Increasing prices vs product downsizing
Things are getting more and more expensive and if you try to point at a reason you get to hear the following...
Right from the beginning of the Pandemic things have been getting more expensive.
This is a no brainier and anyone who shops at a store pays bills or broadly speaking handles his own money would have experienced this.
Supply chain disruptions have contributed to price rise as well
We live in a world where no country is entirely self sufficient in producing all the things its citizens need.
Be it food gas, petroleum, pharma related products or articles of day to day needs. We are all interdependent on other countries.
So when the world faced lock downs and quarantine measures got imposed on imports it led to delays in fulfillment of supply chain obligations.
The world discovered the true worth of Containers
To ensure a smooth transportation of physical articles one needs an ample supply and smooth movement of containers.
"Containers are the big and unassuming metal cases which hold the goods to be transported for safe keeping and collective transportation"
Yet when they ran into short supply due to their prolonged stay at the port of arrival the global industry of moving from a point A to B came to a standstill.
This not just saw delays in arrival of shipments but it also led to loss due to damage of goods that had a short shelf life and were perishable.
This caused a price rise.
Decreased buying power in the hands of the consumer.
Unless you are a drug manufacturer who is making a vaccine, medicines or other stuff needed for the treatment of covid 19 practically every one has either faced a pay cut or a loss of employment.
the situation has been even worse if you are a freelancer or associated with the gig economy.
This is a sector which hardly gets any direct help from the government.
This means people face a situation with a less money to spend and constantly increasing prices.
The relentless increase of prices
I have been observing a relentless increase in prices over the last two years. Not that the prices were not increasing earlier.
However not it pinches more. After tightening the belts for so long things are not exactly very bright on the economic front.
The current war is pushing prices up
This war is causing the gas and petroleum prices to go up so be it heating, vegetable, clothing, food or anything that needs to be moved from point A to B is getting more expensive.
Perhaps you already know all this.
Chance are you have heard about all this or part of it however what I discovered recently is something that is new to me or perhaps it has been prevalent and I never noticed.
Something to watch beyond the prices.
I have noticed a new trend in the markets.
Earlier I was noticing only a rise in prices. However now a days I have noticed a very different trend and that is the shrinking in the size of the packaging.
What I mean is suppose a product was being sold for $2 for 1 Kg
I find the packaging is now for 750 grams and the price is $2
Then slowly the price of this product would go up and gradually increased to $2.25 or $2.5 over the next few weeks or months.
I do not know the economics behind the move. Perhaps it is a way of the sellers or stores to make it look cheaper in the eyes of the buyer.
Maybe if a buyer does not pay much attention to what he is buying both in terms of the price and the quantity of the product being packed he is easy to get duped.
Do the buyers have a choice?
It is more of a sellers market. The sellers control the prices and the buyers does not have a say.
What is the solution ?
The current situation is such that with the amount of money one spends one keeps getting less and less amount of food on the plate.
There is no one solution that fits all however one may try
- A Price comparison app
- Look for online shopping and compare prices and quantity across stores.
- Look for sales
- Keep a Look out for coupons
- Look for free delivery deals
- Adhere to strict budgeting.
Is this just me or have you experienced this too?
Have you noticed such a trend while shopping? Do share your views and your shopping experiences.
How do you handle increasing prices and increasing cost of living ?