In this playbook, IGD asked Daymon five questions that every Category Manager should consider as part of their Private Brand (PB) journey. We have intentionally used the term PBs rather than private label as the ranges have evolved from being a tactical lever to a strategic engine for retailers. This interview is a follow up to our foundation private brand playbook.

1. How can Private Brands be strategically leveraged to become a key driver of category growth?

At Daymon, we see Private Brands (PBs) becoming one of the most powerful levers for unlocking sustainable category growth across global retail. No longer positioned simply as low‑cost alternatives to national brands, modern PBs play a transformative role in shaping customer behaviour, strengthening loyalty, and expanding category value.

A key advantage of PBs lies in their ability to drive differentiation and deepen loyalty. Because they are exclusive to the retailer, PBs create a unique value proposition that competitors cannot replicate. When developed with strong quality cues and clear positioning, PBs reinforce the retailer’s identity and build trust, motivating shoppers to return more frequently. This repeated engagement lifts both Private Brand performance and total category sales.

PBs also offer retailers enhanced agility and category expertise. With shorter development cycles and direct access to shopper insights, retailers can innovate faster than many national brands. This agility enables PBs to capitalize quickly on emerging trends—such as new flavours, health needs, or sustainable formats—while trends are still gaining momentum. By filling gaps in the market and responding to unmet needs, PBs attract new shoppers and introduce new consumption occasions, driving incremental category growth.

Beyond driving innovation, PBs strengthen overall category architecture. By offering a clear tiered structure, they make it easier for shoppers to navigate the aisle and naturally guide them toward higher‑value options. They also serve as strong anchors for solution‑based merchandising, support seasonal activations, and improve the overall clarity of the shelf.

Ultimately, when retailers use PBs strategically—combining differentiation, loyalty, agility, and innovation—they do more than shift share. They elevate the category’s value proposition, stimulate demand, and position the retailer as the destination for both quality and discovery.

In essence, Private Brands are not just participants in category growth—they are one of its most powerful engines, capable of redefining value, accelerating innovation, and shaping the future trajectory of the entire category.

2. How to identify opportunities for Private Brand?

Launching a Private Brand (PB) requires a clear and well‑defined strategy; without it, even a well‑intentioned PB can dilute value rather than create it. Success depends on a disciplined, insight‑led approach that aligns with consumer needs and business priorities. The goal is to identify where a PB can truly add relevance, unlock growth, or strengthen the retailer’s competitive position.

A foundational step is assessing strategic white spaces—both internal and external—not by simply identifying SKU gaps, but by understanding where retailers, equipped with deep consumer insight, can introduce solutions that national brands have not yet delivered. In mature markets, this often means using Private Brands to lead category innovation, bring new benefits or formats to life, and elevate overall category value. External benchmarking across markets helps surface emerging sub‑segments, formats, or claims where a PB could create meaningful differentiation. This should be complemented by reviewing international best‑in‑class (BIC) examples, which often highlight scalable opportunities and repeatable winning formulas that can inspire successful PB development.

Understanding price sensitivity and elasticity is also critical. Categories with high price dispersion, strong elasticity, or strong value‑seeking behaviours may present clearer openings for PB participation. In parallel, ongoing monitoring of consumer trends and unmet needs—including health, sustainability, convenience, or premiumization—helps identify spaces where PBs can bring differentiation or faster innovation.

Competitive benchmarking further strengthens opportunity identification. Reviewing national brand (NB) gaps—such as lack of entry price points, limited innovation, or inconsistent quality—highlights where PB can step in. Benchmarking against competitors’ PB offers provides insight into market standards and areas where the retailer can leapfrog competition.

Finally, learning from global best practices ensures opportunities are forward‑looking. Trend anticipation, innovation scouting, and adopting first‑to‑market strategies allow PBs to shape rather than follow category dynamics.

Taken together, these evaluations help retailers identify where Private Brands can truly add value—and where they shouldn’t play—ensuring focus, relevance, and sustainable growth.

3. What should be taken into consideration to ensure an optimal assortment?

Building an optimal assortment requires a balanced, insight‑driven approach that ensures consumer relevance, commercial efficiency, and strategic differentiation. The goal is not simply to carry a wide range, but to curate a portfolio that best serves shopper needs while reinforcing the retailer’s strategic positioning and long‑term competitive advantage.

A strong starting point is understanding shopper missions and need states. The assortment must cover core consumption occasions, provide meaningful choice, and meet expectations across quality tiers. Shopper insights help identify which segments are essential, which can be rationalized, and where differentiation is required.

