Private Label Strategy: How Supermarkets Aim to Attract Consumers

Do the French dislike store brands? This was the finding of a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study conducted with a panel of 16,000 individuals across nine different markets in the spring of 2025. According to the study, 27% of French participants claim they never or rarely use store brands for grocery products, compared to 25% on a European level. The gap even reaches 16 points (61% against 44%) for generic medications.

While it’s true that the French are generally less inclined than their neighbors to opt for store brand products, the share of these products in French purchases is nonetheless higher and has tended to increase in recent years. Emily Mayer, Director of Business Insights at market research firm Circana, revisits the main trends regarding the consumption habits of the French, and their relationship with store and national brands.

The main advantage of store brands is their price. They are, on average, 35% cheaper than national brands for the same product. During the inflationary period that spanned the years 2022 and 2023, and to a lesser extent 2024, store brands have expanded. Facing an average price increase of 20%, switching to store brands allows a traditional national brand buyer to absorb inflation. Over the last few years, the share of store brands has increased from 33% of purchases to 36%. Since the calm, this share has not increased further, but has also not declined.

When people are surveyed in stores, 85% report being satisfied with the quality of store brands. Either they consider it as good as the national brand, or they tell us it’s slightly less good, but it’s interesting considering the price.

What I can tell you is that about 17% of purchases in France are made on promotion, so less than one euro out of five. Of course, if you ask a consumer if they want to get a good deal, they will say “obviously.” But during the inflationary period, we did not see purchases on promotion explode. Why? Because in France, promotion is often done in quantities. Except when you’re watching your budget, if you planned to buy a product but to get the promo you have to buy 2 or 3, you end up spending more than planned. We must also add that in France, promotions often concern products that are less at the core of purchases and therefore do not necessarily allow you to save money during an inflationary period.

Store brands are much less well established in product categories like beauty products. The same goes for slightly technical products. They are also much less present in premium product ranges, such as foie gras. The beverage sector is also very little dominated by store brands: it is strongly held by national brands. Conversely, for everything related to more “basic” products, such as tissues or toilet paper, they are very well established. This is also the case for all dairy products, grocery items like canned vegetables.

As for household packaging, such as trash bags or aluminum rolls, store brands make up three-quarters of the market. However, laundry detergent is the playground of large multinationals.

Indeed, two-thirds of the French say they still pay attention to what they buy. As the inflation cycle lasted 2.5 years, the French have changed their way of consuming: the behaviors adopted at that time have become the new norm. The economic and geopolitical context being what it is, there is still a lot of uncertainty. And as the future is not very serene either, it does not favor the resumption of consumption in general.