Private Label Alone? Consequences of ‘Only-PL’ Assortments on Store Switching Intentions

Brand delisting refers to the removal of all items of a single brand, leading to the unavailability of the brand within a store. Recent professional publications indicate that national brand (NB) delistings are not uncommon in food retailing. However, retail boycotts of individual brands might have negative consequences, such as reduced customer satisfaction or increased store switching behavior. This paper analyzes the consequences of a retailer delisting all or a significant number of NBs for the sake of its own brand. To do so, we have designed a controlled online experiment on a large existing consumer panel in the Spanish market owned by IRI worldwide. Our findings suggest that offering ‘only-PL’ assortments has negative consequences because consumers are more likely to switch to another store to purchase the category. Nevertheless, retailers focused on offering ‘only-PL’ assortments should own a PL with a high-equity positioning as this will reduce the probability of consumers switching to another store.