將快速通脹和供應鏈瓶頸導致的價格上漲轉(zhuǎn)嫁到消費者身上的舉動,許多大品牌似乎并不感到擔心。但隨著眾多聯(lián)邦刺激措施成效的逐漸消退,加之消費者對物價上漲日漸加劇的憂慮,或許他們應當重視起來。
寶潔(Procter & Gamble)、雀巢(Nestlé)和百事(PepsiCo)等公司的高管在過去一年中雖然紛紛做出了提價的舉動,但幾乎所有人都表示,顧客的品牌忠誠度比以往任何時候都要高——只差沒有直白地透露出他們會安然度過通脹的意思。
雀巢的首席財務官弗朗索瓦-澤維爾·羅格在今年9月就預測,公司2022年的成本將比今年增加更多。“我們不確定這種情況是否會持續(xù)下去,不肯定是否會持續(xù)到2023年。我們將采取一套相當務實的方法,我們的策略就是,不管怎樣,我們都通過定價來對沖一切。我們的想法的確是將其轉(zhuǎn)嫁給行業(yè)和消費者。”羅格在10月證實,通貨膨脹給公司成本造成的影響預計將占2021年銷售商品成本的4%左右。
與此同時,寶潔的首席財務官安德烈·舒爾滕在公司最新的財報電話會議上表示,消費者似乎對公司近期的提價行為態(tài)度很淡然:“對于美國已上市商品的提價,大部分在9月中旬開始生效,我們尚未看到消費者在購買量方面的任何實質(zhì)性反應。”
百事公司的首席執(zhí)行官龍嘉德(Ramon Laguarta)在最新的財報電話會議上指出,消費者對定價的看法似乎與以往有所不同。“消費者在實體店購物的速度更快了,他們可能不再將定價視為一個決定因素,可能會更多關(guān)注那些他們感覺更親近、更有情感依戀的品牌,比如我們的品牌。”
但專家表示,各大品牌對于“消費者在價格持續(xù)攀升的情況下會繼續(xù)依喜好購買商品”的自信心或許是短視的。“某些品牌向我們傳遞的‘可以放心提價,消費者會為此買單’的安全感是一種假象。”Supermarket Guru的分析師兼食品趨勢專家菲爾·倫珀特坦言。
“消費者其實對于食品雜貨的花銷很關(guān)注。他們早已注意到價格漲了,并且還會繼續(xù)漲。而你并不能因為自己是一家百年國民品牌就可以恣意漲價。”倫珀特說。
根據(jù)最新10月的物價報告顯示,過去一年,消費者物價指數(shù)上漲了6.2%。特別是食品價格出現(xiàn)了大幅上漲。家庭食品價格上漲了5.4%,其中肉禽魚蛋價格上漲了11.9%。特別是牛肉價格上漲了20.1%,10月的豬肉價格上漲了14.1%,這是自1990年12月以來最大的一次同比漲幅。
然而,通脹的上升,讓擴大失業(yè)救濟金和刺激措施的效果正在減弱。這意味著消費者可能不得不多花錢來購買他們喜歡的品牌,所以價格可能再次變得最為重要。
上一次消費者購買力受到嚴重沖擊還是大衰退時期(Great Recession),當時品牌忠誠度有所下滑。在2007年至2008年經(jīng)濟衰退開始期間,只有40%的品牌能夠留住50%的高忠誠度顧客。
盡管企業(yè)高管信心滿滿,但品牌忠誠度下滑可能已經(jīng)開始。今年9月公布的一項調(diào)查顯示,80%以上的消費者在過去三個月內(nèi)購買了他們平時不買的品牌。約65%的消費者認為低價是主要驅(qū)動力,而51%的消費者認為商品有貨是主要因素。
用商店品牌產(chǎn)品代替名牌產(chǎn)品是消費者控制成本的一種主流方式。富國銀行(Wells Fargo)的農(nóng)業(yè)首席經(jīng)濟學家邁克爾·斯旺森表示:“身為經(jīng)濟學家,我們談論最多的便是替代,你們可以看到的食品的最大替代便是品牌之間的替代。”
在談到對消費者的利好層面,倫珀特指出:“商店品牌改善了,而且改善良多。”
斯旺森說:“衰退、通脹總會令人反思:‘哦,好吧,我真正想要什么?’”真可謂是“幾家歡喜幾家愁。”他補充道。(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:Transn
將快速通脹和供應鏈瓶頸導致的價格上漲轉(zhuǎn)嫁到消費者身上的舉動,許多大品牌似乎并不感到擔心。但隨著眾多聯(lián)邦刺激措施成效的逐漸消退,加之消費者對物價上漲日漸加劇的憂慮,或許他們應當重視起來。
