"Candid Stories" - Instagram like BeReal? Supermarkets Are Doubling The Number Of Their Own Product Lines

After losing ground to branded products during the pandemic, private label sales have regained momentum this year. Also, Instagram updates come as young people flock to newer apps like BeReal and TikTok.

Own brands of stores are becoming more and more attractive

Growing inflation has made consumers pay attention to the price and prefer to take advantage of cheaper sukpermaket products instead of their branded counterparts.

A recent survey of food retailers by FMI, a food retail group, revealed that more than 80% of respondents plan to moderately or significantly increase their investment in private labels over the next two years. Supermarkets tend to make a higher profit margin on private label goods than on the sale of branded products made by consumer giants.

Large supermarket operators such as Kroger Co. in the US and Carrefour S.A. in Europe say they are investing to expand their internal offerings in more price ranges and product categories.

Kroger's private label sales increased more than 10% year-on-year in the third quarter, which saw the launch of 147 new store-brand products. Kroger launched a new bargain line called Smart Way in September, which has been purchased by two million households.

As the data shows, KR share prices have increased the most this year since the beginning of the pandemic. In the recent period, prices have been in a downward trend, and today their level is 45.45

Supermarkets Are Doubling The Number Of Their Own Product Lines - 1

Kroger shere chart

Walmart Inc. it also develops its private label products and tracks growing consumer demand as revenues are squeezed.

The Dutch group Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV manages supermarket chains in Europe and the US, where its brands are Food Lion and Stop & Shop. The company says its store brands account for half of its sales in the Netherlands and Belgium compared to 30% in the US.

The picture is similar in some other parts of Europe, where shoppers tend to buy more branded goods than their American counterparts.

Instagram new feature

The photo-sharing app owned by Meta Platforms Inc (Instagram) has been testing a new feature in South Africa since Tuesday.

Over two billion people use Instagram every month, says Meta. The app and its parent company had concerns about its impact on younger users. At the same time, some users — including celebrities who have long been champions of the platform — urged the company to "turn Instagram back to Instagram" by prioritizing friends' posts over paid posts.

Candid Stories gives users a daily notification to take and share two unfiltered photos using the front and rear camera lenses - similar to the prompts sent by BeReal, which has recently garnered millions of users. Instagram did not say when or if Candid Stories will go global.

If Candid Stories goes mainstream, Instagram could have an advantage over BeReal in terms of scale and business model.

For Meta critics, Candid Stories will be the latest example of Instagram emulating the features of other popular apps to grow and maintain its user base. Previous examples include Stories, a Snapchat hallmark, and Reels, short TikToks-like videos.

Instagram is testing other friend-centric tools. Group Profiles, a new type of profile, allow members to share posts and stories with each other rather than with all of their followers. Group profiles have already started testing in Canada, Chile and Taiwan.

The new features are intended to give users more ways to interact with people.

After a year-low, Meta shares rose at first but then fell and held its price in the 114-115 range. Today's share price is at 114.71

Supermarkets Are Doubling The Number Of Their Own Product Lines - 2