Macy’s and Kohl’s are raising clothing prices to protect profits. Investors see that as a big win.

Some categories have seen a bigger uptick than others, though. Food prices, for example, grew by 0.9% in October — with meat, poultry, fish and eggs collectively increasing 1.7%. Apparel prices remained flat.

Macy’s, which is primarily an apparel destination, said it has been running tests over the past three months to see which categories of goods consumers are more price sensitive toward and where shoppers are more willing to shell out a few more bucks.

“We’ve clearly been through these inflationary cycles before, and so we have a lot of experience with it,” Macy’s Chief Executive Jeff Gennette said in an interview. “And with fashion, sometimes you can pass that on, and you can get a higher ticket and a higher sale price.”

In some instances, though, Gennette said that Macy’s faces a “price ceiling” for commodity items such as a basic T-shirt or a pair of denim jeans. “In some cases, we hold the retail and we take the higher costs and we take a shorter margin,” he said.

Another weapon that Macy’s has in its arsenal is lean inventories, said Gennette. That means it won’t have to discount surplus goods that aren’t selling. Macy’s inventories in the three-month period ended Oct. 30 were up more than 19% compared with year-ago levels, but they were down over 15% on a two-year basis.

Earlier in the week, bloated inventories at Target and Walmart were a red flag for investors. In part, these companies were being proactive to make sure shelves were well-stocked for the holidays — and that could pay off if shoppers rush into stores in the coming weeks eager to spend. Walmart said its inventories are up 11.5% ahead of the holiday season. Target’s inventories were up nearly 20%, or $2 billion, year over year.

“Retailers don’t want to scare off a consumer,” said Naveen Jaggi, president of commercial real estate firm JLL’s retail advisory services. “They’re willing to manage their costs and take on the price of the sale because they don’t want to take the motivation away from buying a product.”

But if people don’t show up, or if they show up to Target and Walmart looking for something else that isn’t stocked, that bloated inventory could be marked down come January.

Notably, Gennette said that when Macy’s does employ markdowns, it is discounting at a local level rather than a regional level. So the same shirt in one Macy’s store in Los Angeles might be less expensive than another five miles down the road, he said.

“We still have those great promotions, but less of them, so that it’s simpler — especially for our new customers,” Gass said in an interview. “We’ve got sophisticated tools now on elasticity.”

Like Macy’s, Kohl’s has also tightened its grip on inventory, which was down 25% on a two-year basis at the end of the third quarter.

Jefferies analyst Stephanie Wissink said Kohl’s profit margins are improving thanks to its current inventory position as well as the pent-up demand environment, allowing the company to sell more goods at full price.

Victoria’s Secret has also been selling more of its bras and underwear at higher price points, thereby boosting sales. Revenue in the third quarter rose 7% to $1.4 billion from $1.35 billion a year earlier. Its inventories ended up 4% compared with last year, and down 16% compared with 2019.

TJX CEO Ernie Herrman told analysts on an earnings call Wednesday that the off-price chain hasn’t seen any pushback from consumers over prices going up, either.

“We thought there would be a handful of items here or there that we would run into challenges with, but that has not been the case,” he said.

TJX’s comparable store sales for the quarter ended Oct. 30 rose 14% year over year, while its net sales climbed 24% to $12.5 billion. Its inventories were up slightly at $6.6 billion, compared with $6.3 billion two years earlier.

—CNBC’s Melissa Repko contributed to this report.