because of the tote bag craze, which I think is kind of hilarious. So this year, for the second time, Trader Joe's brought back these like mini tote bags. They're like $3. Everyone loves them. There were like crazy lines. And I think it's just a really interesting thing that Trader Joe's, which already, like we said, has like this kind of cult following, somehow like created this, you know, frenzy around a tote bag, which is not what you would think of when you would think of like a. A private label. Good. You know.

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah. Although the appeal of my Trader Joe's tote bag is how big it is. So I don't want them any. I can fit everything in the big Trader Joe's tote.

[Skye Canaves]

Yeah. This is just, I think, kind of one of those social media or TikTok trends that has really taken off. You know, Trader Joe's doesn't really do marketing or advertising, so it's kind of purely organic and it's like taken on a life of its own. They just encourage it by then producing more bags and releasing them and getting people to line up for them.

[Sara Lebo]

They don't do advertising, but they definitely do branding. They definitely do packaging, they definitely do curated aesthetics, and that's what's working. I do think that Trader Joe's needs to make sure it stays ahead on viral, social. I mean, we see Walmart and other competitors definitely investing in having creators show up with their brands.

[Skye Canaves]

Yeah. And all of the big retailers have existing brand fandoms online. People who go to their stores and can pick up the private, private label products, tell you what they're dupes of, review them, give them your quality assessments. So it's important for retailers to really tap into those existing audiences, the creators who are already making videos showing what's new at Trader Joe's this week, or come shopping with me at Aldi and have a look around. And people are watching those. So it would be a lot amiss not to engage with those and work with them to kind of get the word out about their private label brands and new products.

[Sara Lebo]

Williamsburg, Brooklyn is getting a Lidl. Is it pronounced Lidl or Lidl?

[Ariel Fager]

I think it's Lidl. Is it Lidl?

[Sara Lebo]

Yeah, we're getting one. And get ready for my come shopping with me at Lidl Video. Coming whenever that actually happens. Okay, well, that is all we have time for today. Thank you for being here, Sky.

[Skye Canaves]

Thanks for having me again.

[Sara Lebo]

Thank you, Arielle.

[Ariel Fager]

Thank you, thank you, thank you to.

[Sara Lebo]

Our listeners and to our team that edits the podcast. There are no substitutes for them. We'll be back next Wednesday with another episode of Reimagining Retail. And on Friday, join Marcus for another episode of the behind the Numbers show, an emarketer podcast made possible by rokt.