Consistent frugal behaviors by enough people can force retailers and manufacturers to keep prices, and profit margins, in check. But a new longitudinal study by Deloitte found not everyone is curtailing their spending.
It's not just the Federal Reserve that can fight inflation — consumers can, too, by changing their buying habits, Deloitte researchers say.
But at the beginning of the year, Deloitte found high-income Americans were less frugal than they had been in previous months. Food prices rose an average of 2.5% annually for decades, until they jumped 11% in 2022 in part because of rising costs for labor, ingredients, energy and transportation. For 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts another 9% jump in grocery prices.
More consumers than ever are paying attention to food waste — using everything they have at home and buying fewer extras, Renner said. That's especially true for lower-income Americans, who were already"trading down" from name brands to store brands and sticking to necessities even before inflation accelerated.