Price cuts are back.

Why it matters: The inflation crisis made discounts hard to come by, but that era is fading fast.

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. Other retailers that have recently announced 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, crediting wealthier household customers with fueling market share gains.

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 yesterday 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.

Nike shares got a much-needed jolt today after Bill Ackman's hedge fund disclosed a stake in the apparel giant.

Why it matters: Ackman rose to prominence as an activist investor but said in 2022 that he was pivoting to a "quieter approach."

Driving the news: Pershing Square Capital Management yesterday disclosed ownership of 3 million shares of Nike stock at the end of June, worth about $229 million. (That's about 0.25% of Nike's outstanding Class B shares).

State of play: Nike's stock jumped 5% today, but is still down about 23% on the year as the company struggles to regain its footing.

• Its direct-to-consumer strategy has backfired, and the company has lost ground on running shoes, Hope reported in June.

👛 Strong demand for Coach's Tabby handbags led luxury retailer Tapestry to an earnings beat. (Reuters)

🍻 Molson Coors is offloading its craft beer portfolio. (Axios)

Score one for Kroger-Albertsons.

• Ohio AG Dave Yost yesterday asked the FTC to drop its lawsuit seeking to block the proposed $24.6 billion grocery merger.

Why it matters: Kroger and Albertsons have faced more opposition than support for the merger at this point, so having allies on its side certainly helps, Kimberly Chin writes for Axios Pro: Retail Deals.

The big picture: It's probably not the ideal time to be navigating a major grocery store merger through an antitrust case.

• Vice President Kamala Harris will reportedly call for a federal ban on corporate grocery price gouging as part of her economic speech Friday — and part of that plan includes close scrutiny of proposed grocery mergers.

As Mars announces its acquisition of Kellanova, nothing epitomizes the homogenization of global snacking quite like the rise of peanut butter in the U.K. — where it has overtaken native English jam.

Why it matters: The U.K.'s legume boom has coincided with an increase in health-conscious consumption, to the point where Whole Earth brand peanut butter now outsells Sun-Pat, the sweetened market leader from 1946 to 2016.

By the numbers: Posh U.K. supermarket Waitrose now stocks 35 different varieties of peanut butter, per the NYT, even if it seems to have soured on the peculiarly British concoction that is Marmite peanut butter.

Between the lines: The PB&J remains an all-American sandwich, with too much sweetness and not enough umami for sophisticated Waitrose patrons.

• As Axios chief snack correspondent Danielle Alberti notes with disdain, "British people have peanut butter and have jam and just can't bring themselves to combine the two."

The bottom line: Now that peanut butter has conquered the U.K., it's surely only a matter of time before Unilever's Marmite will claim its natural place on U.S. supermarket shelves.