Dive Brief:
- Food Lion is bringing back a “Quarter Back” promotion that will run through Oct. 10th and save shoppers a quarter on every private label brand product they purchase, according to Own Brands Now. Consumers can save up to $10 per store visit and receive coupons that are eligible for more savings on their next trip to the market.
- More than 7,000 private label items are offered at Food Lion and are included in this promotion. In 2015, Food Lion redesigned the packaging on their private label brands to make it easier to find on store shelves.
- A minimum of four private label items must be purchased for the promotion to apply. Random weight items are not eligible for the promotion.
Dive Insight:
In recent years, private label brands have lost the stigma of being "generic" and are growing rapidly in popularity. Many consumers tried out the less expensive store brands during the recession — and kept buying them, even when the economy rebounded. According to the Private Label Manufacturers Association, shoppers save $30 billion annually by choosing store brands over other products.
If Food Lion pushes this latest promotion online, they could have a good chance of getting new consumers into their stores. Millennials, in particular, are open to trying new stores and private label brands, and are also easiest to reach through social media and online ads.
The Quarter Back promotion should help drive both new and existing customers to Food Lion's private label products. If all else is equal, it makes sense that customers would prefer to save money and give the store brand a shot. But this logic does not follow for all products — a shopper may be open to trying a store brand bathroom cleaner, but feel more comfortable buying a more familiar name brand hot dog.
This isn’t the first time Food Lion has launched the “Quarter Back” promotion. The grocery retailer tried out the same formula in March this year. The grocery chain likely saw results that would warrant bringing it back.
Some experts see the future of private label sales as being dependent on the relationship that stores are able to build between these brands and their customers. A promotion like this one could help drive store and private label brand loyalty if shoppers feel they’re getting a good product for a fair price. It could be a similar phenomenon to consumers sticking with store brands they started buying during the recession.
National brands may see sales slip a little at Food Lion stores during this promotion. If the grocery chain stocks up on more of its private label products, it could heighten competition for shelf space among national brands.