Retailers have a new secret weapon: the private label

Washington

RETAILERS have been trying all sorts of flashy moves to razzle-dazzle shoppers into spending money: Serve them champagne! Wow them with same-day delivery! Let them retrieve online orders from a newfangled contraption called the Pickup Tower!

But lately, something less grabby is taking centre stage in their efforts: the private-label brand.

In recent days, Jet.com - the millennial-friendly e-commerce site owned by Walmart Stores Inc - debuted Uniquely J, a private brand that includes everything from paper towels to coffee to bulgogi sauce.

Kroger Co recently unveiled a turnaround plan that, among other things, calls for aggressively growing three private brands.

And Amazon.com Inc has also been turning up the private-label heat. Since it acquired Whole Foods Market, it has begun selling the 365 by Whole Foods Brand on Amazon's website, potentially bringing new…