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With Google and Uber joining the ever-growing ranks of companies tightening remote work policies, employees across industries are being forced to spend more time in the office. But how much are office visit patterns really changing on the ground? Did the resurgence observed in March 2025 continue into April, or was it merely a brief reprieve from the slump seen earlier this year?
April 2025 emerged as the third-busiest in-office month since COVID, outpaced only by October and July 2024. And visits to the Placer.ai Nationwide Office Index were down just 30.7% compared to April 2019 (pre-COVID) – an improvement over April 2024. The upswing is especially notable given that Easter fell in April this year, whereas last year it fell in March. Though the holiday itself takes place on Sunday, many employees celebrate the occasion with a long weekend.
April 2025’s strong performance suggests that despite setbacks in January and February, the office recovery is back on track, with further increases potentially ahead in the coming months.
A closer look at regional trends shows significant variation across major business hubs. New York City, long at the forefront of office recovery, nearly closed its post-pandemic office visit gap in April 2025, with visits just 5.5% below April 2019 levels. Miami also performed strongly, with visits down only 15.3%. Meanwhile, Atlanta and Dallas outperformed the national baseline (Dallas, just barely), while San Francisco once again took up the rear with Chicago.
Drilling down deeper into the data for office recovery leaders, New York and Miami highlights the continued influence of hybrid work on office visitation trends, even as numbers approach pre-pandemic levels.
Nationwide, office visits recovered most strongly mid-week. But this trend was especially pronounced in nearly-recovered NYC, where Tuesdays and Wednesdays were actually busier last month than they were during the same period of 2019 – and where Thursdays were essentially on par with April 2019 levels. Meanwhile, Fridays, and to a lesser extent Mondays, remained significantly below pre-COVID benchmarks. In Miami, too, it was midweek attendance that powered the office recovery – though Fridays rebounded more strongly in the Florida hub than in New York or nationwide.
Turning to year-over-year (YoY) trends, San Francisco once again led in YoY office visit growth – suggesting that accumulating RTO mandates in the city’s tech sector may be fueling substantial recovery. Boston was not far behind, with visits up 7.4% YoY. And while most other cities also posted YoY visit growth, a few hubs – including Houston and Los Angeles – saw modest declines.
April 2025 data from the Placer.ai Office Index indicates that the renewed office recovery momentum seen in March 2025 is continuing apace – though hybrid work remains in full force. What lies ahead for offices in the months to come?
Follow Placer.ai’s data-driven office recovery analyses to find out.
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, held annually at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA, recently wrapped up its 24th run. We dove into the location intelligence data to understand how the audience has changed in recent years and understand how the shift is impacting spending patterns at the festival.
Indio, CA is home to the Empire Polo Club, a thousand-acre event facility known for hosting many large-scale events throughout the year which attract numerous out-of-towners. One of the venue’s oldest annual events is the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festivals (often referred to just as “Coachella”) that takes place over two consecutive three-day weekends in April and drives large visit spikes to Indio during its run.
Like many other live cultural events, Coachella was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. And comparing the recent audience segmentation data for Empire Polo Club visitors during recent Coachella weekends to pre-pandemic trends suggests that the festival’s audience shifted slightly following its post-pandemic return.
In recent years (2023, 2024, and 2025), the share of family segments in the Empire Polo Club’s captured market has generally been higher than it was pre-pandemic, while the share of single audience segments decreased. Specifically, Spatial.ai’s segments of Near-Urban Diverse Families, Wealthy Suburban Families, and Melting Pot Families grew, while the share of Young Professionals fell. The share of Educated Urbanites in the Empire Polo Club’s captured market showed more variance, though it was also lower over the last two years (2024 and 2025) than it was in 2019.
The audience shift could suggest that Coachella is becoming more family-friendly, with some parents choosing to make a family trip out of the festival weekend. At the same time, the increase in family-oriented segments may also indicate that the audience base has shifted younger and that the festival now attracts more Gen Z attendees, many of whom still live at home.
The shift in audience also seems to have driven a change in spending patterns over Coachella weekend. Between 2019 and 2025, the data reveals a notable decrease in hotel & resort visits by Coachella attendees along with an increase in visits to major retail and dining categories, with the largest visit increase reserved for the most affordable segments.
Perhaps budget-conscious families and cash-strapped Gen-Zers living at home are foregoing the more expensive hotels and resorts in favor of more affordable accommodations such as Airbnbs or even camping on-site. To stretch their budgets even further, these attendees are favoring grocery stores, superstores, c-stores, and QSR as their preferred food options, driving significant visit increases to these categories.
At the same time, traffic to full-service restaurants and even apparel chains also grew somewhat in recent years – which could suggest a bifurcated spending pattern. While a significant portion of attendees prioritize affordability in lodging and everyday food, other segments with more disposable income are still willing to spend on sit-down dining and fashion purchases, perhaps viewing these as part of the overall festival experience.
Analyzing post-pandemic Coachella audiences reveals an increased presence of family segments, coupled with a notable gravitation towards budget-friendly spending – painting a picture of a potentially younger, more financially conscious attendee base. Simultaneously, the continued, albeit more moderate, growth in spending at full-service restaurants and apparel chains also indicates a persistent segment willing to invest in the broader festival experience. This dual trend underscores Coachella's success in balancing its appeal to both value-driven attendees and those seeking a more premium experience and suggests that the festival is continuing to maintain its relevance in 2025 – and beyond.
