[alex_young]

I don't really understand the recent focus on this. Shrinkflation has always been a thing, and it seems like it shouldn't be strongly correlated with actual inflation, since the critical equation is something like how much material should a given product contain to provide enough value to consumers, or in other words it's equally advantageous to optimize the value of your product in times of low or high inflation and thus optimize margins.

Maybe we just care more about it when we see prices raising in general? IDK.

[prepend]

It’s not a recent focus, it’s a continual focus.

Shrinkflation is important for understanding true price increase. It’s not enough to say “toothpaste went up 20%” in price because you really want to know “toothpaste went up 35% based on weight.”

It’s also frustrating because it’s just another level of bullshit to sift through when shopping. It would be nice if manufacturers and retailers didn’t do this.

[c0pium]

You don’t need to sift through it, though. There’s no prize for catching companies in the act. Figure out which toothpaste you want, decide whether youre willing to spend the money, then buy it or don’t.

They do it because otherwise people will complain incessantly about price increases and this way people only complain intermittently about shrinkflation.

[prepend]

The prize is making well informed decisions.

[c0pium]

You should read the sentence after the one you replied to.