What Are White Label Products?

Learn how white labeled products can help brands cut costs and increase their offerings, and discover the differences between white labels and private labels.

Sometimes, the world’s most iconic brands sell items that are not as unique as you might think. A selection of their branded products might actually be manufactured by an outside company that produces generic products for any number of brands to sell under their own names.

This widely recognized business model is called white labeling, and it’s common among many categories of consumer products.

What is white labeling?

White label is the process of manufacturing generic products and selling them under multiple brand names. White label products may have different logos, branding, packaging, and prices, but the basic construction is identical.

Businesses sell white label products through various channels, including retail stores, ecommerce platforms, and direct-to-consumer models. They help brands reach diverse customer segments without the need for extensive distribution networks and may also offer discounts to retailers for bulk orders.

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White label vs. print on demand

White labeling is similar to print on demand (POD), an operating model where sellers design products such as clothing, accessories, or home décor and suppliers produce, pack, and ship the goods once an order is received. Both POD and white labeling allow brands to sell items they don’t manufacture, but POD may allow for more customization than white labeling.

With white labeling, the seller may only be able to apply their logo to a product’s exterior, and many other brands may be able to sell the same product. But with POD, the seller can have a custom design printed on an item like a t-shirt or a mug, making a unique product that no one else can sell.

White label brands

Companies across various industries use white label products to expand their offerings quickly and at lower cost, allowing them to compete in diverse markets without significant investment in product development or manufacturing.

White label products are prevalent across industries because they’re efficient. They are popular in sectors where manufacturing is complex or where branding and marketing determine consumer decision-making, such as: 

• Food and beverage
• Fashion and apparel
• Skin care and beauty
• Software

Food and beverage

Food and beverage companies of all sorts use white label products, from big box supermarkets to small coffee shops. On the seller side, grocery brands like Walmart and Costco sell white labeled products under their store brands in order to offer a range of affordable, quality goods.

On the supplier side, a number of large-scale coffee producers roast beans in industrial facilities and ship batches of those beans—each of them containing an identical product—to retailers.

Some of these retailers sell them via online businesses. Others use and sell the beans in local cafés. The coffee appears as a custom product to consumers, but it all originates from the same manufacturer.

Roastify provides white label products and lets customers customize their packaging. The company shared a behind-the-scenes look at how they prepare a custom order on their Instagram:

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A post shared by Roastify (@roastify_)

Fashion and apparel

While labeling lets brands try out new styles, prints, and colorways in a cost-effective way. White label manufacturers design the clothing and source fabric. You can find apparel manufacturers that specialize in different categories, such as children’s clothing or sportswear.

UK-based white label brand Whispering Smith offers custom product design and manufacturing services. While the majority of their clothing carries a label from one of their brands, they offer the option of producing clothing on a white label basis, so that it bears the client’s label instead of theirs.

Source: Whispering Smith

Skin care and beauty

Skin care is another sector where white label brands are prevalent. A single manufacturer might produce moisturizers, serums, and other skin care products, while various skin care companies package and brand them differently.

Depending on their relationship with a supplier, skin care companies may incorporate a unique ingredient to differentiate their product, but the base formula remains the same.

For example, Essential Labs is a white label skin care company with various product categories that allow for slight product customization. It also features a ready-to-label section.

Source: Essential Labs

Many cosmetics brands also use white label manufacturers for their makeup products, allowing them to offer a wide range of colors and formulations without investing in extensive research and development or manufacturing facilities.

Software

White labeling software is a common practice in the tech industry. Companies add their branding to a software application that third-party programmers make and sell as their own.

This is particularly common in the SaaS (software as a service) industry, with core features developed by a single company, then rebranded and sold by various other companies that may add additional features or services.

Mailmunch is a white label marketing solution that offers hundreds of templates and lets businesses pick features like contact management, lead generation, and email automation.

White label benefits

White label branding has benefits for manufacturers and sellers. Each can focus on their area of specialization (product production, product marketing) and leverage the other’s expertise.

Some of the main advantages of the white label model include:

• Low barrier to entry: Sellers can enter new markets without knowing the intricacies of producing a niche product.