For more data-driven consumer insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Following a February slowdown, March 2025 mall data offered early signs of a rebound as indoor mall traffic increased and visit gaps at open-air shopping centers and outlet malls narrowed. Now, April data confirms the resurgence in mall activity, with YoY monthly visits up across all mall formats.
Some of the strength may be due to this year’s relatively late Easter, which fell in April (Easter 2024 took place in March) and may have led to a YoY increase in April 2025 as families utilized the holiday weekend for shopping and leisure. But diving deeper into the data suggests that the calendar shift is just one reason for this month’s strong visit numbers, which may also have been boosted by a pull-forward of consumer demand following the early April tariff announcement.
Looking at daily visits in April reveals that the Easter calendar shift had both a positive and negative impact on mall foot traffic. Visits were strong the week before Easter – particularly on Good Friday – as consumers bought gifts, shopped sales, and used their day off to visit mall-based dining and entertainment venues with friends and family. Outlet malls in particular received a significant boost with visits on April 18th (Good Friday) up 26.2% compared to the April 2025 Friday average – perhaps evidence of a more challenged consumer.
But visits to all three formats also dropped significantly on Easter Sunday, with visits to indoor malls, open-air shopping centers, and outlet malls down 59.4%, 33.3%, and 25.9%, respectively, compared to each format’s Sunday average in April 2025. So while Easter did drive a visit boost before the holiday, Sunday’s traffic drop may have balanced out any Easter-driven increase. Rather, the robust April performance likely reflects sustained consumer demand for mall experiences.
Weekly numbers also suggest that malls’ performance is not just due to an Easter bump. YoY weekly visits increased for all three formats during the last three full weeks of April, with indoor malls and open-air shopping centers receiving the largest boost the week after Easter – pointing to a broader trend of renewed consumer interest in mall-based activities.
The weekly numbers showing visit hikes following April 2nd also suggest that tariffs may already be impacting consumer behavior, with some shoppers likely beginning to stock up ahead of anticipated price increases and possible shortages.
Analyzing the average visit duration adds another layer of insights into malls’ April success.
Last month, the average visit duration increased for all three mall formats – so not only did malls receive more visits YoY, each visit also lasted longer, on average, than it did last year. This may suggest a larger combined basket size, with consumers spending more time in stores or visiting more mall-based retailers in a single trip. This highlights once again the resilience of the format and the ongoing consumer demand for mall-based retail, dining, and entertainment – and may offer another indication of the pull-forward of demand from certain consumers.
April 2025 mall data reveals a significant upswing in mall traffic across all formats along with an increase in average visit duration, demonstrating a recovery that extends beyond the influence of the Easter calendar shift. These positive trends reveal malls’ continued role as key destinations for shopping and leisure – even in times of economic headwinds – and could be pointing to a pull-forward of consumer demand in anticipation of retail uncertainty.
For more data-driven consumer insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
As new retail construction slows, the trend of repurposing underperforming malls is accelerating, offering exciting opportunities to transform these properties into vibrant mixed-use developments. By blending retail, lifestyle, entertainment, and essential services, these redevelopments can better serve the evolving needs of today’s consumers. Class B malls offer significant potential for investors and retailers to unlock value while meeting the needs of local communities.
According to Green Street, there are 250 Class-B malls in the U.S., making up 28% of all U.S. malls. These properties are typically located in suburban or secondary markets and often feature a mid-tier tenant mix of national and regional retailers within a traditional enclosed mall format. According to Green Street data, A-rated malls boast an impressive 95% occupancy rate, while B malls sit at 89%. Meanwhile, occupancy drops significantly to 72% for C-rated malls and below.
B Malls face a number of challenges in addition to their higher vacancy rates, including lower sales per square foot, less desirable locations, outdated designs, and competition from newer lifestyle centers that offer a more dynamic mix of retail, dining, and entertainment.
Class-B malls, despite their challenges, offer a compelling opportunity for adaptive reuse. Often priced below their original value, these properties are ideal for redevelopment into community-centric hubs, featuring a mix of residential, retail, and public spaces. Reimagining these spaces not only allows investors and developers to achieve significant returns, but also fosters positive economic growth in local communities. For retailers, these revitalized spaces offer the chance to thrive in environments with increasing foot traffic and elevated customer engagement.
Hawthorn Mall, a premier two-story super-regional shopping center in Vernon Hills, Illinois, is one B Mall currently undergoing a significant transformation – and early data suggests that the revitalization efforts are already bearing fruit.
Owned by Centennial Real Estate, Hawthorn is strategically positioned at the intersection of Lake County’s key thoroughfares, offering exceptional convenience and accessibility. The center is anchored by major brands like AMC, Dave & Buster’s, JCPenney, and Macy’s, with a diverse mix of more than 60 retailers and restaurants, including Anthropologie, FP Movement, H&M, Lovesac, PGA Tour Superstore, Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, and Pure Barre. Now, in the midst of redevelopment, Hawthorn is evolving into a vibrant mixed-use community, integrating luxury residential, expanded retail and dining, and pedestrian-friendly spaces.
Although the Hawthorn Mall redevelopment is still under way, visit quality to the mall has already improved – with the median visit duration rising from 54 minutes between April 2022 and March 2023 to 61 minutes between April 2024 and March 2025. The median household income in Hawthorn’s captured market has increased as well, perhaps thanks to the addition of a luxury apartment complex on the mall’s property. Lastly, the share of evenings visits also grew, suggesting that Hawthorn's revamped dining and entertainment are making it an increasingly popular evening destination for locals.
