The most important issue for American voters this election cycle is, without a doubt, inflation. And for good reason. Each time we head out to the grocery store, the usual items we purchase seem to go up in price. I, personally, have seen an increase of $200 per week. That’s a lot of money on groceries per month. With that much coming out for food and necessities, it gets harder and harder to pay other important bills.
Financial strain is doing a number on Democrats in political office, despite recent findings that inflation might be cooling off a little. Of course, it’s hard to believe any of the numbers the government tosses out at us because, well, if a government official’s lips are moving, he or she is probably spinning a yarn.
People are skeptical. Rightfully so.
via CNBC:
TikTok users blasted Walmart for rolling out digital shelf labels that allow it to quickly raise and lower prices. Wendy’s backpedaled after its CEO suggested the burger chain may start using dynamic pricing, the practice of raising and lowering prices based on demand. And at some Chipotle locations, customers filmed workers to try to make sure they didn’t skimp on their burrito bowls.
The three joined a growing list of consumer brands contending with customers’ deep frustration over high prices — and wariness that prices will only rise more. Many retailers, restaurants and other consumer companies have seen sales fall as shoppers pull back their spending. Businesses are now trying to convince customers that they offer the best deals, fueling a rise in discounts, promotions and value meals.
Consumers are fed up with deceptive pricing, said Jean-Pierre Dubé, a professor of marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. They’ve seen smaller items on shelves, paid tacked-on fees and felt pressure to tip workers for things they didn’t tip for in the past.
“We’re reaching a boiling point on this,” he stated.
The companies providing products for grocery stores have come out and said they believe the view consumers have is skewed. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the price of groceries have only risen by a single percent over the course of the last 12 months.
However, food at home prices have shot up by over 24 percent since May 2019, which has put a whole lot of strain on peoples’ bank accounts. The claim is also being made that the buying power for consumers has risen as inflation is cooling off and as the job market, according to the powers-that-be, is staying strong. Hourly wages in the private sector have gone up.
If that’s the case, why are things so expensive? Why are Americans having a hard time at the store buying the food they need?
“People experience the price of consumer products constantly, and that does tend to be a focus of what they can remember buying last,” said David Chavern, president of the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group representing Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and dozens of other consumer packaged goods companies. “But the reality is that what’s happening in the grocery store, in the drug store has not been a source of material inflation over the last 12 to 18 months.”
In a Pew Research Center survey from May, 62% of U.S. adults said inflation was “a very big problem in the country today,” a higher percentage than any other issues they were asked about including illegal immigration, gun violence, violent crime and the federal budget deficit. That percentage has held roughly steady, even as inflation cools. In the year-ago survey by Pew, 65% of Americans said inflation was a very big problem.
The CNBC report mentions that inflation for groceries has shrunk back to where it was before the pandemic hit, but people are still angry about paying a whole lot more for the same items they have always purchased.
Consumers, businesses and the Federal Reserve will get the latest read on inflation on Thursday, when the federal government reports the consumer price index for June.
“Dianna Campbell, 69, a TV producer and consultant in Manhattan, said she’s noticed prices rising and staying high, whether it’s for laundry detergent or a restaurant meal,” the report said.
“You’re paying more for it, but you’re giving me less, and the quality is worse,” she told the outlet.
Over the past year, the term has become a household phrase through references in pop culture and politics. In March, both the Cookie Monster and Biden called out shrinkflation by name, the former for reducing the size of his beloved treats and the latter for decimating Snickers bars. (Snickers’ parent company, Mars, denied skimping on the chocolate bars).
Popular restaurant Chipotle recently suffered through some serious backlash due to customers taking to social media platforms like TikTok to talk about shrinking portion sizes, going so far as to film employees making their orders and publishing them online.
In an interview with Jim Cramer on CNBC’s “Mad Money” in late May, CEO Brian Niccol said Chipotle has not reduced portion sizes and described the TikTok trend of filming workers as “a little rude.”
“The whole thing is kind of crazy to me,” he continued. “We’ve always said we want to give people great portions. We want to give them what they want.”
Zachary Fadem, an analyst for Wells Fargo, ordered a total of 75 burrito bowls from eight different Chipotle locations around New York City and weighed them. Their weight varied depending on location, which led Fadem to conclude the problem was consistency, not shrinkflation.
“More recently, social media users criticized Walmart over its decision to roll out digital shelf labels, higher-tech price tags that allow it to quickly and easily change prices. The retailer said last month that it would add the technology to more of its stores and plans to have them in 2,300 locations, or roughly half of its U.S. footprint, by 2026,” CNBC reported.
Walmart is defending their use of this brand new technology by saying it helps remove a tedious task from its workers’ to-do lists. A spokeswoman for the company, Cristina Rodrigues, said it’s all about saving time. The new digital labels allow store workers to find items and products more easily for both restocking shelves and for customers and their online orders.
Rodrigues denied that there was going to be an increase in frequency concerning product prices.
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