大品牌提价并希望顾客依然忠诚？或将事与愿违
将快速通胀和供应链瓶颈导致的价格上涨转嫁到消费者身上的举动，许多大品牌似乎并不感到担心。但随着众多联邦刺激措施成效的逐渐消退，加之消费者对物价上涨日渐加剧的忧虑，或许他们应当重视起来。
宝洁（Procter & Gamble）、雀巢（Nestlé）和百事（PepsiCo）等公司的高管在过去一年中虽然纷纷做出了提价的举动，但几乎所有人都表示，顾客的品牌忠诚度比以往任何时候都要高——只差没有直白地透露出他们会安然度过通胀的意思。
雀巢的首席财务官弗朗索瓦-泽维尔·罗格在今年9月就预测，公司2022年的成本将比今年增加更多。“我们不确定这种情况是否会持续下去，不肯定是否会持续到2023年。我们将采取一套相当务实的方法，我们的策略就是，不管怎样，我们都通过定价来对冲一切。我们的想法的确是将其转嫁给行业和消费者。”罗格在10月证实，通货膨胀给公司成本造成的影响预计将占2021年销售商品成本的4%左右。
与此同时，宝洁的首席财务官安德烈·舒尔滕在公司最新的财报电话会议上表示，消费者似乎对公司近期的提价行为态度很淡然：“对于美国已上市商品的提价，大部分在9月中旬开始生效，我们尚未看到消费者在购买量方面的任何实质性反应。”
百事公司的首席执行官龙嘉德（Ramon Laguarta）在最新的财报电话会议上指出，消费者对定价的看法似乎与以往有所不同。“消费者在实体店购物的速度更快了，他们可能不再将定价视为一个决定因素，可能会更多关注那些他们感觉更亲近、更有情感依恋的品牌，比如我们的品牌。”
但专家表示，各大品牌对于“消费者在价格持续攀升的情况下会继续依喜好购买商品”的自信心或许是短视的。“某些品牌向我们传递的‘可以放心提价，消费者会为此买单’的安全感是一种假象。”Supermarket Guru的分析师兼食品趋势专家菲尔·伦珀特坦言。
“消费者其实对于食品杂货的花销很关注。他们早已注意到价格涨了，并且还会继续涨。而你并不能因为自己是一家百年国民品牌就可以恣意涨价。”伦珀特说。
根据最新10月的物价报告显示，过去一年，消费者物价指数上涨了6.2%。特别是食品价格出现了大幅上涨。家庭食品价格上涨了5.4%，其中肉禽鱼蛋价格上涨了11.9%。特别是牛肉价格上涨了20.1%，10月的猪肉价格上涨了14.1%，这是自1990年12月以来最大的一次同比涨幅。
然而，通胀的上升，让扩大失业救济金和刺激措施的效果正在减弱。这意味着消费者可能不得不多花钱来购买他们喜欢的品牌，所以价格可能再次变得最为重要。
上一次消费者购买力受到严重冲击还是大衰退时期（Great Recession），当时品牌忠诚度有所下滑。在2007年至2008年经济衰退开始期间，只有40%的品牌能够留住50%的高忠诚度顾客。
尽管企业高管信心满满，但品牌忠诚度下滑可能已经开始。今年9月公布的一项调查显示，80%以上的消费者在过去三个月内购买了他们平时不买的品牌。约65%的消费者认为低价是主要驱动力，而51%的消费者认为商品有货是主要因素。
用商店品牌产品代替名牌产品是消费者控制成本的一种主流方式。富国银行（Wells Fargo）的农业首席经济学家迈克尔·斯旺森表示：“身为经济学家，我们谈论最多的便是替代，你们可以看到的食品的最大替代便是品牌之间的替代。”
在谈到对消费者的利好层面，伦珀特指出：“商店品牌改善了，而且改善良多。”
斯旺森说：“衰退、通胀总会令人反思：‘哦，好吧，我真正想要什么？’”真可谓是“几家欢喜几家愁。”他补充道。（财富中文网）
译者：Transn
将快速通胀和供应链瓶颈导致的价格上涨转嫁到消费者身上的举动，许多大品牌似乎并不感到担心。但随着众多联邦刺激措施成效的逐渐消退，加之消费者对物价上涨日渐加剧的忧虑，或许他们应当重视起来。
宝洁（Procter & Gamble）、雀巢（Nestlé）和百事（PepsiCo）等公司的高管在过去一年中虽然纷纷做出了提价的举动，但几乎所有人都表示，顾客的品牌忠诚度比以往任何时候都要高——只差没有直白地透露出他们会安然度过通胀的意思。
雀巢的首席财务官弗朗索瓦-泽维尔·罗格在今年9月就预测，公司2022年的成本将比今年增加更多。“我们不确定这种情况是否会持续下去，不肯定是否会持续到2023年。我们将采取一套相当务实的方法，我们的策略就是，不管怎样，我们都通过定价来对冲一切。我们的想法的确是将其转嫁给行业和消费者。”罗格在10月证实，通货膨胀给公司成本造成的影响预计将占2021年销售商品成本的4%左右。
与此同时，宝洁的首席财务官安德烈·舒尔滕在公司最新的财报电话会议上表示，消费者似乎对公司近期的提价行为态度很淡然：“对于美国已上市商品的提价，大部分在9月中旬开始生效，我们尚未看到消费者在购买量方面的任何实质性反应。”
百事公司的首席执行官龙嘉德（Ramon Laguarta）在最新的财报电话会议上指出，消费者对定价的看法似乎与以往有所不同。“消费者在实体店购物的速度更快了，他们可能不再将定价视为一个决定因素，可能会更多关注那些他们感觉更亲近、更有情感依恋的品牌，比如我们的品牌。”
但专家表示，各大品牌对于“消费者在价格持续攀升的情况下会继续依喜好购买商品”的自信心或许是短视的。“某些品牌向我们传递的‘可以放心提价，消费者会为此买单’的安全感是一种假象。”Supermarket Guru的分析师兼食品趋势专家菲尔·伦珀特坦言。
“消费者其实对于食品杂货的花销很关注。他们早已注意到价格涨了，并且还会继续涨。而你并不能因为自己是一家百年国民品牌就可以恣意涨价。”伦珀特说。
根据最新10月的物价报告显示，过去一年，消费者物价指数上涨了6.2%。特别是食品价格出现了大幅上涨。家庭食品价格上涨了5.4%，其中肉禽鱼蛋价格上涨了11.9%。特别是牛肉价格上涨了20.1%，10月的猪肉价格上涨了14.1%，这是自1990年12月以来最大的一次同比涨幅。
然而，通胀的上升，让扩大失业救济金和刺激措施的效果正在减弱。这意味着消费者可能不得不多花钱来购买他们喜欢的品牌，所以价格可能再次变得最为重要。
上一次消费者购买力受到严重冲击还是大衰退时期（Great Recession），当时品牌忠诚度有所下滑。在2007年至2008年经济衰退开始期间，只有40%的品牌能够留住50%的高忠诚度顾客。
尽管企业高管信心满满，但品牌忠诚度下滑可能已经开始。今年9月公布的一项调查显示，80%以上的消费者在过去三个月内购买了他们平时不买的品牌。约65%的消费者认为低价是主要驱动力，而51%的消费者认为商品有货是主要因素。
用商店品牌产品代替名牌产品是消费者控制成本的一种主流方式。富国银行（Wells Fargo）的农业首席经济学家迈克尔·斯旺森表示：“身为经济学家，我们谈论最多的便是替代，你们可以看到的食品的最大替代便是品牌之间的替代。”
在谈到对消费者的利好层面，伦珀特指出：“商店品牌改善了，而且改善良多。”
斯旺森说：“衰退、通胀总会令人反思：‘哦，好吧，我真正想要什么？’”真可谓是“几家欢喜几家愁。”他补充道。（财富中文网）
译者：Transn
Many big brands don’t seem concerned about passing along price increases to customers in the wake of rapid inflation and supply chain bottlenecks. But perhaps they should be, with many federal stimulus effects fading and rising consumer concerns about higher prices.
Executives at companies like Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, and PepsiCo have increased prices over the past year, but have almost universally said brand loyalty is stronger than ever—implying, if not outright stating, that they’ll weather the inflation just fine.