Class-B malls represent a unique opportunity to meet both market demands and community needs through thoughtful redevelopment. While challenges such as securing financing, navigating zoning and regulatory hurdles, and managing costs exist, the potential rewards are significant. Successful redevelopment requires targeted tenant curation, strategic location, and a bold, forward-thinking vision. With expansive footprints, prime access, and adaptability, Class-B malls are perfectly positioned to evolve into dynamic, mixed-use centers – redefining retail experiences and meeting the needs of modern consumers and communities.
Traffic to First Watch continues to climb as the company forges on with its expansion. Visits to the chain were 7.3% higher year-over-year (YoY) in Q1 2025 as visits per location held essentially steady (-0.8% YoY) – revealing that demand for the breakfast, brunch, and lunch dining concept remains robust despite the consumer headwinds.
And according to the latest monthly data, First Watch may be in even better shape than its already strong Q1 2024 visit numbers suggest. In April 2025, overall visits to the chain grew 10.5% YoY while visits per location increased by 3.0% – indicating that the morning and afternoon-focused dining brand likely still has more room to grow.
For more data-driven consumer analysis, visit placer.ai/anchor.
While Warby Parker and Allbirds both originated as direct-to-consumer brands, they have since firmly established themselves as brick-and-mortar retailers. Warby Parker, known for its quirky and affordable approach to eyecare, has around 270 stores in the United States, while Allbirds, which recently underwent a significant rightsizing process, currently operates 24 stores across the country.
We took a look at the visit data for the two retailers to explore how they are faring thus far in 2025.
Warby Parker continues to impress. The eyewear chain, which transitioned from an online-only model to physical stores in 2013, spent 2024 adding stores to its current fleet – and visit data highlights the positive impact of this expansion.
Q4 2024 and Q1 2025 visits to Warby Parker were 13.4% and 6.6% higher, respectively, than in Q4 2023 and Q1 2024. Average visits per location, too, showed growth in Q4 2024 (+4.9%), though they slowed slightly in Q1 2025. Still, Warby Parker’s ability to drive visit growth while keeping average visits per location stable suggests that its expansions are meeting with consistent demand.
Weekly visits from 2025 onward highlight the brands’ strong positioning, with YoY visit growth in most analyzed weeks. (The significant YoY visit decline during the weeks of March 31st and April 7th is likely due to the comparison with last year’s major eclipse-related promotion, during which the chain offered free solar eclipse glasses.)
Shoewear company Allbirds has been charting a new performance course over the last year. The chain, known for its sustainable approach to footwear, recently closed nearly a third of its U.S. fleet in an attempt to optimize its stateside operations. And this consolidation, which allows Allbirds to prioritize top-performing locations, has yielded promising results for the chain.
While YoY visits were down across all analyzed months – an anticipated outcome given the significant reduction in store count – average visits per location, a more relevant indicator of Allbirds’ performance, were up on a near-constant basis. In Q1 2025, visits declined by 35.8% YoY, but visits per location grew by 14.1%.
Monthly visits followed a similar pattern: while overall visits declined by 25.9% YoY in March 2025, visits per location were up by 23.8%. This positive trend continued into April 2025, with overall visits down by just 9.2% YoY and visits per location remaining elevated at 21.0%, suggesting a strengthened performance at the remaining Allbirds stores.
This focus on a more efficient store footprint seems to be paying off for Allbirds, allowing the chain to accurately target its most receptive audience while cutting out underperforming locations.
Warby Parker and Allbirds are performing well, highlighting the importance of remaining agile and pivoting to meet evolving consumer challenges.
Will the two retailers continue to thrive?
Visit Placer.ai to keep up with the latest data-driven retail news.
Sports leagues like the NBA, NFL, and MLB boast billion-dollar revenues – and the venues where these games unfold hold significant commercial potential in their own rights. Many stadiums host concerts and other shows in addition to regularly held sporting matches and can accommodate tens of thousands of spectators at once – creating massive retail, dining, and advertisement opportunities.
This white paper analyzes location intelligence metrics for some of the biggest stadiums across the country to reveal the commercial potential of these venues beyond simple ticketing revenue. Where do visitors of various stadiums like to shop? Do specific sporting and cultural events impact the nearby restaurant scene differently? How can stadium operators, local businesses, and advertisers tailor their offerings to a stadium’s particular audience and make the most of the stadium and the space throughout the year?
We take a closer look below.
The three major sports leagues – the National Basketball League (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), and the National Football League (NFL) – play at different points of the year, and the number of games each league holds during the season also varies.
MLB leads in game frequency, with each team playing 162 games during the regular season, which runs approximately from April through September. Basketball season is also around six months – roughly from mid-October to mid-April – but each NBA team plays only 82 games a season. And the NFL has both the shortest season – 18 weeks running from early September to early January (with the pre-season starting in August) – and the fewest number of matches per team. Understanding the monthly visitation patterns for the various types of stadiums can help advertisers, stadium operators, and other stakeholders ensure that they are leveraging the full potential of the venue throughout the year.
Unsurprisingly, the sports arenas serving the different leagues see visit spikes during their leagues’ respective season. But comparing visit numbers throughout the year to the average monthly visit numbers for each category in 2023 reveals that the relative visit increases and decreases during the on- and off-season vary for each type of stadium.
MLB stadiums display the steadiest visit strength during the on-season – perhaps due to MLB’s packed game schedule. MLB tickets also tend to be relatively affordable compared to tickets to pro football or basketball matches, which may also contribute to MLB’s consistently strong visit numbers throughout the season. During the MLB off-season, baseball fields – which tend to be uncovered – are relatively empty.