Equally important is the positioning strategy between Private Brands (PBs) and national brands (NBs). PBs should not always compete directly; in many cases, a complementary positioning drives greater category value. This can mean:

• PBs filling assortment gaps where NBs lack innovation.

• PBs offering alternative formats, claims, or pack sizes.

• PBs supporting solution‑based merchandising for key missions.

When direct competition is appropriate, PBs should reinforce key value items, strengthen price perception, and provide credible alternatives to NBs.

A well‑defined range of tiers:

• Helps shoppers easily navigate choices.

• Encourages movement toward higher‑margin options.

• Ensures both value‑focused and premium‑oriented customers are well served.

• Strengthens the retailer’s differentiation versus competitors.

Performance analytics—such as SKU productivity, duplication analysis, and incrementality—help maintain a balanced range. Operational aspects like supply chain efficiency, profitability, and shelf space constraints must also be considered.

Finally, assortments must remain dynamic. Regular reviews informed by trends, seasonality, and emerging needs ensure the category stays relevant, competitive, and future‑ready.

Ultimately, an exceptional assortment does more than meet demand—it shapes demand. When built on deep insights and a clear strategic vision, it strengthens the retailer’s positioning, enhances the shopper experience, and becomes a core engine of sustainable category growth.

4. How to manage underperforming products in the category?

Effectively managing underperforming products requires a structured and disciplined approach to protect category health and shopper relevance. The first step is clarifying what the product was intended to deliver—whether it was designed to drive traffic, build margin, fill a white space, support a solution, or reinforce Private Brand (PB) equity—because performance only makes sense when assessed against its original purpose.

An equally critical aspect is understanding the product’s life‑cycle stage, starting from the moment of launch. A well‑defined and aligned launching plan is essential to guarantee the correct life‑cycle management of any item. If a new product is placed on the shelf without proper coordination with the category strategy—such as category role, shelf flow, pricing logic, and activation plans—its chances of succeeding diminish significantly. Lack of alignment at launch can result in low visibility, poor shopper understanding, and missed opportunities to integrate the product into the broader category strategy. In other words, even a good product may underperform simply because it was not launched with the right plan.

A robust diagnosis should then focus on clear KPIs such as sales, margin contribution, PB penetration, inventory efficiency, promotional return, and market share. These metrics help determine whether underperformance is linked to visibility, price, supply, relevance, or true structural issues.

Once the drivers are identified, actions become more operational: improving availability or communication when the item has potential, adjusting pricing or supplier terms to restore profitability, or refining its positioning when it lacks clarity. When a product no longer adds value to the category, a planned and orderly delist—supported by appropriate substitution—is the most efficient route.

For Private Brands specifically, retailers have additional levers to recover performance, including reformulating products to enhance quality, refreshing packaging to strengthen shelf impact, or updating claims to better align with emerging trends. Ensuring ongoing success requires regular monitoring through scorecards, dashboards, and structured performance reviews that allow early detection of issues and timely intervention—keeping the assortment healthy, efficient, and aligned with shopper expectations.

5. How should PB be used when planning store shelves to improve overall product selection and navigation for shoppers, rather than just offering a cheap option?

From Daymon’s standpoint, Private Brands should be treated as strategic shelf assets—not just low‑cost options. When placed thoughtfully, PBs enhance product selection, improve navigation, and create a clearer, more consistent experience. Category Managers are essential in ensuring PBs reinforce the retailer’s strategy while strengthening value perception.

A practical approach is aligning PB placement with the shopper decision tree so PBs serve as anchors across core need states, missions, and tiers. This helps shoppers easily understand the assortment—whether they’re seeking entry price, mid‑tier reassurance, or premium innovation. Packaging clarity and shelf communication reinforce this logic.

PBs should also expand the offer’s relevance by filling unmet needs, introducing differentiated formats, or supporting solution‑based merchandising such as health zones, meal bundles, or sustainability‑focused clusters. This improves category storytelling and makes navigation more intuitive.

Execution consistency is essential. Category Managers must collaborate closely with stores to align placement, facings, and signage with planograms. Strong PB visibility supported by disciplined execution builds credibility and shopper trust.

Ultimately, PBs enhance the shelf by guiding navigation, signalling value, and reinforcing retailer differentiation. When used strategically, they strengthen the shopper experience and build category performance—not by being the cheapest option, but by delivering relevant, well‑designed solutions.

For a deeper dive into the performance of PBs globally and to explore the emerging trends with real-world examples, read IGD’s Global private label trends report. Also, look out for our next instalment of the this report with the latest examples coming out in February.