Price cuts hit cars, restaurants and more as inflation recedes

State of play: Price cuts and value offerings are piling up in a variety of areas, including:

• Retail: Walmart, a bellwether discounter, said today it has cut prices on 7,200 products in a bid to maintain what it calls "competitive price gaps" with its rivals. Others that have recently announce price cuts include Target, Walgreens, Aldi and Ikea.
• Autos: Dealers doled out an average of $3,383 per vehicle in discounts in July, up 59.1% from a year ago, according to Cox Automotive's Kelley Blue Book. That was the highest level of incentives in more than three years.
• Restaurants: The fast-food business has pivoted from price hikes to meal deals, aiming to lure back customers. Burger King, Starbucks and McDonald's have all announced value meals.

The big picture: It's not just lower income consumers who are looking for deals. Higher income shoppers are becoming increasingly price sensitive, too.

• Walmart raised its full-year sales forecast today and said a big reason for its recent success is wealthier households are shopping there, delivering market share gains.
• John David Rainey, the retailer's chief financial officer, also said Walmart is "seeing private brand penetration continue to increase" and is "highly encouraged" by customer reaction to its newest food brand, "bettergoods."

The intrigue: PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said in July that the company's price increases might've gone too far.

• "Some parts of the portfolio need value adjustments," he said of the Frito-Lay owner's snack products, adding that "for particular consumers, we need some new entry price points."

Yes, but: Price cuts won't wipe out the substantial increases that have taken place over the last few years.

• For example, the Consumer Price Index released Wednesday showed that food at home is up 26.9% over the last five years.

The bottom line: Consumers are regaining an edge.

Axios' Kelly Tyko contributed to this story.