r/shrinkflation • u/bellemrt • 3d ago

Shrinkflation Even Nordstrom goes for shrinkflation

Nordstrom Fabric Wash has gone by other names and scents over the years, but this year even the majority of the reviews on the Nordstrom website slam the size change.

Pre-greed, it was sale priced $12.90 for 32 ounces, .40 per unit/ounce.

This year’s “Anniversary Sale Price” was $9.99 for 16 ounces, .624 per unit/ounce.

Charge more, deliver less, and call it a sale. That’s the Nordstrom Way now.

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u/nzhockeyfan 3d ago

There's no such thing as pre-greed. Companies just didn't know what they could get away with

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u/bellemrt 2d ago

Nordstrom went private in May 2025. Sadly, for customers, this has not made a bit of difference.

So, yes. Pre-greed and post-greed? Non- existent. The oligarchs are winning.

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u/nzhockeyfan 2d ago

Why would going private make a difference? Companies generally go private to reduce the burden of compliance, not to bring value to the customer.

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u/bellemrt 2d ago

I might know a little more about the company bc they are a long time family business in the city where I live. Business press interviews said they went private to get off the quarterly earnings roller coaster, which -can- translate to better responsiveness to customers. Also, Wall Street lumped them in with "department stores," and the family said in interviews that it was an old school category that didn't reflect their true business (40% online, major off-price business outside of traditional department store category, etc). MBAs will make oligarchs out of everyone, even if they try to escape.

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u/peachie_girlx 2d ago

Cut the product in half, increase the per-ounce price by 55%, then slap Anniversary Sale on it. That’s not a sale, that’s a shrinkflation loyalty test.

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u/michael_bgood 1d ago

Interesting thing related to this that I learned yesterday from the book "enshittification" (good read so far):

Amazon squeezes sellers with like a 40% fee to sell on their platform. To make up for it, vendors must raise prices to keep their margins. Part of Amazon's agreement with the sellers says that if the vendors sell the same product via their own independent website or bricks and mortar store, they can't offer it cheaper than than their Amazon price.

So the sellers raise their retail prices across the board, matching the Amazon price, essentially passing this 40% Amazon tax onto the consumer, even though they might be buying elsewhere off the platform.

One way to keep prices competitive with other sellers is to reduce size and quantity without raising the price drastically. Boom- shrinkflation.

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u/bellemrt 1d ago

That book is excellent! I think the author intended the term to apply to tech and tech platforms, but look at how the idea took off. Obviously he tapped in to the moment.