The news: Growing strain on consumers’ finances is pushing beauty, food, and grocery companies to lean on price cuts to drive demand among increasingly cost-conscious shoppers.

E.l.f. Beauty plans to roll back some tariff-driven price increases to boost volume and protect share, per CNBC. The move follows a test in which a $4 price cut on its $18 Halo Glow skin tint drove a 40% sales lift.

Food companies including PepsiCo, General Mills, and J.M. Smucker are also cutting prices on select products to counter the rapid private label growth.

Kroger is adopting a similar strategy, with CEO Greg Foran preparing the company’s largest price cuts in years, funded through direct importing and technology-driven efficiencies, per Bloomberg. The move is intended, in part, to help Kroger compete more effectively with Walmart, which has cut prices on roughly 7,200 items, up more than 20% YoY, as it looks to gain share.

Why is this happening? Cost is top of mind for many consumers. The consumer price index rose 3.8% YoY in April, per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. As essentials like gas and utilities eat up a larger share of budgets, consumers are adjusting their behaviors, forcing companies to find ways to maintain brand loyalty.

That creates a difficult balancing act for retailers and brands. Walmart, for example, absorbed roughly $175 million in higher-than-expected fuel costs across its distribution and fulfillment network to keep prices low in Q1 2027, yet still signaled it may need to raise prices later this year. PepsiCo is facing a similar challenge: Even as it cuts prices on family-sized chip bags to win back shoppers, it is reportedly planning to raise prices on smaller formats as production, distribution, and retail expenses increase, per Bloomberg.