PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Inflation has caused all of us to pay a little more out of pocket for our essentials, but businesses are finding clever ways to sell you less of their product for the same price. Or sometimes, for a higher price.
If you’ve noticed there are fewer paper towels on your normal roll, or fewer chips in your favorite bag of junk food, you certainly aren’t alone in encountering downsized packaging.
It's known by the popular term “shrinkflation.”
It’s a content strategy where a company manipulates packaging to put less of a product inside it, but you’re left paying the same or more money for it.
“We're seeing more and more examples of shrinkflation taking place in ordinary products that we use every day, like cereal, dishwashing detergent, pet food, lotions for example,” said La Salle University business systems and analytics professor Nilofar Varzgani, who researches the trend.
Related
“It's usually done in a manner that's so subtle, that consumers — unless they're specifically looking for those changes — they wouldn't notice them.”
She explains that companies are having to find more creative ways to save money on their end.
“If you see ‘new and improved packaging’ on products, that could be a sign that the weight of the package has actually been reduced,” said Varzgani. “Not by a lot, but by a small amount, so that the unit price does not change by too much.”
As a consumer, Varzgani said to keep an eye on product labels, the net quantity, and price.
Related
Although it’s sneaky for companies to change the amount of what's inside their products, she said legally, they aren’t obligated to tell you what’s been adjusted from the previous packaging.
However, she said the shrinkflation trend is also entering the service industry, in instances such as when grocery stores use self check-out or hotels adjust their room-cleaning schedule.
But no matter where you may notice it happening, she said customers need to be aware of the trend that may save the companies some cash, but could hurt them long-term.
“Consumers have to be more careful of what they're spending their money on,” she said.
“In the long run, if consumers feel exploited, this could actually be harmful for the brand.”