Deflation could put pressure on retailers and brands to drive more volume, debut innovative products and find other ways to cover costs such as higher wages.

Key Points

  • As shoppers await price cuts, retailers like Home Depot say their prices have stabilized and some national consumer brands have paused price increases or announced more modest ones.
  • Yet some industry watchers predict deflation for food at home later this year.
  • Falling prices could bring new challenges for retailers, such as pressure to drive more volume or look for ways to cover fixed costs, such as higher employee wages.
  • DominusOfMegadeus
    68•8 months ago

    This article makes me want to vomit. All these companies and CEOs talking about inflation like it’s this intangible phantom that nobody can get a grasp on.

    “If one looks at inflation over time, we very rarely get into periods of sustained deflation. That’s just not a consumer effect,” Coke CEO James Quincey said Feb. 13."

    It’s the companies and CEOs price gouging. Call a spade a spade for Christ’s sake.

    • @HappycamperNZ
      -14•8 months ago

      Uh, it is?

      Even massive companies like coke don’t control the entire economy and the respective levers we use to control inflation. A bottle of coke going up doesn’t cause inflation especially in our global economy.

      About the only thing outside of government that’s big enough is OPEC, and we know they don’t have to do shit about anyone else.

      • Flying Squid
        25•8 months ago

        The absolute price of coca-cola in the the United States has gone from $0.05 in 1970 to $2.69 in 2023. That’s an absolute increase of $2.64, or 5280% in a period of 53 years.

        …

        When we adjust for inflation, we see that the price of coca-cola also peaked in 2023, when it cost $2.83 (in today’s money), and was at its lowest in 1970 when it sold for $0.42.

        The biggest drop in adjusted price happened in 2015, when the inflation-adjusted price dropped by $-2.37 (-100%). Even when adjusting for inflation, the biggest price increase of coca-cola was still in 2022. However, the $0.64 jump actually felt like $0.64 to the consumer due, to the effect of inflation.

        The average price of coca-cola during this period of time, adjusting for inflation, has been $1.89, and the most current price of $2.69 is 42.33% above that average.

        https://moneynotmoney.com/historical-price-of-coca-cola-in-united-states/

        Inflation? Bullshit. Price gouging.

      • Bonehead
        13•8 months ago

        Yeah, don’t give me that bullshit. That’s the same excuse Galen Weston used only a few years after they were found guilty of price fixing bread. Inflation is just an excuse.