寶潔(Procter & Gamble)、雀巢(Nestlé)和百事(PepsiCo)等公司的高管在過去一年中雖然紛紛做出了提價的舉動,但幾乎所有人都表示,顧客的品牌忠誠度比以往任何時候都要高——只差沒有直白地透露出他們會安然度過通脹的意思。
雀巢的首席財務官弗朗索瓦-澤維爾·羅格在今年9月就預測,公司2022年的成本將比今年增加更多。“我們不確定這種情況是否會持續(xù)下去,不肯定是否會持續(xù)到2023年。我們將采取一套相當務實的方法,我們的策略就是,不管怎樣,我們都通過定價來對沖一切。我們的想法的確是將其轉(zhuǎn)嫁給行業(yè)和消費者。”羅格在10月證實,通貨膨脹給公司成本造成的影響預計將占2021年銷售商品成本的4%左右。
與此同時,寶潔的首席財務官安德烈·舒爾滕在公司最新的財報電話會議上表示,消費者似乎對公司近期的提價行為態(tài)度很淡然:“對于美國已上市商品的提價,大部分在9月中旬開始生效,我們尚未看到消費者在購買量方面的任何實質(zhì)性反應。”
百事公司的首席執(zhí)行官龍嘉德(Ramon Laguarta)在最新的財報電話會議上指出,消費者對定價的看法似乎與以往有所不同。“消費者在實體店購物的速度更快了,他們可能不再將定價視為一個決定因素,可能會更多關(guān)注那些他們感覺更親近、更有情感依戀的品牌,比如我們的品牌。”
但專家表示,各大品牌對于“消費者在價格持續(xù)攀升的情況下會繼續(xù)依喜好購買商品”的自信心或許是短視的。“某些品牌向我們傳遞的‘可以放心提價,消費者會為此買單’的安全感是一種假象。”Supermarket Guru的分析師兼食品趨勢專家菲爾·倫珀特坦言。
“消費者其實對于食品雜貨的花銷很關(guān)注。他們早已注意到價格漲了,并且還會繼續(xù)漲。而你并不能因為自己是一家百年國民品牌就可以恣意漲價。”倫珀特說。
根據(jù)最新10月的物價報告顯示,過去一年,消費者物價指數(shù)上漲了6.2%。特別是食品價格出現(xiàn)了大幅上漲。家庭食品價格上漲了5.4%,其中肉禽魚蛋價格上漲了11.9%。特別是牛肉價格上漲了20.1%,10月的豬肉價格上漲了14.1%,這是自1990年12月以來最大的一次同比漲幅。
然而,通脹的上升,讓擴大失業(yè)救濟金和刺激措施的效果正在減弱。這意味著消費者可能不得不多花錢來購買他們喜歡的品牌,所以價格可能再次變得最為重要。
上一次消費者購買力受到嚴重沖擊還是大衰退時期(Great Recession),當時品牌忠誠度有所下滑。在2007年至2008年經(jīng)濟衰退開始期間,只有40%的品牌能夠留住50%的高忠誠度顧客。
盡管企業(yè)高管信心滿滿,但品牌忠誠度下滑可能已經(jīng)開始。今年9月公布的一項調(diào)查顯示,80%以上的消費者在過去三個月內(nèi)購買了他們平時不買的品牌。約65%的消費者認為低價是主要驅(qū)動力,而51%的消費者認為商品有貨是主要因素。
用商店品牌產(chǎn)品代替名牌產(chǎn)品是消費者控制成本的一種主流方式。富國銀行(Wells Fargo)的農(nóng)業(yè)首席經(jīng)濟學家邁克爾·斯旺森表示:“身為經(jīng)濟學家,我們談論最多的便是替代,你們可以看到的食品的最大替代便是品牌之間的替代。”
在談到對消費者的利好層面,倫珀特指出:“商店品牌改善了,而且改善良多。”
斯旺森說:“衰退、通脹總會令人反思:‘哦,好吧,我真正想要什么?’”真可謂是“幾家歡喜幾家愁。”他補充道。(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:Transn
Many big brands don’t seem concerned about passing along price increases to customers in the wake of rapid inflation and supply chain bottlenecks. But perhaps they should be, with many federal stimulus effects fading and rising consumer concerns about higher prices.