The seasonal visit spike to NBA arenas is less steady. The beginning and end of the season see strong peaks, and visits slow down slightly during the mid-season months of January and February. Visits then drop during the off-season spring and summer, but the off-season visit dip is not as low as it is for MLB fields – perhaps because the NBA arenas’ indoor nature make them suitable locations for concerts and other non-basketball events.
Meanwhile, NFL stadiums see the least dramatic drop in visits during the NFL off-season, as these venues’ enormous size also make them the ideal location for concerts and other cultural events that draw large crowds. These arenas’ strong almost year-round visitation numbers mean that sponsors and advertisers looking to expand beyond sports fans to reach a diverse audience may have the most success with these venues.
Although MLB offers the most budget-friendly outing, combining STI: Popstats demographic metrics with trade area data reveals that MLB stadium visitors reside in higher-income areas when compared with visitors to NBA or NFL stadiums.
Baseball fans tend to be older than fans of the other sports, which could partially explain MLB stadium visitors’ higher household income (HHI). The combination of lower ticket prices, higher median HHI among fans, and many games per season offers baseball stadiums significant opportunities to engage effectively with their fan bases.
But while NBA and NFL stadium attendees may not come from as high-income areas as do MLB stadium visitors, fans of live basketball and football still reside in trade areas with a higher HHI compared to the nationwide median. So by leveraging stadium space, advertisers and other stakeholders can reach tens of thousands of relatively high-income consumers easily and effectively.
Sports fans are known to be passionate, engaged, and willing to spend money on their team – but stadium visitors also shop for non-sports related goods and services. Retailers and advertisers can draw on location analytics to uncover the consumer preferences of stadium visitors and tailor campaigns, sponsorships, and collaborations accordingly.
Visitation data to the top five most visited MLB stadiums during 2023 showed differences between the apparel and sporting goods shopping preferences of the various stadiums’ attendees. While 39.4% of visitors to Truist Park also visited DICK’s in 2023, only 30.8% of Yankee Stadium visitors stopped by the sporting goods retailer in the same period. Similarly, while 29.9% of visitors to Yankee Stadium frequented Kohl’s, that percentage jumped to 47.3% for Busch Stadium visitors.
Harnessing location intelligence to see the consumer preferences of a stadium’s visitor base can help retailers, stadium operators, and even team managers choose partnerships and merchandising agreements that will yield the most effective results.
Sports and snacks go hand in hand – what would a baseball game be without a hot dog or peanuts? But while every stadium likely provides a similar core of traditional game day eats, each venue also offers a unique set of dining options, both on- and off-premise. And by leveraging location analytics to gain visibility into stadium-goers dining habits, stadium operators and local food businesses can understand how to best serve each arena’s audience.
Mapping where stadium visitors dine before and after games can help stakeholders in the stadium industry reach more fans.
The chart below shows the share of visitors coming to a stadium from a dining venue (on the x-axis) or going to a dining venue after visiting the stadium (on the y-axis). The data reveals a correlation between pre-stadium dining and post-stadium dining – stadiums where many guests visit dining venues before the stadium also tend to have a large share of guests going to dining venues after the event. For example, the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, saw large shares of visitors grabbing a bite to eat on their journey to or from the stadium, while the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland saw low rates of pre- and post stadium dining engagement.
These trends present opportunities for both local businesses and stadium stakeholders. For example, venues with high dining engagement can explore partnerships with local restaurants, while those with lower rates can build out their in-house dining options for hungry sports fans.
Stadiums looking to enhance their food offerings – or local entrepreneurs thinking of opening a restaurant near a stadium – can also get inspired by stadium visitors’ dining preferences. For example, psychographic data taken from the Spatial.ai: FollowGraph dataset reveals that visitors to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey have a much stronger preference for Asian cuisine compared to New Jersey residents overall. With that knowledge, the stadium can enhance the visitor experience by expanding its Asian food offerings.
On the other hand, MetLife Stadium goers seem much less partial to Brewery fare than average New Jerseyans, so the stadium operators and restaurateurs may want to avoid offering too many Brewery-themed dining options. Stadium stakeholders can reserve the craft beers for Caesars Stadium, M&T Bank Stadium, and Soldier Field Stadiums, where visitors seem to enjoy artisanal brews more than the average resident in Louisiana, Maryland, and Illinois, respectively.
All of the stadiums analyzed exhibited unique visitor dining tastes, a reminder that no customer or fan base is alike. Aligning on- or off-site dining options with offerings that align with a given customer base’s preferences can improve overall visitor satisfaction and boost revenues.
Zooming in to look at consumer behavior around individual events reveals further variability in dining preferences even among visitors to the same stadium, with different types of events driving distinct dining behaviors.
State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, is home to the Arizona Cardinals. The stadium hosted the 2023 Super Bowl, but the NFL stadium also acts as a concert venue for acts ranging from Taylor Swift to Metallica. And location intelligence reveals that the dining preferences of stadium visitors vary based on the events held at the venue.
During the Super Bowl, sports bars such as Yard House and Buffalo Wild Wings saw the largest increase in visits compared to the chains’ daily average. A month later, attendees at Taylor Swift's concert gave fried-chicken leader Raising Cane’s a significant boost.
Local restaurants can leverage location analytics to see what types of events are popular with their visitor base and craft collaborations and advertising campaigns that resonate effectively with their patrons.
Sports stadiums and arenas are not just spaces for sports and music enthusiasts to gather; they also offer significant commercial opportunities for the surrounding communities. Stadium operators and local businesses can fine-tune their offerings by utilizing location analytics to better connect with their visitor bases and uncover new retail opportunities.
