# Private label takes 24% of US grocery units while national brands hold dollar share on price

*The unit-versus-dollar split shows which customers buy on value and which pay premium for brand.*

By **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA, Principal** — The Stash Edge, Hako Shikin LLC.
Published 2026-08-13.

Canonical: https://www.pops4.com/stash/articles/private-label-brands-aggregate-market-data-2026-08-13t21-6
Subject: Private-label brands (aggregate market data)
Tags: pricing, private label, substitution, margin defense, cpg

---

Private-label brands captured nearly one-quarter of all US grocery units sold in the first half of 2026, widening their lead over national brands in volume while national brands grew faster in dollar sales, according to Food Navigator. The divergence is a pricing story: shoppers bought more store-brand items, but national brands held revenue by charging more per unit.

The pattern documents a bifurcated market. Private label wins on volume because it prices lower and captures cost-conscious buyers. National brands defend margin by raising price and relying on customers willing to pay for perceived differentiation. Both strategies work, but they serve different buyers and rely on different levers.

The mechanism is substitution friction. A shopper who buys national-brand pasta at **$2.49** versus store-brand at **$1.29** is either brand-loyal, convenience-driven, or unfamiliar with the private-label option. National brands hold dollar share by keeping that friction high: better shelf placement, more SKU variety, package design that signals quality. Private label grows unit share by reducing friction: matching the national package size, improving formulation, placing the product at eye level next to the national.

The play for a physical-product brand is to engineer your own version of this friction. If you sell a premium consumable—skincare, supplements, snack bars—your margin depends on customers not substituting down to a lower-priced alternative. You hold pricing power by making your product feel distinct in a way that a cheaper version cannot easily copy. That might be ingredient transparency, a specific formulation story, or a design language that signals craft. The goal is to make the buyer think twice before switching, even when the price delta is visible.

For a small brand, the steal is to create a substitution barrier using owned narrative and tight SKU focus. Identify the one thing your product does that the cheaper alternative does not—whether that is a single rare ingredient, a specific texture, or a use case the competitor does not address—and repeat that message in every customer touchpoint. On your product page, in your email, on the package itself. Make the differentiation legible in five seconds. Then price **15-25%** above the category average, not **2x**. The goal is not luxury positioning; it is to be expensive enough that the margin funds retention marketing, but accessible enough that the first purchase does not require a leap. You want the customer to try you once and then hesitate before switching back, because the thing you do differently is now part of their routine.

The reverse play also works. If you are launching a private-label or value brand, your job is to lower substitution friction. Match the incumbent's package size and format exactly. Use similar visual cues—color palette, type hierarchy—so the shopper recognizes the category at a glance. Compete on a single variable: price or a minor ingredient upgrade. Do not try to out-brand the national leader. Make it easy to say yes by being **20-30%** cheaper and nearly identical in every other respect.

The grocery data shows both paths are open. National brands hold dollar share by raising price and defending differentiation. Private label takes unit share by lowering friction and price. A small physical-product brand picks one lane and commits. The market rewards clarity.

## The takeaway

Differentiation holds pricing power; substitution ease drives volume. Pick one and make the gap legible in five seconds.

---

## Publisher

**Hako Shikin LLC** — Virginia Beach, Virginia. Founded 1997. ASI 217876 · DUNS 18-204-6339.
Principal and author: **Jenny Huang Goodman MPA MSc MHSA**.

- Author: https://www.huanggoodman.com/about
- LLM context: https://www.pops4.com/stash/llms.txt
- MCP endpoint, for AI agents: https://mcp.pops4.com/mcp
- Client dashboard: https://dashboard.pops4.com/
- Catalogue: 70,000+ products, 200+ brands