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Kroger Traffic Rises as Trips Grow Shorter in Q4 2025

Kroger saw traffic growth across its banners heading into 2026, mirroring broader grocery trends toward more frequent, mission-driven trips with implications for basket size and margins.

By 
Shira Petrack
March 2, 2026
Kroger Traffic Rises as Trips Grow Shorter in Q4 2025
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Key Takeaways
  • The Kroger Company entered 2026 with positive traffic momentum, as both overall visits and visits per venue increased year-over-year, underscoring continued grocery demand resilience.
  • Rising visit frequency was accompanied by slightly shorter dwell times, signaling a shift toward more frequent, mission-driven trips rather than larger, consolidated baskets.
  • As shorter, targeted visits become a structural driver of grocery traffic, Kroger’s scale, private-label strength, and data-driven promotions position it well – but sustained growth will hinge on converting higher traffic into profitable share-of-list gains.

Kroger Traffic Up Going into 2026

The Kroger Company closed Q4 2025 with an average 2.3% year-over-year (YoY) overall traffic growth and a 2.8% YoY increase in visits per venue across its 20+ banners, highlighting the ongoing resilience of the grocery category going into 2026. For the full year (2025), the company's overall traffic as well as average visits per venue increased 1.0% YoY.

Dwell Time Fell Slightly Alongside Rising Visits

But even as traffic increased, average dwell time across the company's banners decreased YoY – suggesting that consumers may be visiting Kroger stores more frequently but filling smaller baskets during each trip.

Traffic Trends to Kroger Mirror Company-Wide Patterns

Traffic trends to Kroger's largest banners mirrored the company-wide performance with more visits but a shorter average dwell time compared to the previous year. 

These patterns reflect larger trends seen across the grocery space, where traffic growth has been largely driven by an increase in shorter trips as shoppers split their lists across retailers and make more targeted visits based on price, promotion, or specific product needs. In this more fragmented and mission-driven environment, Kroger’s scale, private-label penetration, and data-driven promotional engine provide a competitive advantage. Still, in a market defined by shorter, targeted visits, sustainable growth will depend on Kroger’s ability to defend “share of list” while leveraging its operational efficiency and loyalty ecosystem to convert traffic gains into profitable sales. 

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Placer.ai leverages a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for visits to locations across the US. The data is trusted by thousands of industry leaders who leverage Placer.ai for insights into foot traffic, demographic breakdowns, retail sale predictions, migration trends, site selection, and more.

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Recent Publications
INSIDER
Report
5 Grocery Growth Drivers in 2026
Grocery growth in 2026 is driven by more frequent trips, expanded supply, value-seeking shoppers, and consolidation – reshaping how retailers win traffic.
Placer Research
February 19, 2026
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