Private label purchases on the rise

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In search of lower costs for their customers, a new survey has found that automotive repair shops in the United States are turning more to private label brands.

During the first eight months of the year, the percent of shops reporting they’ve increased their purchasing of private label brands increased to 77.4% from 75.4% in 2021, according to AutomotiveResearch.com. It also found that part purchases at independent repair shops remained steady at an average of 36.2 per cent.

Over the next year, 76 per cent of independent repair shops expect to increase their private label parts purchases, up from 73.6 per cent previously.

Shops noted inflationary pressure affecting their customers as the main reason for anticipating an increase in private-label purchases.

In the previous two years, they cited the pandemic as driving customer uncertainty and behaviour. This year, it’s not the pandemic, but cost. The group noted that the majority of the shops that stated their customers were having financial difficulty due to inflation were the same shops that reported their customers were proactively asking for lower-cost parts.