In this new monthly feature for PLMA’s e-Scanner, Editor-in-Chief Tom Prendergast examines PLMA’s exclusive IRI/Unify sales data. He compares the latest monthly sales figures vs results from the same month a year ago to see which categories and products are showing growth and opportunities for PLMA members and retailers. This month’s column looks at the latest IRI statistics as of February 20, 2022.
For the four-week period ending February 20th compared to the same period a year ago, 15 out of the 18 departments tracked by IRI had private brand growth, with Deli/Prepared (18.3%), Beverages (10.8%), General Merchandise (6.5%) Total Store (6.2%), and Beauty (5.1%) showing some of the strongest growth with the latest monthly data vs a year ago.
In categories, sports drinks stand out with 87.3% growth and while total sales stand at $4 million, it is a category where store brands have room to grow and are gaining in sales and perhaps in popularity. Also, among food products, coffee, espresso, and tea saw 29.9% growth in dollar sales while frozen dinner entrees (22.1%) demonstrated refrigerated products and dinner entrees in general seem to remain popular with consumers.
Breath fresheners (43.1%), deodorant (36%) and skin care (32.7%) also stood out in non-food categories. Home staples had growth too. Products such as toilet tissue (23%) and facial tissue (22.5%) reached $206 million and $33 million in sales, respectively.
The products in private brand subcategories are interesting because of their diversity. For instance, Shelve Stable Sport Drinks Non-Aseptic grew 108% but not surprising given the growth of sports drinks in categories. But other products such as acne treatments (73.6%), cooking and salad oils (41.1%) and even motor oil with $30.8 million in sales and growth of 31.8% demonstrated how private brands can find subcategory growth in a wide mixture of products.
All these statistics and more can be found through IRI’s Unify statistics section on www.plma.com.