Shrinkflation: Same Price, Less
By Magdalene Theresa
June 5, 2024
Your parents were going on a business trip and they left you home alone. You were bored and thought about rewatching your favorite movie. While watching the movie, you heard your stomach growling. You searched for snacks in the pantry. Then, you took a bag of popcorn. You retreated to the couch, opened the bag, and started eating. Before you realize it, you have devoured the whole thing in the blink of an eye. You feel like it hasn’t been so long since the last time you had it. You were puzzled, “Was the popcorn shrinked, or am I the one who grew up too fast?”
This scenario is an example of shrinkflation. Shrinkflation is a term consisting of two words. “Shrink” means decrease in size and “inflation” means increase of price. Shrinkflation means reducing the quantity of a product without lowering the prices of a product. This practice is effective, considering people pay more attention to the prices of a product, rather than quantity of a product.
Due to inflation, companies have to deduct the quantity of their goods. Companies benefit from it since they don’t have to spend more money on raw materials and production. It also reduces the difference of their profit. Competition of the prices in the market is another factor that influences the practice of shrinkflation to attract customers.
On the other hand, shrinkflation is disadvantageous. Despite the fact that most people would not notice the little difference that has been done, others might acknowledge it. It would suggest the consumers into thinking that the company is trying to rob them by giving them less products. It breaks their trust, which would lead to downgrading the number of sales.
Shrinkflation could be spotted easily. Brands usually modify the packaging or the design of a product to conceal the fact that they have altered the size of it. Most of the time, it would go unnoticed. Specifically, you can check the mass of a product and compare it with the mass of the previous product launched by the same brand. This would increase accuracy in noticing the application of shrinkflation.