The dining industry showcased its agility over the past couple of years as it rapidly adapted to shifts in consumer preference brought on by COVID and rising prices. And with a new year around the corner, the pace of change shows no signs of slowing down.
This white paper harnesses location analytics, including visitation patterns, demographic data, and psychographic insights, to explore the trends that will shape the dining space in 2024. Which dining segments are likely to pull ahead of the pack? How are chains responding to changes in visitor behavior? And where are brands driving dining foot traffic by taking advantage of a new advertising possibility? Read on to find out how dining leaders can tap into emerging trends to stay ahead of the competition in 2024.
Comparing quarterly visits in 2023 and 2022 highlights the impact of the ongoing economic headwinds on the dining industry. The year started off strong, with year-over-year (YoY) dining visits up overall in Q1 2023 – perhaps aided by the comparison to an Omicron-impacted muted Q1 2022. And while overall dining growth stalled in Q2 2023, several segments – including QSR, Fast Casual, and Coffee – continued posting YoY visit increases, likely bolstered by consumers trading down from pricier full-service concepts.
Foot traffic slowed significantly in Q3 2023 as inflation and tighter consumer budgets constrained discretionary spending. Overall dining visits fell 2.4% YoY, and full-service restaurants – with their relatively high price point compared to other dining segments – seemed to be particularly impacted by the wider economic outlook. But the data also revealed some bright spots: Fast Casual still succeeded in maintaining positive YoY visit numbers and Coffee saw its Q3 visit grow an impressive 5.4% YoY. As the return to office continues, a pre-work coffee run or lunchtime foray to a fast-casual chain may continue propelling the two segments forward.
Restaurant visitation patterns have evolved over the past few years. Although an 8 PM seating was once the most coveted slot at fine-dining restaurants, recent visitation data suggests that sitting down to dinner earlier is rising in popularity.
But among the QSR segment, the opposite trend is emerging, with late-night visits rising. Analyzing hourly foot traffic to several major QSR chains reveals that the share of visits between 9 PM and 12 AM increased significantly between Q3 2019 and Q3 2023. Even Taco Bell – already known for its popularity among the late-night crowd – saw a substantial increase in late-night visits YoY – from 15.4% to 20.3%.
Who is driving the late night visit surge? One reason restaurants have been expanding their opening hours is to capture more Gen-Z diners, who tend to seek out nighttime dining options. But location intelligence reveals that younger millennials are also taking advantage of the later QSR closing times.
An analysis of the captured market for trade areas of top locations within one of Taco Bell’s major markets – the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan area – reveals a year-over-four-year (Yo4Y) increase in “Singles & Starters.” The “Singles & Starters” segment is defined by Experian: Mosaic as young singles and starter families living in cities who are typically between 25 and 30 years old. As consumers continue to prioritize experiential entertainment and going out with friends, late-night dining may continue to see increased interest from young city-dwellers.
Millennials and Gen-Z consumers aren’t only heading to their favorite fast food joint for a late-night bite – these audience segments are also helping drive visits on the weekends. Smoothie King is one chain feeling the benefits of young, health-conscious consumers.
The chain, which opened in New Orleans, LA, in 1973 as a health food store, has since grown to over 1,100 locations nationwide and is currently expanding, focusing on the Dallas-Fort Worth CBSA. The area’s Smoothie King venues have seen strong visitation patterns, particularly on the weekends – weekend visits were up 3.4% YoY in Q3 2023. The smoothie brand’s trade areas in the greater Dallas region is also seeing a YoY increase in weekend visits from “Young Professionals” – defined by the Spatial.ai PersonaLive dataset as “well-educated young professionals starting their careers in white-collar or technical jobs.”
While some dining chains are appealing to the late-night or weekend crowd, others are driving visits by appealing to sports lovers. How have recent rule changes around student athletes changed the restaurant game, and how can college football teams drive business in their hometowns?
College sports have long been a major moneymaker, with top-tier teams raking in billions of dollars annually. And as of 2021, college athletes can enjoy a piece of the significant fan following of college sports thanks to the change in the NCAA’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules, which now allows student athletes to sign endorsement deals.
Since then, multiple restaurants have jumped on the opportunity to partner with student athletes, some of whom have millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok. Chains like Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Slim Chickens, and Hooters have all signed college athletes to various brand deals.
How can brands ensure they partner with athletes their customers will want to engage with? Analyzing a chain’s audience by looking at the interests of residents in a given chain’s trade area can reveal which type of athlete will be the most attractive to each brand’s customer base. For example, data from Spatial.ai: Followgraph provides insight into the social media activity of consumers in a given trade area and can highlight desirable partnerships.
Examining the trade areas of Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Slim Chickens, and Hooters, for instance, reveals that Sweetgreen’s visitors tended to have the largest share of Women’s Soccer followers. Conversely, Sweetgreen’s trade area had lower-than-average shares of College Football Fans or College Basketball Fans, while residents of the trade areas of the other three chains showed greater-than-average interest in these sports. Leveraging location intelligence can help companies choose brand deals that their customers resonate with and find the ideal athletes to represent the chain.
Finding the right college athlete partnership is one way for dining brands to appeal to college sports enthusiasts. But dining chains and venues located near major college stadiums also benefit from the popularity of their local team by enjoying a major game day visit boost.