François-Xavier Roger, Nestlé’s CFO, projected in September that the company’s costs would rise even more in 2022 than they have this year. “We don’t know if this is going to be permanent. We don’t know if this will go even further into 2023. We will have a fairly pragmatic approach, and anyway you know what our strategy is, which is to offset anything that we receive through pricing. So the idea is really to pass it on to the trade and to consumers whenever we receive it.” In October, Roger confirmed that the impact of inflation on the company’s costs is expected to be around 4% of the cost of goods sold in 2021.
Meanwhile, P&G’s CFO Andre Schulten said on the company’s latest earnings call that customers seemed unfazed by the company’s recent price increases: “For those price increases that have gone into the market in the U.S., most of them became effective middle of September, and we have not seen any material reaction from consumers in terms of volume offtake.”
Pepsi CEO Ramon Laguarta said during the latest earnings call that consumers seem to be looking at pricing a little bit differently than before. “Consumers are shopping faster in-store, and they might be paying less attention to pricing as a decision factor, and they might be giving more relevance to the brands or brands that they feel…closer to…more emotionally attached to, as our brand.”
But experts say brands’ current confidence that consumers will stick with their favorite products as prices continue to climb may be shortsighted. “We’ve got this false sense of security from some of these brands, who are saying we can raise prices and consumers are going to pay it,” says Phil Lempert, an analyst and food trends expert known as the Supermarket Guru.
“Consumers are watching very carefully how much money they’re spending on groceries. They’ve seen the price of groceries go up. It’s continuing to go up. And just because you have a national brand that’s iconic for 100 years doesn’t mean that you can raise prices,” Lempert says.
Over the past year, the consumer price index has risen 6.2%, according to the latest report, on October prices. Food, in particular, has seen major spikes. At-home food costs have risen 5.4%, with prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs jumping 11.9%. Beef, in particular, has surged 20.1%, and pork is up 14.1% in October, the largest 12-month increase since December 1990.
Yet this rising inflation comes at a time when the effects of expanded unemployment benefits and stimulus checks are waning. That means the extra money consumers may have had to devote to paying higher costs for their favorite brands is gone, so prices may become paramount again.
The last time consumers’ wallets were significantly impacted was during the Great Recession—and brand loyalty dropped. Only about 40% of brands held on to at least half of their highly loyal customers during the start of the recession between 2007 and 2008.
Despite executives’ confidence, the erosion of brand loyalty may already be underway. More than 80% of shoppers purchased a brand other than what they’d normally buy within the past three months, according to a survey published in September. Lower prices were the primary driver in about 65% of consumers’ decisions, while 51% say availability was the motivator.
Substituting store-brand products for name brands is a popular way for consumers to manage their costs. “As economists we talk a lot about substitution, and the first big food substitution that you see is substituting between brands,” says Michael Swanson, chief agricultural economist at Wells Fargo.
The good news for consumers? “Store brands have gotten better, and they’ve gotten a lot better,” Lempert says.
“Recessions, inflation always bring this reworking of people asking: ‘Oh, okay, what do I really want to do?’ Swanson says. That brings “opportunities for some, challenges for others,” he adds.
