Alexami Cosmetics says it is doing its part to reverse an apparent ‘product shrinkage’ trend, which seems to be on the rise due to commodity price fluctuations and the global financial crisis.
‘Product shrinkage’ is when a product’s contents get smaller, yet the packaging size and price remain the same. As commodity prices, freight and production costs have climbed, some companies opt to reduce product volume, rather than pass on another price hike to consumers. Yet this can be misleading because the actual size of the packaging may look the same, yet the content’s weight has been reduced.
In Australia, widespread consumer backlash has occurred when popular brands of chocolate and beer have “shrunk”. But price per volume comparison is becoming easier in supermarkets after the recent introduction of mandatory unit pricing, which is the display of product cost according to weight or other measurements, such as cost per sheet of toilet paper, to enable customers to more easily compare different sizes of the same product type.
For goods not sold in supermarkets, however, no such mandatory laws currently exist.
According to Alexami Cosmetics managing director, Alenka Dirnbek, when the company initially began approaching its core target market of beauty salons and professional makeup artists to distribute the product, some expressed concern about product pricing. Comparable products from other manufacturers seem cheaper when the packaging is compared side by side, when in reality the Alexami product is up to 60% lower in price when then price per unit volume ratio is evaluated.
“It’s becoming more common for people to check labels to avoid toxic ingredients, so we’d also like to urge consumers to compare product sizing while they are shopping too,” Dirnbek said.
Alexami’s efforts to reduce packaging are just one factor that the brand has considered to become an environmentally sound choice. Packaging and marketing materials are printed with soy ink on recycled paper using 100% waterless print technology. Product refills and larger product volume sizes are available to cut back on unnecessary packaging waste.
“Our aim is to give customers better value for money and help the environment by cutting back on things like extra jars, boxes, and labels,”
“It’s a practice we would like to see more companies adopt. These measures also save on labour cost, and by offering refills and great value products, you will attract loyal customers as well.”