SKIMPFLATION
SOMETHING SOMETHING + INFLATION
There is no doubt we are experiencing interesting economic times at the moment. Covid, Brexit, Gas crisis, and if this is not enough the news and the government are reminding us that inflation is rising right now and just reached a 30-year high. But the current inflation might even be worse than what we are told to believe: say hello to Skimpflation.
While you most probably have heard of Shrinkflation, i.e. when prices stay the same but you get less in terms of quantity (think of the ever-growing space of air on top of your Pringles tube), Skimpflation is about the quality change of goods.
WHAT IS SKIMPFLATION?
Skimpflation involves spending less or using less time or materials in an attempt to economize. This means that when companies incur higher costs, instead of simply increasing the prices they skimp on the quality of goods and services that they provide.
While you get less with Shrinkflation in terms of quantity, with Skimpflation you get less in terms of quality.
WHERE CAN WE “EXPERIENCE” IT?
It’s everywhere:
- Airlines keeping you on hold for longer than usual;
- Disney halting their tram service at Disneyland;
- Domino’s taking longer to deliver their pizzas.
For many companies Skimpflation is not deliberate but rather a consequence of issues arising because of Covid such as complications in the supply chain which increase the costs of goods or labor shortages. And for the UK, let’s face it, it’s compounding on top of similar problems caused by Brexit.
Deliberately or not, it seems that companies have understood that they do not need to offer the same kind of service anymore and customers are staying nonetheless. Did you ever think of your recent Amazon orders? Remember that time when orders were actually delivered within less than 24 hours with your Prime membership, now you might end up waiting 5 business days even for Prime deliveries.
SHRINKING + SKIMPING = SHRIMPING? 🤔
While Shrinkflation and Skimpflation are relatively new terms, the reality is that both have been around for much longer already. Surely you can recall people saying “Now it is not as good as it used to be” or “It was just so much better before”… even without fancy economic terms, I bet you’ve already seen skimpflation in action.
But don’t worry, if products and services of certain brands are skimping in the near future, it just means that it will be so much easier to stand out for the brands that actually put the quality of their products and services at the very core of their mission.
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