American shoppers are running out of patience with grocery shrinkflation. Many are walking away from the brands and stores they once trusted. Supermarkets are caught in the middle.
That’s the central finding of a new study from email and SMS marketing platform Omnisend. The report is titled “Hidden Deflation, Rising Prices, and Loss of Trust: Who Do Consumers Blame in 2026?”
The survey polled more than 4,000 consumers across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, including 1,075 American respondents.
The numbers point to a consumer base that feels squeezed. Many shoppers are now skeptical of the companies asking them to pay more.
Groceries Sit at the Center of the Squeeze
Grocery bills top the list of financial stressors for American consumers. Thirty percent of U.S. respondents call grocery prices the everyday expense that feels most “out of control.” Gas and transportation costs rank a distant second, cited by 20 percent.
Grocery shrinkflation makes the frustration worse. Sixty-five percent of Americans say shrinking package sizes are most obvious in the grocery aisle, more than any other category, according to the survey.
Snacks and restaurant portions trail well behind. Twenty-nine percent of U.S. consumers call shrinkflation the least fair type of price increase they encounter.
Skepticism runs deeper than packaging, too. Eighty-five percent of Americans believe brands and retailers lean on inflation as a blanket excuse to raise prices more than necessary, Omnisend found.
“Transparency has become part of the value consumers expect from brands,” said Marty Bauer, an ecommerce expert at Omnisend.
Loyalty Is Already Slipping
The stakes go well beyond a single unhappy trip to the store. Sixty-seven percent of American shoppers say higher prices have changed how they feel about brands they once liked.
More than half, 56 percent, say they’ve stopped buying from those brands entirely. Another 22 percent say they now trust them less.
Consumers are also changing how they pay for everyday needs. Thirty percent of Americans have used a credit card for essentials like groceries, gas, or rent in the past three months, without paying it off right away.
Others borrowed from family or friends, used Buy Now, Pay Later services, or dipped into savings meant for other purposes.
Shoppers don’t blame retailers first, though.
Omnisend’s broader data shows Americans point mainly to Washington, citing the White House, tariffs and Congress as the biggest drivers of rising prices.
Still, researchers caution that supermarkets aren’t off the hook. Every price tag and every shrinking box becomes a daily test of whether a company is playing fair.
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Thin Margins Leave Supermarkets Little Room to Maneuver
Supermarkets rarely set the size or formula of the products on their shelves. Manufacturers make those calls.
Yet shoppers direct their frustration at the checkout line, not the factory floor. That puts grocers in a difficult position.
The FMI-Food Industry Association, a leading trade group for food retailers, reported an average net profit margin of roughly 2.1 percent for food retailers in 2025. Other industry benchmarks place typical grocery net margins between 1 percent and 3 percent.
That’s among the thinnest margins in all of retail.
In other words, supermarkets don’t have much cushion to absorb rising costs. But they also can’t ignore how consumers are interpreting every price change on the shelf.
How Supermarkets Can Rebuild Consumer Trust
Grocers can’t control commodity costs or supplier pricing. They can control how they communicate.
Explain price changes clearly. Shoppers already accept some justifications for higher prices.
Nineteen percent will pay more for better product quality. Smaller shares cite fair wages or rising ingredient costs.
Shelf tags, apps, and loyalty emails can spell out the “why” behind an increase. That beats leaving customers to assume the worst.
Flag shrinkflation instead of hiding it. Calling out a smaller package size upfront signals honesty. Letting shoppers discover it at home breeds resentment instead.
Lean on loyalty programs and personalization. Retailers that tailor offers around what individual households actually buy give price-sensitive shoppers a reason to stay.
Generic discounts rarely do the same.
Protect private-label value. Store brands let budget-conscious consumers trade down without leaving the store altogether. That keeps baskets, and loyalty, intact.
Train staff to explain pricing. Front-line employees who can answer a question about a price hike reinforce fairness.
A shrug from an associate does the opposite.
None of these steps erase the pressure from rising costs. But they can slow the erosion of trust that Omnisend’s data shows is already well underway.
Omnisend commissioned the research to market research firm Cint in March 2026. Quotas on age, gender, income and location kept the sample nationally representative. Omnisend reports a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
Grocers who treat clear communication as a core part of their value, rather than an afterthought, stand a better chance of keeping customers.
Right now, many of those customers are actively looking for a reason to walk away.