Research Introduction With a drastic change in consumers’ socio-economic and demographic characteristics, they have shifted their interest from being brand-loyal to being value-loyal (Gupta, 2015; Kumar et al., 2015). This shift has paved the way for the emergence and growth of private labels in both organized and unorganized retail sectors. The retail industry in India is dominated by unorganized retailing, including kirana shops, general stores and hand cart and pavement vendors, which comprise 91 per cent of the market share. It is followed by organized brick-and-mortar retailing, including hypermarkets, convenience stores, discount stores, departmental stores, etc. (Kumar & Kothari, 2015; Sardana et al., 2019). As per IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation), by the end of 2020, Indian retail is expected to touch US $1.3 trillion, from the US $672 billion in 2016, at a growth rate of 17.94 per cent compounded annually (IBEF, 2017). The share of private- label brands (PLBs) is less than 5 per cent, which is estimated to grow twofold by 2020. PLBs are expected to account for around 15 per cent of the total retail sales in India (Arce-Urriza & Cebollada, 2017; Pani, 2013; Sebri & Zaccour, 2017; Wahi, 2017). The growth of PLBs is associated with the transformation of unorganized retailing into organized modern trade format (Kumar et al., 2015; Nielsen, 2005; Sardana et al., 2019). It has, however, been proved insufficient to the success of PLBs in markets dominated by traditional channels (Mandhachitara et al., 2007; Sebri & Zaccour, 2017). The growth of the unorganized retail sector is primarily due to retailers’ preference to keep more PLBs in their product assortment for earning high margins and gaining bargaining power to leverage benefits from negotiations with national brands (NBs) (Chung & Lee, 2018; Gázquez-Abad & Sánchez-Pérez, 2010; Meza & Sudhir, 2010). Researchers have deciphered that PLBs offer higher profit margins to retailers and enable them to enhance their product assortment, store image and customer loyalty (Corstjens & Lal, 2000; Deleersnyder et al., 2007). More importantly, PLBs appear to increase retailers’ bargaining power regarding NBs. (Scott Morton & Zettelmeyer, 2004). Therefore, the potential of a PLB to address its promoter’s or manufacturer’s interest has a significant impact on its success (Hyman et al., 2010; Sarkar et al., 2016). Brands promoted and distributed nationally under the brand name of manufacturers are termed as NBs, whereas FIIB Business Review 10(2) 133–145, 2021 2020 Fortune Institute of International Business Reprints and permissions: in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india DOI: 10.1177/2319714520968705 journals.sagepub.com/home/fib Determining the Influence of Private Labels on Sales of National Brands: A Qualitative Approach Sheikh Basharul Islam 1 , Suhail Ahmad Bhat 1 , Mushtaq Ahmad Darzi 1 Abstract Private-label brands (PLBs) are spreading their operations in all product categories and have marked their presence in almost all types of retail formats. They are posing stringent competition to national brands (NBs), be it offline (organized and unorganized) retail or online retail. Besides being favourites of value-conscious Indian consumers, PLBs are becoming a key focus of channel partners as well. In this context, the present research article is aimed at providing insights about how PLBs are able to garner the profit-centric interests of channel partners and how they are affecting the distribution of NBs in the unorganized retail sector. The study is based on information collected through semi-structured interviews with distributors and retailers from Haryana and Punjab. A thematic analysis was performed to draw meaningful inferences from the responses collected through the semi-structured interviews. The results reveal that channel partners’ interest in the high margins of private labels and their interest in maintaining long-term relationships with the latter make NBs vulnerable on parameters such as sales effort investment, in-store visibility, ordering quantity and frequency and numeric distribution. This study provides bases for understanding private label operations in the unorganized retail sector in India. Keywords Channel margin, distribution channels, national brands, private label brands, unorganized retail 1 Department of Management Studies, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Corresponding author: Suhail Ahmad Bhat, Department of Management Studies, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir 190006, India. E-mail: ahmadsuhail@kashmiruniversity.ac.in