Americans continue to feel the pinch at the register with rising grocery prices putting a strain on wallets, so shoppers looking to save are turning to retailer deals and AI for help.
Overall, shoppers are paying 2.2% more for groceries than the same time last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some popular household items have grown more expensive than others, including coffee, which is up 19.8%; ground beef, up 15.5%; and nonalcoholic beverages, up 5.1%, according to the agency.
"Store brands have continued to gain market share over the national brands, which equates, of course, to market share in almost every category that private brands have a place in," Peggy Davies, president of the Private Label Manufacturers Association, told ABC News.
As consumers continue to prioritize lower cost options, discount chain Aldi -- whose stock is made up of more than 90% private label products, according to its website -- recently announced major expansion plans to open more than 180 new stores across 31 states this year.
Moody's Analytics economist Matt Colyar told ABC News that in sum, grocery prices in 2025 were painful and frustrating, "but the U.S. consumer has been impressively resilient."
In addition to finding inventive ways to save with viral shopping methods as seen on social media -- such as food creator Will Coleman's 6-to-1 method -- people are turning to AI for help.
AI tools can help shoppers create strategies to set a budget, create shopping lists and recipes, find substitutions for expensive ingredients, and even compare value.
Text-based tools like ChatGPT, Google's AI assistant Gemini or Claude can all help.
Plus, some have a feature where you can take pictures of items while you're shopping, upload them, and AI will compare the value.
Popular apps that facilitate this include Basket, which can help create a shopping list and track prices at local stores; Flipp, which has weekly digital flyers, coupons and uploads loyalty cards; and FlashFood, which partners with local grocers to sell surplus food near its expiration.
