Walmart has seen growing private label sales, the company said with the announcement of its third quarter results.
John David Rainey, Walmart’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, also said that shoppers with six-figure incomes are shopping there more often.
“We’ve continued to gain grocery market share from households across income demographics, with nearly three-quarters of the share gain coming from those exceeding $100,000 in annual income,” Rainey said. “This quarter, our private brand penetration in food categories increased, reflecting customers’ increased focus on quality products at value prices.”
Rainey said Walmart has seen increased store brand growth in several categories including proteins, baking goods, baby food and dog food.
Like the private label industry in general, this growth in private label sales for Walmart has been happening though most of the year. The president and CEO of Walmart U.S., John Furner, noted the shift by its shoppers to private label products began in March of this year. He said it had been 13 years since the last time Walmart saw such a significant period of growth for its store brands.
“We've been pretty open over the years that we don't necessarily manage private brand to a specific target, but what we do in private brand is develop great quality items and great values,” he said.
Overall, for the third quarter Walmart reported company-wide revenue of over $152 billion, an increase of 8.7% when compared to the comparable quarter in 2021.