After more than a year of cost hikes, consumers who have recently checked their receipts may have noticed something odd — prices for some of their everyday essentials, from Clorox wipes to organic granola bars, have started to ring up a little cheaper.
In what at least one retailer has dubbed “a summer of savings,” big retailers like Target, Walmart and Walgreens as well as grocery chains like Aldi have cut prices on thousands of common items as they try to woo customers on the hunt for value. On top of those savings, the industry is in the midst of midyear seasonal sales that include Target Circle Week, which began last weekend, and Amazon’s Prime Day, which starts next week.
For months, consumers have felt the choking squeeze of rapid price increases. During the pandemic, there was a dearth of deals when inventory levels were sporadic. For cost-conscious shoppers, this heavily promotional period feels like a breath of fresh air.
“Price is very important to me,” said stay-at-home mom Chantel Wiskur as she shopped with her two young sons at the new Aldi in Ramsey, Minn., on Thursday. Wiskur immediately noticed Aldi had recently lowered the price of freeze-dried apple slices and organic strawberries, a favorite snack of her 1-year-old son.
“I’ve definitely seen a decrease,” she said. “I used to get a couple of [bags of fruit], and now I get a lot.”

Focus on affordability
It’s an era of deals.
Major retailers are publicizing their price cuts as they openly acknowledge why — more promotions to stay competitive — and each cut seems to have a domino effect. In mid-May, Walmart announced it was reducing prices on 7,000 items, including food. Days later, Minneapolis-headquartered Target Corp., which has had a year of sales declines, said it was cutting the price of 5,000 food, beverage and household essentials items.
Even though the growing amount of cheaper merchandise is a small percentage of their total inventory, corporations know they have to keep prices relatively low as shoppers focus on affordability.