• Lower cost per unit: A white label manufacturer can bring down per-unit costs with large production runs, selling in batches to many retailers.

• Increased product appeal: While a generic product may function well, branding the product may boost its perceived value.

• Consistent quality control: White label manufacturers often have established quality assurance processes, ensuring consistent product quality across different brands.

• Market adaptability: White labeling allows brands to quickly respond to consumer trends and changing economic conditions, benefiting from distributional economies of scale.

When is white labeling a good idea?

White label companies can set up a brand around an existing product without investing in product development. That means skipping steep production costs and moving straight to building an online store or selling on social media.

Selling white label products might be a good option if you want to:

• Sell a trending product

• Start a business or product offering quickly

• Launch a brand with little upfront investment

• Add a branded product line to your retail store

• Capitalize on a prominent market position

• Monetize your blog or social media accounts with branded merchandise

What are the drawbacks to white labeling?

With other brands selling the same product as you, one drawback to white labeling is pricing competition. There may be little differentiation between products beyond retail price and brand name, leading to pricing wars where sellers decrease their profit margins as much as possible to win consumers.

This challenge extends to packaging and branding as well. White label sellers must carefully navigate the fine line between creating appealing packaging and avoiding legal issues related to “copycatting,” or using designs too similar to established brands, which can be illegal in some cases.

While efficient, white labeling is also a restrictive retail model. White label sellers work within the constraints set by white label suppliers, which often limits their ability to fully customize products. For more extensive customization, retailers commission private label products or use print-on-demand services.

White label products vs. private label

Private labeling follows a similar manufacturing method to white labeling but allows for more complex product customization. Private label product manufacturers can accommodate bespoke recipes, formulas, and designs to produce unique items for specific retailers.

Similarities between white label and private label

Here’s how white labeling and private labeling are similar:

• Business model: At their core, private labeling and white labeling use the same business model. A third-party producer makes an item for a retailer, who sells it to a customer under a unique brand.

• Branding and marketing: With both white labeling and private labeling, retailers focus on branding, marketing, and maintaining customer relationships.

• Shipping: In many cases, the manufacturer ships the product with a retailer’s branding and customizations applied (dropshipping).

Differences between white label and private label

Here’s how the two differ:

• Product uniqueness: Unlike white label products, which are usually the same except for the branding, private label products are unique, tailored to the retailer’s specifications, and exclusive to that brand.

• Cost: A higher level of customization comes at a cost. The manufacturer needs to adjust production processes to meet the retailer’s requirements. As a result, private labeling is typically more expensive than white labeling (a cost that sellers can counteract by setting higher retail prices).

• Speed: White-label products are typically faster to take to market than private-label products because they’re often pre-made by manufacturers who are experts in producing that specific item.

A blank canvas

White labeling is a powerful business model that lets retailers put their brand on proven products. It offers a low barrier to entry and lets you leverage other companies’ manufacturing resources.

If you can avoid pricing wars and reach customers before competitors, white labeling is one strategy for building a thriving retail business.

White labeling FAQ

Why is it called white label?

The phrase “white label” suggests a blank label that’s ready to be personalized. Manufacturers who specialize in creating generic goods make white-label products that businesses can customize and sell under their brand names.

What is white label vs. black label?

White labeling is where one company manufactures a product, but another entity adds its own branding and sells it. Black label refers to premium or exclusive products that are branded by the original manufacturer or company.

Is white labeling illegal?

White labeling isn’t illegal. It’s when companies rebrand and sell existing products under their own brands, provided they follow the relevant regulations and intellectual property laws. For example, you must be mindful of trademarks and patents, and cannot infringe on existing brand names or technologies.

How do I start a white label business?

Starting a white label business involves finding a reliable manufacturer and developing your brand. You’ll also need to create a strategy for reaching customers before other white label businesses, as you’ll be competing to sell the same products.

Can I white label services instead of products?

You can white label services. This is common in industries like digital marketing, where agencies will white label services such as SEO or social media management. The agency provides the service under its own brand, while white label providers do the work.