One of the country’s most popular college football teams, the Ohio State Buckeyes, can draw millions of TV viewers, and its stadium has a capacity of 102,780 – one of the largest stadiums in the country. And while tailgating is a popular activity for Buckeyes fans, nearby restaurants are some of the biggest beneficiaries of the college football craze. Panera experienced a 235.3% increase on game days as compared to a typical day, Domino’s Pizza visits grew by 283.3%, and Tommy’s Pizza, a local pie shop, saw its visits jump by a whopping 600.9%.
This influx in diners also causes a major shift in game day visitor demographics, as revealed by changes in visitors at dining venues located near stadiums of two of the nation’s best college football teams – the Ohio State Buckeyes and Ole Miss Rebels. Based on Spatial.ai: Personalive data for the captured market of these dining venues, game day visitors tended to come from “Ultra Wealthy Families” when compared to visitors during a typical non-game day in September or October.
The analysis indicates that popular sporting events create a unique opportunity for restaurants near college stadiums to attract high-income customers game day after game day, year after year.
While some spend game day tailgating or visiting a college restaurant, others hold a viewing party – with a six-foot submarine. And the sub’s popularity extends beyond Superbowl Sundays. Sandwich chains including Jersey Mike’s, Firehouse Subs, Jimmy John’s, and Subway (recently purchased by the same company that owns Jimmy John’s) have seen sustained YoY increases in visits and visits per venue in the first three quarters of 2023.
Some of the growth to these chains may be related to their affordability, a draw at all times but especially during a period marked by consumer uncertainty and rising food costs. And subway leaders seem to be seizing the moment and striking while the iron is hot – Jersey Mike’s opened 350 stores in 2023 and still saw its YoY visits per venue grow by 6.6%. And Subway reported ten consecutive quarters of positive sales, a promising sign for its new owner.
The love for a healthy, affordable sandwich extends across all income levels, with all four chains seeing a range in their visitors' median household income (HHI). Out of the four chains analyzed, Jersey Mike’s – which has long prioritized a suburban, middle-income customer – had the highest trade area median household income of the four chains at $77.3K/year. Subway, known for its affordability, had the lowest, with $62.9K/year. The variance in median HHI combined with the strong foot traffic growth shows that when it comes to sandwiches, there’s something for everyone.
Persistent inflation and declining consumer sentiment may pose serious challenges for the dining space, but emerging trends are helping boost some restaurants. Customers seeking out a late-night bite drive visits to QSR chains, and health-conscious diners are boosting foot traffic to smoothie bars and sandwich shops. Meanwhile, sports sponsorships and game-day restaurant visits can provide a boost to dining businesses that take advantage of these opportunities.
“Retail media networks have turned retailers into ad moguls. That’s a huge change and nobody yet understands all the implications of it.”
Constantine von Hoffman, MARTECH
Companies operating consumer-facing brick-and-mortar venues traditionally relied on selling goods and services as their primary revenue stream. But recently, leading retailers such as Walmart and Target have begun to leverage their immense store fleet into a powerful advertising platform.
Online retailers have been tapping into the advertising power of their digital sites for years by relying on various automated tools to show third-party advertisements to relevant consumer segments. But now, retailers with a strong offline presence can also leverage physical marketing impressions and focus their campaigns while reaching consumers at the point of purchase. Retailers have long recognized the intent that drives a store visit, and understanding the full value of leveraging that visit to its full extent is an important new frontier.
Major retailers are continuing to see their physical visits outnumber their online ones.
And in spite of the gloomy predictions regarding the future of brick and mortar retail, major retailers are continuing to see their physical visits outnumber their online ones. Monthly numbers of visitors to Walmart and Target significantly outpace the brands’ online reach, according to web data from Similarweb. So although, up until recently, these brands have focused their media placements on their digital channels, it is becoming increasingly clear that these chains’ physical stores hold powerful – and currently untapped – advertising potential.
Online visitor data source: similarweb.com
And with the recent rise in digital advertising costs, retail media networks are becoming more attractive for companies looking to make the most of their ad budget. Retail media networks can also help brands reach rural communities, elderly Americans, and other consumer segments that are currently underserved by digital advertisers.
This white paper explores several retailers on the cutting edge of the retail media network revolution. Keep reading to find out how advertisers can use retail media networks to promote to hard-to-reach consumers, segment their ad spending, and optimize their campaigns.
Residents of rural areas use the internet less frequently, and have lower levels of technology ownership than their urban and suburban counterparts. As a result, companies that stick to digital advertising may have a harder time reaching rural consumers. Brick and mortar retailers popular in smaller markets can fill in the gaps and help brands promote their products and services to this hard-to-reach audience.
Brick and mortar retailers popular in smaller markets can help brands advertise to hard-to-reach audiences.
Dollar General saw significant success over the pandemic, with the current economic climate continuing to benefit the brand. Between January and August 2022, nationwide visits to Dollar General venues were 35.6% higher than they were between January and August 2019, while the number of visitors increased 25.4% in the same period.Visit numbers aggregate the visits to the chain’s various locations in a given period, while visitor numbers track the number of people who enter the brand’s stores.
The company has also been operating a media network since 2018. The Dollar General Media Network (DGMN) enables advertisers to reach Dollar General consumers across the company’s channels to build awareness both digitally and in physical spaces. Advertisers with DGMN can display in-store bollard, blade, and wipe stand signs, security pedestals, basket bottomers, and shelfAdz to deliver in-store messaging from parking lot to purchase. Recently, Dollar General announced that its ad platform was now working with 21 new advertising partners, including Unilever, General Mills, Hershey’s, and Colgate-Palmolive.
Embracing the Power of the Small Market
Advertising partners can leverage the DGMN to promote their goods and services to harder-to-reach consumers.
