Analyzing the Shift in Package Sizes to Adapt to Changing Consumer Trends

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Companies are adapting to the slowing growth of the US population by getting creative in how they sell products. By offering different package sizes, they aim to get more people to buy more frequently and at higher prices. Although changing package sizes can be costly, advancements in manufacturing flexibility and data collection allow companies to target consumers more effectively. Companies now focus not only on customer demographics but also on consumer behavior, offering package sizes based on how products are used in different scenarios.

There's a behind the scenes industry that helps big brands decide questions like: How big should a bag of chips be? What's the right size for a bottle of shampoo? And yes, also: When should a company do a little shrinkflation?

From Cookie Monster to President Biden, everybody is complaining about shrinkflation these days. But when we asked the packaging and pricing experts, they told us that shrinkflation is just one move in a much larger, much weirder 4-D chess game.

The name of that game is "price pack architecture." This is the idea that you shouldn't just sell your product in one or two sizes. You should sell your product in a whole range of different sizes, at a whole range of different price points. Over the past 15 years, price pack architecture has completely changed how products are marketed and sold in the United States.

Today, we are going on a shopping cart ride-along with one of those price pack architects. She's going to pull back the curtain and show us why some products are getting larger while others are getting smaller, and tell us about the adorable little soda can that started it all.

By the end of the episode, you'll never look at a grocery store the same way again.

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