Skyrocketing prices are affecting many industries in Egypt everyday on different intensities. Some may have felt it while others not yet. Unfortunately sooner or later the consequences will reach everyone; for now, it’s only about who takes the hit first.

Marketeers research tested those consequences among the most consumed and easily measured categories, food and beverages.

A sample of consumers were asked about their change in spending behaviors if prices for a certain list of food and beverages increased 10%, would they:

Decrease their budget and save money from this category Maintain budget but reduce consumption from this category Or will not be affected by the price increase and pay the additional 10%

Based on the results, Marketeers Research inserted the categories on a spectrum for their decision makers, ranging from panic alert, warning, to watch out.

Panic Alert:

Beverages, desserts, snacks, canned foods will be the first categories to shrink due to consumers’ decrease in budget. For these categories, the necessity of pricing research is truly now or never.

Warning:

Caffeinated beverages, cigarettes, additives such as salsa and herbs, and Meat/Poultry will soon follow. Such categories fall on a very thin line. Although they are considered necessities for a large segment, there is always the likelihood for shifting to substitutes and cheaper alternatives.

Watch Out:

Oil/butter/ghee, Dairy (milk & Yogurt), Cheese and Rice/Macaroni may witness the least effect for now, but they are not so safe either. Planning for price management is as important for these categories as all the others. The only advantage they have for now is the relief of urgency.

The tradeoff between cutting costs to reflecting the increase on the end consumer will always be a constant dilemma, and great risk in pricing decisions.

Today’s question is: how to manage the increase in prices, while at least maintaining market share and profitability?

With Egypt’s unpredictable economic fluctuations nowadays, such process is required to become a long-term strategy rather than a reactive decision.

Accordingly, there is a need for behavior measurement tools that would predict and identify the effect of different price scenarios on consumer purchase decisions.

From that, decision makers would be able to manage price increases effectively, as the knowledge of how each scenario reflects on revenues and market share would guide in planning decisions ahead.

If you would like to know more about the methodologies and how it helped decision makers manage price increases, contact marketeersresearch.com