SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Does it feel like anything that you shop for has actually gotten cheaper since then? Well, some things have. NPR's Alina Selyukh has been tracking prices at the same Walmart in Georgia for several years now and sends this report.
ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE: Here I am with my empty cart, staring into the abyss of Walmart aisles.
Since 2018, we've tracked prices at the Walmart near Savannah - same time, same place - this typical suburban superstore. Nearly a hundred items are on my shopping list. And this year, a new focus.
The project is, anything that's cheaper, I get to buy it.
For about two years, the U.S. inflation has cooled, which means prices have been generally rising less and less. Some have declined, and my idea is to visualize this, to literally see how much of my list has gotten cheaper. I begin with produce.
Red seedless grapes - a lot cheaper.
(SOUNDBITE OF BAG CRINKLING)
SELYUKH: First item going in the cart.
(SOUNDBITE OF BAG CRINKLING)
SELYUKH: Then bananas, sweet potato. I start feeling optimistic.
One white onion in the cart.
(SOUNDBITE OF BAG CRINKLING)
SELYUKH: Fresh garlic in the cart.
(SOUNDBITE OF BAG CRINKLING)
SELYUKH: I think back to Walmart's recent announcements about lowering 6,000 prices to keep people shopping. But I also know historically, prices rarely drop long-term. Usually, what catches up are people's wages. And in the meantime, our brains tend to focus only on higher prices. Take chips and snacks.
Lays Classic.
(SOUNDBITE OF BAG CRINKLING)
SELYUKH: Oof. Almost 50 cents more. I'm scared to look at chocolate because I know it's more expensive.
And it is because of a global cocoa shortage. I find little joy in the aisles of packaged foods and dairy. You have avian flu pushing up egg prices. Big brands and statements to me later point to their own higher costs - fertilizer, packaging, shipping, wages. In fact, most of the store went like this.
(SOUNDBITE OF BAG CRINKLING)
SELYUKH: Not cheaper. Not cheaper. Exactly the same. Same price. Not cheaper.
This doesn't feel like good news, though, it kind of is. Prices not changing is a big relief from the constant climb we saw in the pandemic. Some of the changes are so small, blink and you miss it.
Yeah, I think Tropicana has shrunk its bottles. The price is pretty much the same, but the bottle is smaller.
Tropicana did not comment, but this is classic shrinkflation. And the reason why I focused mainly on the price per unit, not just how much the bottle of juice costs, but what's the cost of an ounce of juice in that bottle. And here, I get into a dilemma, holding a roll of aluminum foil.
Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick.
I calculate the savings is less than a penny per square foot. Does it count? I need help.
Can I ask your advice? Sorry, are you busy?
Pat Perkins, shopping for bread, ponders if a penny for each foot of foil counts as a price cut.
PAT PERKINS: I don't think so, but you know, it may add up after so many. Every little bit adds up.
SELYUKH: Every penny counts, and this approach means more things for my shopping cart. I get to add flour and sugar, which are cheaper by a cent or two per pound. Then I reach the freezer with seafood, where I find a bag of pink salmon that's dropped in price.
Looks like I'm having salmon for dinner.
(SOUNDBITE OF FREEZER DOOR CREAKING)
SELYUKH: (Laughter) It's two pounds of salmon.
In the meat section, I find the only thing that's gotten cheaper is boneless pork chops.
Dinner of champions - pork and pink salmon. Surf and turf and Sunland.
In the end, exactly half the items I shopped did not change in price over a year. The total count of things that got cheaper - 21 items. Of my list, that's just over a fifth.
(SOUNDBITE OF CASH REGISTER BEEP)
SELYUKH: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF CASH REGISTER BEEP)
SELYUKH: Let's tally up the loot.
Bagels and fruit for breakfast and for dinner.
(SOUNDBITE OF SIZZLING)
SELYUKH: Beans, potatoes and the strange surf and turf...
(SOUNDBITE OF POT LID CLOSING)
SELYUKH: ...Baked on foil. Alina Selyukh, NPR News, Savannah, Georgia.
SIMON: And you can see the details of this price-tracking project at npr.org/shoppingcart. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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