Executives at companies like Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, and PepsiCo have increased prices over the past year, but have almost universally said brand loyalty is stronger than ever—implying, if not outright stating, that they’ll weather the inflation just fine.
Fran?ois-Xavier Roger, Nestlé’s CFO, projected in September that the company’s costs would rise even more in 2022 than they have this year. “We don’t know if this is going to be permanent. We don’t know if this will go even further into 2023. We will have a fairly pragmatic approach, and anyway you know what our strategy is, which is to offset anything that we receive through pricing. So the idea is really to pass it on to the trade and to consumers whenever we receive it.” In October, Roger confirmed that the impact of inflation on the company’s costs is expected to be around 4% of the cost of goods sold in 2021.
Meanwhile, P&G’s CFO Andre Schulten said on the company’s latest earnings call that customers seemed unfazed by the company’s recent price increases: “For those price increases that have gone into the market in the U.S., most of them became effective middle of September, and we have not seen any material reaction from consumers in terms of volume offtake.”
Pepsi CEO Ramon Laguarta said during the latest earnings call that consumers seem to be looking at pricing a little bit differently than before. “Consumers are shopping faster in-store, and they might be paying less attention to pricing as a decision factor, and they might be giving more relevance to the brands or brands that they feel…closer to…more emotionally attached to, as our brand.”
But experts say brands’ current confidence that consumers will stick with their favorite products as prices continue to climb may be shortsighted. “We’ve got this false sense of security from some of these brands, who are saying we can raise prices and consumers are going to pay it,” says Phil Lempert, an analyst and food trends expert known as the Supermarket Guru.
“Consumers are watching very carefully how much money they’re spending on groceries. They’ve seen the price of groceries go up. It’s continuing to go up. And just because you have a national brand that’s iconic for 100 years doesn’t mean that you can raise prices,” Lempert says.
Over the past year, the consumer price index has risen 6.2%, according to the latest report, on October prices. Food, in particular, has seen major spikes. At-home food costs have risen 5.4%, with prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs jumping 11.9%. Beef, in particular, has surged 20.1%, and pork is up 14.1% in October, the largest 12-month increase since December 1990.
Yet this rising inflation comes at a time when the effects of expanded unemployment benefits and stimulus checks are waning. That means the extra money consumers may have had to devote to paying higher costs for their favorite brands is gone, so prices may become paramount again.
The last time consumers’ wallets were significantly impacted was during the Great Recession—and brand loyalty dropped. Only about 40% of brands held on to at least half of their highly loyal customers during the start of the recession between 2007 and 2008.
Despite executives’ confidence, the erosion of brand loyalty may already be underway. More than 80% of shoppers purchased a brand other than what they’d normally buy within the past three months, according to a survey published in September. Lower prices were the primary driver in about 65% of consumers’ decisions, while 51% say availability was the motivator.
Substituting store-brand products for name brands is a popular way for consumers to manage their costs. “As economists we talk a lot about substitution, and the first big food substitution that you see is substituting between brands,” says Michael Swanson, chief agricultural economist at Wells Fargo.
The good news for consumers? “Store brands have gotten better, and they’ve gotten a lot better,” Lempert says.
“Recessions, inflation always bring this reworking of people asking: ‘Oh, okay, what do I really want to do?’ Swanson says. That brings “opportunities for some, challenges for others,” he adds.