Dollar General has been serving rural residents for years, with the majority of the company’s stores located in communities with fewer than 20,00 residents. And while the brand is growing nationwide, Dollar General’s strength is particularly evident in small markets – which means that advertising partners can leverage the DGMN to promote their goods and services to harder-to-reach consumers.
Comparing year-over-three-year (Yo3Y) visit change to Dollar General stores in metropolitan and micropolitan core based statistical areas (CBSAs) highlights the company’s success in smaller markets. According to the United States Office of Management and Budget, metropolitan and micropolitan CBSAs have over and under 50,000 residents, respectively. Since January 2022, monthly Yo3Y visit growth to Dollar General venues in select Texas micropolitans has consistently outpaced foot traffic to nearby metropolitan areas. While the Sherman-Denison metro area saw August 2022 foot traffic hit a solid 24.5% increase over August 2019, the Gainesville, Texas micro area – around 35 miles east of Sherman – saw its foot traffic increase 54.5% in the same period.
Dollar General’s presence across a significant number of smaller markets means that advertising partners can use the growing DGMN to increase awareness and drive purchase consideration among these harder-to-reach consumers.
In the digital space, three tech giants – Alphabet (previously Google), Meta (previously Facebook), and Amazon – enjoy over 60% of the digital ad revenue in the United States. This means that companies are competing for impressions on a small number of platforms – and smaller brands geared at specific consumer segments may need to spend significant advertising budgets to outbid the larger players. Retail media networks create additional advertising platforms, and enable advertisers to diversify their ad spend, increase their (physical) impressions, focus on more specialized channels to better reach their audience, and potentially reach customers at their highest point of intent.
Retail media networks create additional advertising platforms and potentially reach customers at their highest point of intent.
Albertsons launched its retail media network, Albertsons Media Collective, in November 2021 with the goal of delivering “digitally native, shopper-centric and engaging branded content to the company’s ever-growing network of shoppers.” Currently, the grocer’s media network is primarily digital, but Albertsons’ head of retail media products Evan Hovorka recognizes the importance of leveraging in-store assets to deliver a unique advertising experience. The company is testing out smart carts that link with “Albertsons for U” loyalty program to display ads to shoppers – and Albertsons is likely to find more ways to reach in-store consumers as it continues to develop its retail media network.
The chain is also one of the most popular grocers nationwide. With the exception of March and April 2022, when inflation and high gas prices temporarily halted growth, the brand’s monthly visits and visitor numbers have consistently exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Monthly visits for Albertsons in August 2022 were up 5.7% and monthly visitors were up 5.4% on a Yo3Y basis. This means that advertisers with Albertsons can increase their reach and grow their physical ad impressions just by displaying their ads in Albertsons locations and tapping into the chain’s growing visitor base.
Looking beyond Albertsons' nationwide average foot traffic trends reveals some important regional differences. Between January and July 2022, visits to the brands increased 4.6% in Wyoming on a Yo3Y basis, while foot traffic to the brand’s locations in Oregon jumped 18.5% compared to January through July 2019. This means that a brand looking to reach consumers in Oregon can contract with Albertsons’ media network to show its ads to a fast-growing pool of visitors.
A larger visitor count translates to an increase in unique ad impressions, while more visits from fewer visitors can drive repeated exposures.
Diving deeper into the data reveals an additional layer of insight. Some states with only moderate visit growth are seeing a surge in visitor numbers, while other states are seeing a drop in visitor numbers but a rise in visits. A larger visitor count translates to an increase in unique ad impressions and more people exposed to the ads, while more visits from fewer visitors translates to more overall impressions that can drive repeated exposure among a smaller group of visitors. So advertisers can use segmented foot traffic data to decide where to focus their marketing depending on the goal of the campaign.
For example, Wyoming's moderate increase in visits hides a significant spike in visitors, which means that advertisers to Albertsons venues in Wyoming can get their impressions before a large number of different potential consumers. Meanwhile, Oregon's 18.5% increase in visits is the result of just a 9.4% increase in visitors – so Albertsons is cultivating an increasingly loyal following in the Beaver State, and the grocer’s advertising partners can expect that the same visitors will be exposed to their brand repeatedly.
So companies that want to increase unique ad impressions and build awareness can advertise to Albertsons customers in Wyoming, where their ads will be seen by a large number of new people. But in Oregon, companies may want to promote a campaign that focuses on moving Albertsons visitors through their funnel.
In order to accurately assess the ad distribution patterns in each location, brands operating retail media networks need to understand both visits and visitors trends in each region and for the chain as a whole.
Advertisers with retail media networks can use foot traffic data to refine their geographic audience by identifying the consumer preferences of a given brick-and-mortar brand on a store or city level.
In August 2020, CVS Pharmacy launched its media network, the CVS Media Exchange (cMx). The company estimates that 76% of U.S. consumers live within five miles of at least one store, and the cMx allows partners to tap into the chain’s reach by giving advertisers access to CVS’ online and offline channels, including in-store ads.
Although CVS has been closing locations recently, the brand is still one of the strongest players in the brick-and-mortar retail space. Its 2022 visit numbers have consistently exceeded pre-pandemic levels nationwide, and data from CVS locations in leading cities shows that its Yo3Y visits per venue and visitor numbers are even higher.
CVS’s nationally distributed fleet means that the brand’s locations in different regions attract distinct consumer bases.
CVS carries a varied product mix of daily essentials in addition to its healthcare offerings, so the brand attracts a wide range of consumer segments. And the chain’s nationally distributed store fleet means that CVS has locations in different regions that attract distinct consumer bases who do not all have the same lifestyle preferences. By using foot traffic data to understand the regional consumer preferences of CVS consumers beyond the store, advertising partners can refine their market and make the most of the cMx.
