Most Consumers Prefer Option to Buy in Bulk

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Nearly half (47%) of consumers polled for a Nielsen study would prefer CPG manufacturers manage rising costs by offering economy-sized packaging with lower unit prices.

Close to one in five (17%) would rather suppliers introduce new, smaller package sizes at lower prices and 9% suggested suppliers downsize or modestly reduce the package size of products, while keeping prices the same. Other options include raising the price of existing items proportionally (8%), offering few sales (8%), offering the same number of sales but at less of the savings (7%) and producing slightly lower-quality products, but keeping the price the same (4%).

“Without question, this is an extremely tough time for today’s consumer,” said Todd Hale, senior vice president of Consumer & Shopper Insights, for the Nielsen Co., in a statement. “CPG manufacturers and retailers have few options to manage rising commodity costs beyond absorbing increased costs, passing on increases to consumers by raising prices or cover increased costs by downsizing offerings.

"Downsizing, in particular, is not a new option — we’ve seen downsizing over the last few years in a number of categories, including ice cream, cereal, candy bars, salty snacks and paper products.”

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