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title: "Why We Built CartSnitch"
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title: "Why We Built CartSnitch: Your Grocery Bill Shouldn't Be a Mystery"
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slug: why-we-built-cartsnitch
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date: 2026-03-22
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author: CartSnitch Team
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category: Company
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tags: [launch, grocery prices, transparency, shrinkflation]
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status: draft
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version: 1.1
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last_updated: 2026-03-20
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description: "The story behind CartSnitch — why grocery price tracking matters, what shrinkflation is doing to household budgets, and why we think consumers deserve better tools."
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tags: ["about", "shrinkflation", "founder-story"]
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description: "Grocery prices have risen 25% since 2020, but tracking what you actually pay — and whether you're getting a fair deal — has been nearly impossible. Until now."
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---
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# Why We Built CartSnitch: Your Grocery Bill Should Not Be a Mystery
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# Why We Built CartSnitch: Your Grocery Bill Shouldn't Be a Mystery
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You know the feeling. You are at the register, the total pops up, and it is more than you expected. Again. You could swear that box of cereal was $3.49 last month. Was it? You cannot remember. You cannot prove it. And that is exactly how it is designed to work.
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You know the feeling. You're at the register, the total pops up, and it's... more than you expected. Again. You could swear that box of cereal was $3.49 last month. Was it? You can't remember. You can't prove it. And that's exactly how it's designed to work.
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---
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## The numbers don't lie — your gut is right
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## The Numbers Back Up Your Gut
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices have risen **25% since January 2020**. The USDA's food price outlook for 2026 projects another 2-4% increase this year alone. But those are averages. The reality at the shelf is messier:
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Grocery prices have risen **25% since January 2020** (Bureau of Labor Statistics). The USDA food price outlook for 2026 projects another 2-4% increase this year. But those are averages. The reality at the shelf is messier.
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- **Eggs** surged over 70% in 2023, dropped, then climbed again in early 2026.
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- **Snack foods** have seen steady 8-12% annual increases — often masked by shrinking package sizes.
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- **Store-brand products**, once the reliable budget option, have seen price increases outpacing name brands in some categories.
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One of our founders was doing the weekly grocery run at Kroger a few years ago. Same box of pasta, same brand, same shelf, roughly the same price. Something felt off. The pasta was gone faster than usual.
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The problem isn't just that prices go up. It's that you have no way to track *your* prices, at *your* stores, on the products *you* actually buy.
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She checked. The box had gone from 16 oz to 13.25 oz. The price had dropped slightly — from $1.89 to $1.79. The price per ounce had gone up 15%.
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## The shrinkflation problem nobody talks about
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She had been buying less and paying more, and she had no idea. That is shrinkflation. And it is everywhere.
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Here's something that won't show up in inflation statistics: your favorite ice cream went from 1.75 quarts to 1.5 quarts. Same price. Same shelf space. Same packaging design — just slightly shorter if you look closely.
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---
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## The Invisible Price Increase
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Shrinkflation is what happens when a brand reduces the size or quantity of a product while keeping the price the same — or close to it. The shelf tag barely moves. But you are getting less for your money. It is legal, it is common, and it is almost impossible to detect without tracking unit prices over time:
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This is shrinkflation, and it's everywhere:
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- **Cereals** have lost 1-3 oz per box across major brands since 2021
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- **Toilet paper** rolls have fewer sheets — some brands dropped from 1,000 to 900 sheets per mega roll
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- **Chip bags** contain 2+ oz less than the same SKU two years ago
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- **Detergent** loads-per-bottle counts dropped while prices held steady
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- **Toilet paper** rolls have fewer sheets (some brands dropped from 1,000 to 900 sheets per mega roll)
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- **Chip bags** contain more air and less product — sometimes 2+ oz less than the same SKU two years ago
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- **Detergent** loads-per-bottle claims have quietly decreased while prices held steady or increased
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Inflation statistics do not capture this. Your receipt does not show it. But your grocery budget feels it.
