What to know about 'shrinkflation' and how to avoid sneaky price hikes

As economists mull inflation, consumer advocates warn of "shrinkflation."

If you have a hunch that some ice cream containers and other goods lining grocery store shelves and your pantry are getting smaller but not cheaper, it may not be all in your head. As the reopening economy struggles with pandemic-induced supply chain issues and soaring customer demand, some consumer advocates are ringing alarm bells over so-called shrinkflation. "'Shrinkflation' is a term used to describe implicitly increasing the price of an item by slightly decreasing the amount or quantity in a package," Steve Reed, an economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, told ABC News via email. Reed said the BLS doesn't have any evidence on why this occurs and cannot speak to the motivation or strategies of the sellers, but that "the conventional explanation would be that consumers may not notice small decreases in size or quantity, or react less negatively to them compared to an explicitly higher price."