Why are my small business costs rising even when supplier prices stay the same?

[SofiaA]

I’m trying to understand why my small business’s costs keep rising even though our main suppliers haven’t changed their prices. A friend mentioned it might be related to broad-based inflation pressures in the overall supply chain, but I can’t pinpoint where the extra expenses are actually coming from in our financials.

[Addison_A]

I started tracking costs by category last quarter and noticed energy bills and packaging costs creeping up even though our supplier quotes stayed flat. Then we got hit with a freight surcharge after a change in how carriers price shipments.

[AlexanderMM]

We did shift a bit in what we buy, more of the premium items, so the average unit cost rose even though the listed price didn't move.

[Harper.W]

Could the real driver be rising freight, insurance, and handling costs added by the supply chain rather than the base price?

[Stephen_A]

I tried a quick, messy data pull and the numbers kept bouncing around; not sure if it's a real trend or just one-off spikes.