Are prices lower in stores compared to a year ago?

No, overall prices in stores are not lower compared to a year ago.

While you may find specific items on sale or a handful of goods that have dropped in price, overall consumer prices continue to rise. Economists describe the current trend as disinflation (prices rising at a slower rate than during the record peaks of a few years ago) rather than deflation (prices actually falling below previous levels).

According to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, the annual inflation rate rose to 3.7%, and core inflation (excluding volatile food and energy) sat at 2.6%.

Here is how prices in different store categories compare to this time last year:

1. Grocery Stores & Supermarkets

•Overall Food-at-Home: Overall grocery prices rose by 1.8% year-over-year. While this is a much slower pace of increase than the double-digit spikes seen in 2022, groceries still cost more on average than they did a year ago.

•What is cheaper: Eggs are a notable exception, dropping more than 20% compared to last year after recovering from previous avian flu supply shocks.

•What is more expensive: Most other staples, including meats (such as beef and pork), bakery products, and beverages, have continued to climb.

2. Clothing & Apparel Stores

•Apparel prices rose 3.4% year-over-year. Retailers have faced pressure from increased transport costs and import tariffs.

•The Exception: Because consumers are tightening their budgets, some major big-box retailers (like Target) have announced selective price cuts on thousands of individual basics and apparel items to attract value-conscious shoppers. However, the overall category average remains higher.

3. Electronics & Tech

•Smartphones, laptops, and other consumer electronics are generally more expensive than they were a year ago.

•This upward pressure is driven by a global memory chip shortage. Major chip manufacturers have shifted their production to more lucrative enterprise-grade components to meet massive demand for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, leaving fewer consumer-grade components and forcing retail brands to pass higher costs onto shoppers.

Summary

If you are shopping in stores today, you will generally pay more than you did a year ago. To offset these higher shelf prices, retailers are increasingly relying on promotions, loyalty program discounts, and store-brand (private label) alternatives to keep shoppers coming through the doors.

Citations (11)

1nbcnews.comNews and mediaquality 0.84
nbcnews.com
Backs: “No, overall prices in stores are not lower compared to a year ago.”
2grocerytradenews.comNews and media
grocerytradenews.com
Backs: “While you may find specific items on sale or a handful of goods that have dropped in price, overall consumer prices continue to rise.”
3globaltextiles.comNot yet classified
globaltextiles.com
Backs: “While you may find specific items on sale or a handful of goods that have dropped in price, overall consumer prices continue to rise.”
4beinsure.comNot yet classified
beinsure.com
Backs: “While you may find specific items on sale or a handful of goods that have dropped in price, overall consumer prices continue to rise.”
5winneram.comNot yet classified
winneram.com
Backs: “Economists describe the current trend as disinflation (prices rising at a slower rate than during the record peaks of a few years ago) rather than deflation (prices actually falling below previous levels).”
6ncoa.orgNonprofits and think tanks
ncoa.org
Backs: “Economists describe the current trend as disinflation (prices rising at a slower rate than during the record peaks of a few years ago) rather than deflation (prices actually falling below previous levels).”
7usinflationcalculator.comData and tools
usinflationcalculator.com
Backs: “Grocery Stores & Supermarkets. Overall Food-at-Home: Overall grocery prices rose by 1.8% year-over-year.”
8usda.govGovernment
usda.gov
Backs: “What is cheaper: Eggs are a notable exception, dropping more than 20% compared to last year after recovering from previous avian flu supply shocks.”
9usda.govGovernment
usda.gov
Backs: “What is more expensive: Most other staples, including meats (such as beef and pork), bakery products, and beverages, have continued to climb.”
10egytex.comNot yet classified
egytex.com
Backs: “Clothing & Apparel Stores. Apparel prices rose 3.4% year-over-year.”
11stuff.tvNot yet classified
stuff.tv
Backs: “Electronics & Tech. Smartphones, laptops, and other consumer electronics are generally more expensive than they were a year ago.”