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Across eCommerce, tight consumer budgets are sparking profitability headaches. Brands are struggling to drive sustained growth and discount retailers are nipping at the heels of big box stores.
Retailers have responded by rolling out additional private label brands and product lines, which have the advantage of unrivalled access to consumer purchase data — allowing them to fine-tune assortments and improve profitability.
Private label brands are well-positioned to win with consumers in an environment of sustained high prices. In the EU, private label brands account for 47% of unit sales. That figure is 24% and steadily climbing in the U.S. Private Label has reached a significant share of American households with recent launches including Well Market (CVS), Dealworthy (Target) and Bettergoods (Walmart) -- with the last two ranked among the fastest-growing brands in 2024.
High prices aren’t the only driver: younger generations also favor private label offerings; a critical change as purchasing power shifts towards Gen Z and Millennials. Research from Profitero+ and Salesforce has shown that these younger cohorts are more willing to switch brands and try private label products.
The digital shelf may be infinite, but shopper mindshare is not. With 70% of consumers never scrolling past page 1, only a handful of products are truly discoverable. And that real estate is shrinking.
Accelerating retail media spending is one reason. Page 1 is becoming pay-to-play, with retailers monetizing the best placements and brands pouring in money to keep up. Our latest research shows that on average 1 in 5 spots of page one search on Amazon UK are sponsored.
But private label brands are increasingly taking up organic spots, through two key drivers:
On average, in a study across 3.6k CPG keywords at Walmart US and Tesco UK, the organic rank of private label products on page 1 fluctuated 8% less than national brands over the course of August ‘25. This greater stability could stem from factors such as preferential placement in retailer algorithms, consistent pricing strategies, fewer promotional swings, or tighter alignment between search terms and retailer-owned product attributes. Whatever the mix of drivers, it’s a valuable data point to raise with retail partners when exploring how to achieve more predictable, stable organic rank for your brand.
How to measure your organic rank stability in retailer search: Use digital shelf data to track daily item-level organic rank. Most products should expect to move slightly up and down over time, comparing your stability against private label brands can highlight whether your products are experiencing more volatility than expected and whether there are opportunities to improve consistency.
Private label SKUs are increasingly positioned to drive conversion, with research from Numerator showing the price gap versus national brands has expanded by 38% since 2019. They also have better in-stock availability: in an August 2025 study of 8k brands across 14 broad CPG categories in the US and UK, private label brands at Amazon, Tesco and Walmart showed a 5ppt advantage in staying in-stock. Retailer search algorithms reward these qualities, making private label products sticky in AI-driven search rankings.
Between retail media acceleration and private label over-representation in search, brands are struggling to get their fair share of online discoverability — and they’re taking notice. A recent survey from Profitero+ found that for 1 in 3 brands, private labels are perceived to be a bigger threat online than in-store.
Believe it or not, private label dominance hurts retailers too. Research from Profitero+ in partnership Circana across 27 categories in 3 major US retailers found that overall year-on-year category growth was 5pp higher in
categories where private label share of dollar sales had declined. And in many categories, private label share of page one is already dominant.
Example: Over half of the top organic spots for a high-frequency keyword are taken by Tesco private label
You wouldn’t expect to walk into a store and see private label products dominating the most visible eye level shelf space. Online, however, this kind of prominence is becoming far more common. Whether it’s the result of algorithms or merchandising choices, private labels are more visible than ever. For brands, the real opportunity lies in understanding how these dynamics play out digitally and using that knowledge to educate retail partners on strategies that support shared growth.
The status quo of consumer pressures and retailer behavior creates a cycle that is bad for brands, unsustainable for retailers, and harmful for category growth. With ROI from promotions and retail media getting trickier to achieve, more brand spending isn’t the answer.
The path forward is innovation. Brands can still cultivate loyalty with budget-conscious and younger consumers by creating fresh, engaging shopper moments that stand out where it matters. 73% of shoppers use six touchpoints across multiple channels before buying. To get ahead, brands need to map out the omnichannel journey, engage with shoppers where and when they shop, whether they are in discovery mode or ready to convert.
Crucially, digital insights can fuel this process — helping brands uncover white-space opportunities such as unmet pack size needs, overlooked consumption occasions, or under-served shopper missions. By acting on these gaps, brands can design innovations that deliver relevance and value beyond price, while also creating unique moments of surprise and delight through new flavor profiles, seasonal twists, or even pop culture / influencer partnerships. Together, these strategies strengthen loyalty in ways private labels cannot easily match.
Private label brands may have advantages in pricing, resources, and data access, but every brand can still gain ground by excelling at the fundamentals. Start by measuring core digital shelf KPIs such as ratings & reviews, content completeness, and availability.
Because you can’t always compete on price, winning trust through strong reviews and consistently high product quality becomes critical. Complete and compliant content, along with reliable availability, are table stakes for visibility in retailer search algorithms. Equally important is tracking share of search over time—by keyword and subcategory—to see exactly where a private label is gaining traction and how much visibility your brand may be losing.
Brands are accustomed to educating their own teams. But what about educating retailers?
A key first step in countering private label dominance online is educating retailers about the lost category growth they’re risking. Many retail buyers simply aren’t aware of the unintended consequences of their own search algorithms.
While CPGs can’t always control how products surface in organic rankings, they can shape a compelling, data-driven narrative that positions private labels within the broader context of digital Category Management. Many brands assume that influencing organic visibility is off-limits simply because it doesn’t appear in a retailer’s formal “menu” of negotiation levers. In reality, success often comes from reframing the conversation — bringing proof points that show how both branded and private label products are essential to driving overall category growth.
This can be an unfamiliar role to play for many brands, and requires equipping teams with the insights and negotiation strategies to exert influence, both during the JBP process and in an ongoing capacity. Strong JBP negotiations, in particular, offer the opportunity to demonstrate how a balanced approach to private label and branded products benefits the entire category.
For a deeper dive into how private label growth can negatively impact retailers and category health, see our full private label report.
Online channels offer brands greater flexibility around pack sizes and value bundles based on online shopper behavior — yet too often brands don’t take advantage outside tentpole events. The private label challenge is a call to innovative action year-round.
Simply bidding the lucrative top paid spots does work, to an extent — but it’s an expensive and inefficient strategy that’s out of reach for many budgets. Instead, take a tactical approach to discoverability:
And remember that product content is inseparable from media: if PDPs aren’t meeting content quality scores, you’ll end up spending more on media for less impact in search and sales. Our latest research shows a 29% uplift in ROAS for campaigns where products had optimized content.
The rise of private labels underscores that many brands aren’t doing enough to communicate their value online. Content is a critical lever to close this gap, especially with today’s digitally influenced shoppers.
National brands hold a clear edge: they can out-invest private labels in imagery, creative, and storytelling. Distinctive PDP content — from A+ elements to 360° images and videos — helps products stand apart, capture attention, and build loyalty with younger shoppers. By doubling down on innovation, brand voice, and visual differentiation, national brands reinforce premium value and create stronger barriers to switching.
Private label competition is here to stay, but with the right tools and tactics, brands can successfully defend their market share. Profitero+ Strategic Advisory Services have helped major global brands improve their positioning with key retail partners and take back their fair share of the digital shelf.
Our team of CPG experts can help your brand uncover the private label threat and partner in combatting it, including:
