New products, smaller packages and value meals are being rolled out to attract inflation-weary customers

See Americans Are Sick of High Prices. Companies Are Finally Doing Something About It by Sarah Nassauer, Heather Haddon and Natasha Khan of The WSJ.

I have done several posts on how people have been dealing with the inflation of the last few years as well as how they have been affected. Links to those posts are listed after some excerpts from the article.  Many of the things consumers are doing involve more time and effort doing things they would not normally do. This is one of the costs of inflation, what we have to do to avoid it or mitigate it.

Excerpts from the article:

"To appeal to cash-strapped and inflation-weary shoppers, the companies are launching smaller and cheaper products, pitching value packages and, in some cases, reversing price increases.

Coca-Cola is selling soda in skinnier, cheaper bottles. Target has new offerings in its toy department for $5. Automaker Stellantis is planning two new car models that will sell for under $30,000."

"Consumer prices rose 3.8% in April from a year earlier, but the problem isn’t just one year’s worth of rising costs. Americans have been smarting for years over how much more expensive everything from coffee to cars has become."

"In the most recent quarter, Walmart customers filled their gas tanks with an average of less than 10 gallons for the first time since 2022"

"several other large retailers said they were consciously allowing profit margins to shrink in order to attract and retain customers."

"When consumers feel pinched, the retailers sell products in smaller sizes."

"Clorox, the owner of the Kingsford charcoal brand, this year began selling smaller bags of briquettes—4 pounds in addition to the usual 8 or 12 pounds"

"many companies are cutting prices across their existing offerings."

"PepsiCo said in February that it would slash prices by as much as 15% on snacks"

Stellantis . . . is planning . . . two new car models that will sell for less than $30,000 . . . in the U.S., where new-vehicle prices have reached about $50,000"

Related posts:

Where Americans Are Drawing the Line on Price Increases: Shoppers are buying less where prices are rising fastest, showing that inflation isn’t being driven by demand but by companies passing on costs (2026) 

The 2025 Inflation Numbers Are Finally In. Here’s the Good and Bad News: Gasoline prices are down, but rising grocery costs continue to weigh on consumers (2026) 

The Middle Class Is Buckling Under Almost Five Years of Persistent Inflation: Workers growing tired of economy in which everything seems to get more expensive (2025) 

The Lengths Americans Are Willing to Go to Make Every Penny Count: From buying half a cow to watering down soap, people are experimenting with frugality—and it is affecting sales at consumer companies (2025) 

Are you hurting the economy if you bring your lunch to work? (2025)

More people are bringing their lunch to work because restaurant meals have been going up in price. Again, more tasks that people are performing to avoid inflation 

Inflation Has Cooled, but Americans Are Still Seething Over Prices: Many people—though not all—saw wage increases that kept pace with the pandemic’s rapid price hikes, but the psychological toll remains (2024)

Child Care, Rent, Insurance: Where Inflation Hits Hardest Now (2024)

Why do workers dislike inflation? (2024) 

"workers must take costly actions (“conflict”) to have nominal wages catch up with inflation" They have to bargain with or fight their employers to get a wage increase to match inflation.

Inflation Usually Hits Harder for Poor Families. For a Couple of Years, It Didn’t. New research on how inflation varies between the poor, middle class and rich paints a different picture of poverty and inequality (2024)

The Haves and Have-Nots at the Center of America’s Inflation Fight: There’s a growing gap between Americans who are battered by high inflation and interest rates and those who are actually benefiting (2024)

An Increase in Uninsured Drivers Is Pushing Up Costs for Everyone Else (2024) 

Inflation has caused consumers to choose what they need to cut back on (insurance)

Costco and Sam’s Club Aisles Are Full of Gen Z Shoppers (2024)

Consumers are buying in bulk to save money by getting a lower per unit price

Inflation is mentally taxing (2024)

Inflation is mentally taxing. Dealing with a straitened budget exacts a psychological toll as well as a financial one

Store Brands Are Filling Up More of Your Shopping Cart (2024) 

People are on the look out for cheaper alternatives due to inflation

Consumers Fed Up With Food Costs Are Ditching Big Brands (2024) 

After years of price increases, food companies say more consumers pull back; fast-food chains and snack makers plan new deals and flavors

Are Americans Worrying Too Much About Inflation? Two opposing views (2024)

The Era of One-Stop Grocery Shopping Is Over (2024)

One thing that I always talked about with inflation was that one of its costs was all the things we had to do to avoid it. Consumers are making 8% more trips to different retailers as inflation continues to upend household budgets. They are going to more stores to find lower prices. But it costs time to do that and probably more money on gas.

When workers were paid twice a day and given half-hour shopping breaks (Germany, 1923) 

By mid-1923 workers were being paid as often as three times a day. Their wives would meet them, take the money and rush to the shops to exchange it for goods. However, by this time, more and more often, shops were empty. Storekeepers could not obtain goods or could not do business fast enough to protect their cash receipts. Farmers refused to bring produce into the city in return for worthless paper. The requirements to calculate and recalculate commercial transactions in the billions and trillions made it practically impossible to do business in paper Marks.