Walmart‘s biggest private label, Great Value, is undergoing a modernization.
Commencing in May, the brand’s roughly 10,000 products, ranging from LED bulbs to gallons of milk and frozen chicken nuggets, will debut on shelves in refreshed packaging, as stated by the company on Wednesday. Walmart introduced the brand in 1993, and it has not seen a redesign in over a decade. The costs and contents of the new packages will remain unchanged.
Customers will first encounter the new lively and updated packaging with snack items, followed by cereals, cream cheeses, and sour cream products. According to Scott Morris, senior vice president of private brands at Walmart U.S., completing the rollout for all products will take approximately 18 to 24 months.
Great Value boasts higher household penetration than any other store-exclusive brand in the nation, with 87% of U.S. households buying at least one product from Great Value last year, based on research from Numerator. The company reports that all top five private label brands by household penetration in the U.S. come from Walmart, which ranks as the largest grocery retailer by annual revenue in the country.
However, Walmart’s revamp of Great Value serves as a proactive measure as more retailers enhance their in-house product quality. Amazon’s grocery label has become the fastest-growing private brand by unit sales year over year since its launch in October, according to Numerator. Certain retailers, like Costco and Trader Joe’s have drawn in customers due to their images for affordable yet high-quality store-label groceries and wines, among other items. In addition, Aldi, a retailer that primarily sells its own brands, is broadening its national presence by opening over 180 locations across the U.S. this year.
Moreover, this revamp aligns with Walmart’s considerable advancements from shoppers earning over $100,000 annually. It has attracted these affluent customers not just by offering lower prices but also through quicker deliveries and more unique, trendy products. For instance, it has introduced more chef-oriented flavors, plant-based products, and fashionable ingredients to Bettergoods, a private label grocery line that was launched around two years ago.
In an interview with CNBC, David Hartman, Walmart’s vice president of creative, mentioned that customer feedback revealed that while shoppers appreciated the quality and pricing of the products, they “felt the brand’s expression on the packaging was somewhat outdated.”
“They sensed it was a compromise,” he stated. “They value the product in food and consumables, yet they didn’t particularly feel a strong sense of pride displaying it in their homes or with family.”
The updated packaging appears brighter and sharper than the earlier design. Walmart opted for this new look to simplify the process for busy shoppers to locate items, whether in-store or on the Walmart app, Hartman noted.
More straightforward and precise packaging will also assist Walmart’s pickers, who operate quickly while selecting items for customers’ online orders, Morris remarked.
Morris emphasized that the company must adapt to the increasing demand for private brands that don’t resemble or feel like lower-quality imitations of national brands.
“Ultimately, customers continuously anticipate more from private labels,” he asserted.
In the United States, private brands have gained market share. They capture about 20% of the total grocery market in the U.S. compared to approximately 45% to 50% in Canada and Europe, according to Steve Zurek, vice president of advanced analytics at NielsenIQ. Still, he indicated that this is a significant increase from roughly 15% a decade ago within the U.S.
He noted that Gen Z shoppers—the younger demographic retailers are currently targeting—have further propelled private labels as they purchase them more frequently than prior generations and often favor them over popular national brands.
“The negative perception has been gradually dissipating,” he said. “In some ways, depending on the generation, it has become a badge of honor to have a store brand on the counter while hosting.”
