Private label CPG dollar sales rose 2.5%, while unit sales fell 1.9%, during the four-week sales period ended October 2, 2010, according to research firm The Nielsen Company.
In contrast, private label CPG dollar sales rose 0.9% during the four-week period ending October 3, 2009, while unit sales climbed 4.6%.
Dollar Sales Total $6.67B
Dollar sales of private label prepackaged, UPC-coded CPG goods were $6.67 billion during the most recently tracked four-week period, compared to $6.51 billion during the equivalent period a year earlier. Fresh meat experienced the strongest sales growth rate of any department, rising 32.4% from $40.36 million to $53.42 million. Fresh produce followed closely with 29.3% growth, rising from $192.5 million to $248.9 million.
One department experienced a decline in dollar sales compared to the equivalent four-week period in 2009. Dry grocery sales dropped 2.6%, from $2.35 billion to $2.29 billion.
Dollar Segment Share Rises Again
Growth for private label CPG goods in terms of dollar segment share rose fractionally for the 11th straight four-week period. Dollar sales of private label CPG goods increased 0.5 percentage points, from 17.1% of the segment to 17.6%. Branded CPG goods accounted for the remaining 82.4% of the segment.
Every department except dry grocery, which dropped 0.3%, and alcoholic beverages, which remained flat, experienced positive dollar segment share growth compared to the equivalent period in 2009. Four departments experienced a positive dollar segment share increase of 1% or more: fresh meat (an extremely strong 6.7%), fresh produce (3.7%), combo pack (2.2%), and general merchandise (1.1%).
Unit Sales Fall to 3B
Total unit sales for the four weeks ended September 4, 2010 were about 3 billion, compared to 3.07 billion during the equivalent four-week period in 2009. Combo pack sales climbed 27.3%, from 1.86 million units to 2.37 million units; while fresh produce sales rose 24.7%, from 78.63 million units to 98.07 million units. Fresh meat sales rose 24.6%, from 9.2 million units to 11.46 million units.
On the negative growth side, non-food grocery sales fell 5.7%, from 249.8 million units to 235.47 million units; while packaged meat sales fell 5.3%, from 54.96 million units to 52.05 million units. Dairy sales declined 4.1%, from 697.3 million units to 668.4 million units; and health and beauty aid sales slightly slipped 0.7%, from 159.5 million units to 158.4 million units.
Unit Segment Share Slightly Slides
Unit segment share slightly slid compared to the equivalent period a year earlier, with private label CPG goods accounting for 21.8% of the segment, down 0.2% from 22%. Branded CPG goods accounted for the remaining 78.2% of the segment.
Three departments reported negative unit segment growth. On the positive side, fresh meat had the highest growth rate (5.6%), followed by combo pack (3.5%), and fresh produce (3.3%).
Meanwhile, only one department had a negative unit segment growth rate of more than 1%, dairy (1.1%). Dry grocery and packaged meat reported negative unit segment performance of less than 1%.
Multichannel CPG Shoppers Spend Money
Multichannel shoppers spend significantly more money than single-channel shoppers in many CPG verticals, according to other new Nielsen data. Multichannel shoppers across many CPG categories have buying rates four to five times that of single-channel shoppers. For example, the average pet food shopper who uses four-plus channel spends $291 in a year, compared to $68 for the average single-channel pet food shopper (4.3 times higher).