Different regions have different fitness cultures. Chains catering to health-conscious consumers can use retail media networks and foot traffic data to focus their efforts on areas where inhabitants exhibit a high demand for regular workouts.
Analyzing cross-visit data from CVS locations across five major urban centers in the U.S. shows that the percentage of those who also visited gyms or fitness studios varied significantly across each DMA. In the New York area, 62.7% of those who visited CVS in Q2 2022 also visited a fitness venue during that period, in contrast with only 38.0% of CVS visitors around Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX in the same period. This information can help advertising partners in the health and wellness space decide where to place their campaigns.
Looking at cross-visit data on a city-wide level can provide a sense of the consumer culture in each area, but advertisers that dive into foot traffic data for individual stores can refine their messaging even further.
On average, 43.8% of CVS visitors in the Chicago DMA also visited a gym in Q2 2022. But drilling down to the top CVS locations in the city reveals that the rate of cross-visits varies significantly from location to location. Both the E 53rd Street and W 103rd Street locations have a relatively high share of visitors who visit fitness locations – 52.5% and 49.2%, respectively. Meanwhile fitness cross-visits were at just 36.6% for the South Stony Island Avenue location. Advertisers promoting health and wellness related products and services may want to focus on the 103rd St. and 53rd St. CVS locations.
Diving into a customer’s behavior and preferences outside the store can help retail media network operators and advertising partners find the areas and locations best suited for each type of ad.
Cross-visit data is one way to identify consumer preferences beyond the physical store. Advertisers can also analyze digital preferences of offline visitors to focus their marketing on the most appropriate locations.
Advertisers can also analyze digital preferences of offline visitors to focus on the most appropriate locations.
Over the past couple of years, Macy’s has been finding ways to reinvent itself and optimize its store fleet – and foot traffic data indicates that the retailer's efforts are paying off. In the first half of 2022, Macy’s exceeded its H1 2021 overall visit and average visits per venue numbers and posted a positive year-over-year (YoY) visitor count. In Q2 2022, despite the wider economic challenges, Macy’s visitors, visits, and average visits per venue saw YoY increases of 3.4%, 4.0% and 9.9% increases.
Like CVS, Macy’s launched its media network in August 2020, and by February 2021 the Macy’s Media Network was already generating $35 million annually. In addition to advertising on the company’s digital channels, Macy’s also offers partners the use of in-store screen displays, package inserts, and the brand’s iconic billboard in New York City’s Herald Square.
Advertisers can optimize their advertising by analyzing the differences in consumer profiles between a chain’s various stores.
Advertisers that understand the differences in consumer profiles between a chain’s various stores can optimize their advertising efforts. While looking at variations in cross-visit trends is one way to identify interested brick-and-mortar consumers, diving into visitor’s digital behavior and online preferences can also provide valuable insights.
Tools such as Spatial.ai’s GeoWeb, which tracks online engagement with various trends and topics by neighborhood, can reveal how offline consumers behave online. An index score of 100 indicates that consumers in an area have an average interest in a given topic, while scores over (or under) 100 indicate that consumers are more (or less) interested in the topic when compared to the national average interest.
We used Spatial.ai’s GeoWeb tool to analyze the online behavior of consumers in the True Trade Areas (TTA) of five Macy’s locations in the Philadelphia, PA DMA – and found that residents of the different TTAs stores showed differing indexes. For example, the Macy’s in the King of Prussia Mall location showed a high index of 161 in “Men’s Business Clothes Shoppers,” while the Cottman Ave. location had an only slightly above average index of 102. This means that advertisers of men’s business apparel may see more results by focussing their advertising on visitors to the King of Prussia location.
Advertisers that use retail media networks do a lot more than just reach in-store shoppers. Stores exist in the physical world, so advertisers can also reach passers-by through physical venues’ windows, blade signs – or in the case of Macy’s, through its Herald Square Billboard. Here too, foot traffic data can reveal the consumer preferences of people walking by the sign.
We looked at the online behavior in the TTA around the traffic pin on the corner where the billboard is located (Broadway/6th Ave and 34th Street in New York) to understand which advertisers might benefit most from a billboard at that location. While the “Men’s Business Clothes Shoppers” category was over-indexed compared to the national average, as would be expected in midtown Manhattan, “Women’s Fashion Brand Shoppers” had an even higher index. “Gen Z Apparel Shoppers” were over-represented, but “Leather Good Shoppers” and ”Athleisure Shoppers” were under-represented. So a brand that carries both elegant wear and athleisure may want to display its less casual clothing lines on the billboard.
Understanding how consumers behave both on and offline can help retail media networks and advertising partners promote their campaigns most effectively.
To transform their physical store fleet into a media network, brands and companies need to analyze the reach of each venue. The same chain operating in multiple regions may be reaching different types of consumers in each area, or even in various neighborhoods of the same city. These distinct audiences may have contrasting products, brands, and shopping preferences.
Retailers that leverage their brick and mortar presence can transform the advertisement space as it exists today.
Retailers can also partner with advertising partners who wish to promote goods and services not carried by the retailer. For this to succeed, the retailer will need to analyze how consumers behave outside of its stores. Understanding what characterizes the overall behavior of consumers in each locations’ trade area will allow the retailer to reach a larger audience and truly compete with the digital giants. And by leveraging their brick and mortar presence, brick and mortar retail can transform the advertisement space as it exists today.
