From FedEx to airlines, companies are starting to lose their pricing power
After years of unbridled consumer spending on everything from home improvement to dream vacations, some companies are now finding the limits of their pricing power.
Shipping giant FedEx last week said customers have shied away from speedier, pricier shipping options. Airlines including Southwest discounted off-peak fares in the fall. The likes of Target and Cheerios maker General Mills have cut their sales outlooks as more consumers watch their budgets.
It’s a shift from the recent years when consumers spent at a breakneck pace — and at high prices — lifting corporate revenues to new records. But faced with weakening demand, more price-sensitive consumers, easing inflation and better supply, some sectors are now forced to find profit growth without the tailwind of price hikes.
The answer across industries has been to cut costs, whether it’s through layoffs or buyouts, or simply becoming more efficient. Executives have spent the past several weeks selling these cost-cutting plans to Wall Street.
Squeezing us to the breaking point has consequences? Crazy.
“But faced with weakening demand, more price-sensitive consumers, easing inflation and better supply, some sectors are now forced to find profit growth without the tailwind of price hikes.”
Oh no!!
”There is plenty to cheer about the state of the U.S. consumer — the job market is still strong, unemployment is low and spending has been resilient.”
But consumers have also tapped into their savings and racked up credit card debt, with balances reaching a record $1.08 trillion at the end of the third quarter, according to the New York Federal Reserve. Credit card delinquency rates are above pre-pandemic levels.
Bank of America’s Kwon said he expects earnings to improve even if U.S. economic growth slows due in part to company strategy shifts.
“Companies are really focusing on what they can cut,” he said. “Companies have overhired and overbuilt capacity. They’ve stopped doing that.”
The tone-deafness to the constant contradictions in this article is mind blowing.
Layoffs it is!
Can't be hassled by the homeless or protestors when you are out sailing on your new yacht.
Thank god for orcas.
Technically orcas are homeless?
Crazy shit.
I didn't see it coming, but the entire department I worked at during my last job was laid off only two weeks after i started my new job. The cheeky buggers waited until people left for the Christmas weekend to call them and tell them.
Yet they act all baffled and suprised when people quit.
Funny how months of companies laying off employees didn't make some of these places think that people without jobs might also spend less.
As a high level...what did these companies expect to happen when wages are stagnant, layoffs occur, and prices increased?
They become the root cause of prices people can't afford at that point, and then wonder why sales are declining.
BuT MaH InFiNiTe GrOwTh!¡!
You know the magic of the capitalism will resolve it. Oh wait!
The shipping companies were completely out of control. I was paying as much to ship nearly anything as I was for the item itself.
That more than anything else was the death of other outlets than Amazon because Prime shipping made it completely outcompete everything else. And I fucking hate jeff Bezos.
I have been price matching what I can with brick and mortar stores, against the online ones.
TBH I have started to trust shipping less and less for expensive electronics and would rather do a pick up when able anyway. No damaged goods or porch pirates that way.
I don't know that I'm fully able to articulate my opinion on this, but I'll give it a try.
Overall, I feel like a lot of companies took "market conditions" for granted in the past 3 - 5 years. They didn't really make any significant improvements. In fact, some of them are notably worse. All that in spite of raising prices and lowering quality/standards. For a time, they may have been correct -- no matter how much they sucked, they'd still rake in the profits. Perhaps now the short sighted decisions are biting them in the ass?
I don't have a lot of experience with some of the companies listed, but Target and FedEx for sure have declined in the value they offer me, in my anecdotal experience.
FedEx is a decent shipping option for my area, with some caveats and annoyances. But in the past 5 years, nearly every time I've opted to pay for expedited shipping with them, they've failed to deliver on time. So I'm fine with their cheaper standard shipping options, but the more expensive stuff is a waste of money.
Target is an okayish retailer for what it is, but there are so few locations that my experience with them over the past 3 - 5 years is primarily online. Their e-commerce platform is alright, but the selection is noticeably limited compared to the alternatives. Initially the online site either didn't have 3rd party sellers or it was very limited. But now those have taken over a lot of categories and products, making the Target website as hit or miss as the others, so there's no real incentive for me to check them out when I'm shopping.
I agree with all your text but
I find this experience particularly annoying. I go to Target.com to find stuff sold by Target. I don’t need another place for random no-name companies to hawk their wares. Especially since a lot of it just seems like drop ship crap.
Companies post record profits through 2023 via huge price increases.
Price increases start pushing the supply/demand curve and start hitting resistance. Companies lose a thin slice of the huge margins they've gained.
OhGodOhFuck.jpg we need to cut billions in cost, stuff ads into everything, enshittify our products, and fire everyone!
Someone needs to tell investors to wake the fuck up and that anyone who promises 5% growth eternally for every quarter is bullshitting them, but it's like that window toss meme; whoever points out that the emperor is naked is signing their death warrant.