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Inflation numbers don't capture this. Your receipt doesn't show it. But your grocery budget feels it — an invisible 10-15% price increase that nobody is tracking.
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## What CartSnitch does
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CartSnitch connects to your store loyalty accounts (starting with Meijer, with Kroger and Target coming soon) and builds a complete picture of your grocery spending:
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- **Price history for every product you buy.** See exactly how much that gallon of milk cost three months ago vs. today.
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- **Store comparison.** The same item at two stores 0.3 miles apart can differ by $1 or more. We show you where.
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- **Shrinkflation alerts.** When a product's package size decreases, we flag it — so you know you're paying more per ounce even if the sticker price didn't change.
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- **Price drop notifications.** Set a target price and we'll let you know when it hits.
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No manual entry. No scanning barcodes. Just connect your loyalty account and we do the rest.
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## Why this matters
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The average American household spends **$270 per week on groceries** (USDA, 2025). That's over $14,000 a year. Even small optimizations — switching stores for key items, timing purchases around price drops, catching shrinkflation before it eats your budget — can save hundreds annually.
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But you can't optimize what you can't see. And right now, the data asymmetry is massive: retailers and brands have detailed analytics on every price change, promotion, and package adjustment. Consumers have... a fading memory of what they paid last time.
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CartSnitch flips that equation. We give consumers the same price intelligence that retailers have always had.
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## What's next
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We're launching first in Southeast Michigan with Meijer support. Kroger and Target follow within weeks. If you want to be among the first to track your grocery prices and catch shrinkflation in real time, [sign up for early access](#).
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Your grocery bill shouldn't be a mystery. Let's fix that.
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---
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## What Existing Tools Get Wrong
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Coupon and cash-back apps show you what is on sale this week. Useful — but a sale price is not the same as a fair price. A 10% coupon on a product that shrank 15% is not a deal.
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Crowd-sourced price trackers require manual entry. Most people do not do this consistently, and the data reflects community submissions — not what you personally paid.
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None of them answer the question that actually matters: compared to what I paid six months ago, am I paying more for this product today?
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---
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## What CartSnitch Does Differently
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CartSnitch connects to your store loyalty accounts — mPerks for Meijer, Kroger Plus for Kroger, Target Circle for Target. When you shop, your purchase history flows in automatically. No scanning. No manual entry. No behavior change.
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From that data, CartSnitch tracks three things:
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**Your price history.** What you actually paid for each item, over time. Not the store advertised price. Your price.
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**Unit prices.** Price per ounce, price per count — whatever is appropriate. When the box shrinks and the price stays flat, the unit price goes up. CartSnitch catches this automatically.
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**Price comparison across your stores.** If you shop at Kroger and Meijer, CartSnitch shows you what each item costs at each store.
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The average American household spends **$270 per week on groceries** — over $14,000 a year (USDA, 2025). Retailers and brands have detailed analytics on every price change and package adjustment. Consumers have a fading memory of what they paid last time. CartSnitch closes that gap.
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---
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## Who This Is For
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CartSnitch is for anyone whose grocery bill has gone up and who wants to understand why. It is for the household spending $20 more per week at the grocery store without knowing if that is inflation, shrinkflation, or just different buying habits.
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It is not for couponers looking for their next deal. CartSnitch is for people who want to understand their actual spending, over time, with real data.
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---
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## Where We Are
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CartSnitch is launching public beta on April 24, 2026. Three stores at launch: Meijer, Kroger, and Target. Free. No subscription.
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[Join the beta — launching April 24.]
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---
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*CartSnitch is a consumer price transparency tool. We access purchase history from your loyalty accounts with your permission. We never sell your data.*
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*CartSnitch is a consumer price transparency tool. We track prices from public loyalty account data with your permission. We never sell your data. [Learn more about our privacy approach](#).*
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Frontend Frankie