Lush and Kwik Fit are among firms which have warned they will raise prices due to an increase in employers' National Insurance (NI).
The cosmetics company which has a store in Aberdeen's popular Union Square shopping centre told the BBC that it would have to find an extra £2.7million per year in order to pay its 3,600 employees across the UK and Ireland.
From Sunday, employers will have to pay NI at 15% on salaries above £5,000, instead of 13.8% on salaries above £9,100 currently.
Some firms are expected to reduce how much profit they make, freeze hiring or cut jobs to cover the higher costs.
Kasey Swithenbank, Lush's retail head for the UK and Ireland, said: "We are going to be taking small incremental price changes.
"We are taking an approach where we look at certain categories at key points of the year so hopefully our customers don't feel the full burden straight away."
Elsewhere, car repair chain Kwik Fit, which employs around 7,000 people, estimates the NICs rises will cost it £6.4million.
The firm, which has three garages across Aberdeen, said that it will have a knock-on effect on prices and recruitment.
Managing Director Mark Slade said: "We are really careful to make sure KwikFit is always competitive and benchmarked against the people around us - but the reality is that includes increasing prices."