Private labels yet to make it

Bluesky TV sets, Watson hi-fi systems, Aro peas and Clever noodles, all of them share one thing in common that few Romanians are aware of – they are all exclusive brands of one retail chain on the market or another, i.e. they are made by the shop wherefrom they are purchased. And even fewer Romanians are actually buying them, market surveys show. Things will change in the next few years, the representatives of the retail chains say, who expect sales of such products to make a significant contribution to their full-year revenues. In the meantime, market research company AC Nielsena??s surveys say, only half of the people in Bucharest actually know what a private label is and even fewer are able to name one such label. And that even though Bucharest is the most developed city in Romania in terms of trade, with no less than 4 hypermarkets, 7 cash & carry stores and several dozen supermarkets. Whereas figures about Romanians being aware of private labels in Romania are much lower than in the neighbouring countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary), things are even more dramatic when it comes to the buying of such products. Practically, ACNielsen data show, only 16% of the people in Bucharest say that they have actually bought one such product from a store, be it a supermarket, hypermarket or cash & carry store. The ACNielsen results are backed by those of another major research institute on the domestic market, GfK Romania. According to the Shopping Monitor, 18% of Romanians say that they have come across retailersa?? private labels. Out of them 3% buy private label products on a regular basis, while 10% buy only some of them. ZF