A budding price war is working out well for consumers, with prices on common household items, from razor blades to toilet paper to diapers, seeing price drops.
Proctor & Gamble announced Tuesday that the average prices of its products in the past quarter fell for the first time since 2011. That’s putting pressure on Kimberly-Clark, which announced a broad restructuring that would eliminate over 5,000 jobs.
Both manufacturers have seen a market slowdown in recent months—and in order to win back customers, P&G last year began widespread discounting, initially in its razor division to compete with companies like Dollar Shave Club, and later in the healthcare and household goods areas.
Those price cuts are affecting sales at competitors including Kimberly-Clark and Johnson & Johnson, which is forcing them to adjust pricing as well.
The declining U.S. birthrate is also a factor, pushing demand for items like diapers lower, which is resulting in further price cuts. Kimberly-Clark, which manufactures the Huggies diaper brand, says the situation is not as bad as it was in the 1990s.