SMALLER Chinese exporters may want to consider using private label on their products as a way to penetrate the domestic market, Brian Sharoff, president of the Private Label Manufacturers Association, said yesterday.

"Chinese exporters who find demand for their products weakening in foreign markets should consider shifting their focus to the booming domestic market," Sharoff said at the 2011 Shanghai Private Label Fair, which opened yesterday at ShanghaiMart and will close tomorrow.

"Private label is a perfect first step to help them do so," he added.

Private label products are those branded with the name of retailers, especially supermarkets and hypermarkets.

For new market players, private label can save marketing and distribution costs. It can also help suppliers to bypass tedious procedures for selling brand-less products at big retailers, Sharoff added.

Private label has a history of more than 20 years in developed markets where retailers try to differentiate themselves from the competition in a bid to make more profits. It is still relatively new in China but one with a big potential.

In the United States or Europe, private label products account for more than a third of retailers' total stock. In China, it is only 5 percent, according to the Shanghai Commission of Commerce.

To encourage the growth of private label in China, PLMA unveiled a training program last year in partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to help retailers and suppliers.