Own Label Show–London
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The UK market like many others is facing a challenging environment. Gains in commodity prices are starting now to filter through to the high street. This has also helped inflation start to creep up, which is putting a further squeeze on household disposable incomes. The difference between this recession and previous ones, is that unemployment in the UK has not been greatly effected to date. Flexible working patterns, and pay freezes have kept unemployment figures from shooting up sharply. What seems clear is that there is still another 12-24 months of tough times ahead for the UK consumer.
This challenge, which has been present in differing forms since the start of the downturn, continues to provide opportunities for the own label sector in the UK. The growth of the “Chosen by you” range at Walmart's UK business Asda, is just one of the indicators that own label lines are doing well. The hard discounters, Aldi and Lidl, continue to grow as well, albeit slower as the other UK retailers have tweaked their offering to counter the challenge that they represent. Spar has also recently announced that it is rolling out its economy range to the UK which has already been trialled successfully in other European countries.
Having seen the growth in own label purchases by UK consumers, with commodity prices rising, the temptation to lower quality in order to maintain the price will only grow. Given the very competitive nature of the UK market, price increases seem to be the only way that they are going to go. Whether or not the quality changes will remain to be seen, and where changes do take place it will be interesting to see how consumers react.
The 3rd edition of the Own Label Show will take place November 23rd & 24th at the Hotel Ibis, Earls Court, London. Register now to visit and gain the latest insights into this fascinating market: www.ownlabelshow.co.uk.
