Kroger Highlighted in Report on Private Label Gains as Shopper Spending Shifts

Kroger’s turnaround efforts have helped them maintain their overall shopper base, but pressure is building underneath it. Over the past year, the retailer has added more than 1M high-income households, lost 700k lower-income households, and watched as lower-income shoppers spend less. Kroger’s fresh private label provides a bright spot, but competitive spending shifts and weakness outside grocery are creating additional pressure. 

Kroger faces competitive pressure as the chain invests in price to drive traffic. Kroger customers have moved over $12B in CPG spending to Amazon, Walmart, and Costco over the past year with Kroger directly losing more than $1B due to those shifts.

Banner performance is uneven across the portfolio. CPG spending atKroger and Ralphs branded stores is down $715M and $516M, respectively, as shoppers make 9M and 5.5M fewer trips compared to last year. However, Fry’s Food Stores grew by $365M from 8.5M more trips in the same time period.

Low-income households are creating a $1B spending gap for Kroger. Low-incomeKroger shoppers reduced CPG spending at the retailer by 5.2% year over year, driven by 30M fewer trips. These households pulled back slightly less at Kroger than they did at Walmart. 

Grocery staples are growing while household and health & beauty products lose ground.  Beverages, candy, and canned goods drove strong growth over the past year, increasing by $800M. In contrast, household items—laundry, dishwashing, cleaners, paper products—declined by $97M, while health & beauty items were down $178M.

Kroger’s fresh private label is providing a growth pocket for the retailer. Kroger’s owned brands across produce, meat, deli & prepared foods, seafood, and in-store bakery have grown by $420M in the past year.

Methodology: Purchase data is for 12 months ending 7/31/2026 and is based on Numerator’s Total Commerce Panel, which captures longitudinal purchase behavior from 200,000 U.S. households across more than 50,000 retailers. It includes all FMCG, Specialty, and eCommerce retailers and excludes alcohol and cannabis products. Low-income households are defined as those with less than $40k annual household income.