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Amazon still cultivating private label in grocery

Report: E-tailer focuses on apparel over food and beverages

Russell Redman

June 19, 2018

2 Min Read
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Supermarket chains can breathe easy — for now, at least — about Amazon’s grocery push on one front: private label.

Of Amazon’s roughly 7,000 private brand products, less than 2% are food and beverage items, according to an analysis of the e-tailer’s private label offering by Coresight Research. A far higher proportion is in apparel, which accounts for nearly 5,000, or approximately three-quarters, of Amazon’s private brand roster.

“Apparel is the dominant category in Amazon’s private-label offering, and one that appears to be growing, as the retailer pushes further into the clothing and footwear markets,” Deborah Weinswig, chief executive officer and founder of New York-based Coresight, said in the report. “In contrast, Amazon’s private-label offering in grocery categories such as food and household care remains limited, and in beauty and personal care, Amazon offers just two private-label products.”

Amazon_Happy_Belly_coffee_0.pngTwo Amazon brands combined for 124 food and beverage products: Wickedly Prime (81 items) and Happy Belly (43 items), representing 1.8% of the retailer’s 6,825 private label offerings. Launched in December 2016, Wickedly Prime includes such consumables as bars, chips and crisps, nuts, popcorn, puffed snacks, soup, seaweed snacks, sweet spreads, tea and matcha and trail mix. Happy Belly, which made its debut in July 2016, includes snack nuts and seeds, snack and trail mixes, and roasted bean and ground coffee.

Health and household products — under the Amazon Essentials, Amazon Basics and Presto labels — accounted for the same percentage as food, totaling 126 items.

“This category includes one of Amazon’s oldest private labels: Amazon Essentials, which was launched in 2014, and spans multivitamins to baby care products. The Presto and AmazonBasics brands offer products in health and household, too, in categories such as household cleaning products,” Weinswig stated. “Together with food and beverages, health and household makes up Amazon’s still-limited private-label offering in grocery store categories.”

However, she pointed out that high-volume grocery store items are among the most-reviewed of Amazon’s private labels and have received high marks from customers in its five-star rating system. For example, the food brands Wickedly Prime and Happy Belly had average ratings of 4.2 and 4.3, respectively. Amazon Elements, the most-reviewed private brand, had an average rating of 4.4 out of five stars.

“The average Amazon private-label product generates a customer rating of four stars out of five, suggesting overall solid customer satisfaction levels,” Weinswig said in the “Deep Dive: Slicing and Dicing Amazon’s Private-Label Offering” report.

Overall, 4,904 (72%) of Amazon’s private brand products were clothing, footwear and accessories. The next largest category was home and kitchen, with 852 items (12.5%). Other segments included tools and hardware with 239 products (3.5%), electronics with 217 items (3.2) and office with 90 products (1.3%).

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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