Private label and macroeconomic indexes: an artificial neural networks application

Abstract

Retail companies operate with a private label assortment of 40–45% of their total assortment, which has led to a significant growth of private labels in recent years in their countries of origin; however, when retail companies decide to internationalize, it is important to know which macroeconomic indicators are more relevant when entering a new country or continent. For that reason, in this study we have as a main objective to establish which are the most transcendental macroeconomic variables for the volume and value of the private label. For this purpose, we have analyzed a total of 1400 samples, creating an artificial neural network (ANN). The results show that the most important macroeconomic indicator that must be taken into consideration above other macroeconomic indicators for retail companies to be successful within a country is the per capita debt. In addition, we have considered in this research that unemployment is not the most important primary indicator for the volume of the private label.