Increasing prices for basic goods like shampoo are forcing Americans to cut back on purchases|Wachovia_138|CC BY 2.0
Battling record-high inflation this year, Americans are finally starting to buy less.
In the last three months, retail unit sales for items like laundry detergent, shampoo and diapers have fallen, according to market researcher IRI.
Leave aside facial cosmetics and adult incontinence products, sales of all other seven products that were tracked have declined, data shows. Even meat and produce sales are down by 4.5%.
The prices for housekeeping supplies went up 10.7% in June compared to the same month last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Home and personal-care sales volume may sink more as customers’ shopping bills mount,” Bloomberg Intelligence senior analyst Deborah Aitken wrote in a Wednesday note.