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Marketers, retailers, and category managers spend a lot of time trying to analyze the retail preferences of Gen Z shoppers. Meanwhile, Gen X and Baby Boomers are seldom considered, even though almost 40% of American adults are aged 55 or older. We analyzed the latest data to better understand these frequently overlooked consumer segments.
Although the overwhelming majority of older Americans spend several hours a day online and over half of American seniors own a smartphone, the data indicates many consumers aged 55+ are still more comfortable shopping in-store.
Comparing the age distribution among adult visitors to Walmart’s website with the age distribution in Walmart’s offline trade area shows that older consumers (aged 55+) are overrepresented in the retailer’s offline trade area relative to its online visitor base.
Offline shopping offers a range of benefits, from personalized service to the ability to physically examine products and the convenience of walking out with the purchased items. Retailers looking to increase their penetration with older audience segments might consider investing in brick-and-mortar stores that give older consumers the shopping experience that best fits their needs.
For retailers looking to reach Gen X and Baby Boomers, merely building brick-and-mortar channels may not be enough – brands should also ensure that the in-store experience is optimized for older audiences. And the first step may be ensuring that staffing and opening hours are adapted to the shopping habits of older Americans.
Analyzing the hourly visit distribution at L.L. Bean and Ocean State Job Lot – two chains particularly popular with a variety of older audiences – suggests that Gen X and Baby Boomer shoppers may prefer visiting stores earlier in the day: Visits between the hours of 9 AM and 2 PM accounted for a much larger share of visits to both chains when compared to visitation behavior for the wider category. So retailers seeking to attract Gen X and Baby Boomers may consider earlier opening hours and robust staffing during the late morning and early afternoon.
At the same time, while many older consumers do exhibit some commonalities – such as a preference for offline shopping or for earlier-in-the-day store visits – it is important to remember that older shoppers are not a monolith. Like other age-based market segments, the label of “older consumer” lumps together a variety of customer types from various socioeconomic backgrounds representing a wide array of values and interests. Retailers looking to cater to this demographic should also consider the particular characteristics of their target audience beyond the general attributes common to many older consumers.
The chart below shows the share of various “Boomer” segments (from the Spatial.ai: PersonaLive dataset) in the trade areas of seven apparel retailers popular with older consumers. All these segments – Sunset Boomers, Suburban Boomers, and Budget Boomers – consist of consumers aged 65-74, but their living arrangements and household income levels vary. And as the chart shows, each Boomer segment exhibits unique brand affinities.
Sunset Boomers – the most affluent segment – were significantly overrepresented in the captured markets Talbots, Anthropologie, Vineyard Vines, and Chico’s. Suburban Boomers – middle-class older consumers – were also slightly overrepresented in Talbots, Vineyard Vines, and Chico’s captured market, but were underrepresented for Anthropologie and significantly overrepresented at Boscov’s. And Budget Boomers – older consumers with household incomes of $35K to $50K – were overrepresented in Bealls and Cato’s captured market even though these retailers did not seem particularly popular with the other two Boomer segments.
To effectively target older consumers, retailers should assess how their products and services align with the unique tastes and spending abilities of each Boomer and Gen X sub-segment.
Older consumers make up a significant share of U.S. shoppers, even though this demographic is not always top of mind for marketers and retailers. By embracing the continued importance of physical stores and adapting to the specific shopping behaviors of Baby Boomers and Gen X consumers, retailers can cultivate stronger engagement with these segments. Ultimately, though, success with this audience will hinge on recognizing the heterogeneity of older shoppers and tailoring strategies accordingly.
For more data-driven retail insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
After leap year comparison induced year-over-year (YoY) declines in February 2025, foot traffic to the Placer 100 Index for Retail & Dining stabilized in March 2025 to just -0.3% below 2024 levels – an impressive performance considering the severe weather that impacted large parts of the country.
State-level analysis of March 2025 visits to the Placer 100 Index reveals that massive storms indeed contributed significantly to regional foot traffic declines. States that bore the brunt of inclement weather in March 2025 – particularly in the Southeastern and Central United States – appeared to experience the steepest YoY visit gaps.
Despite the extreme climate conditions, some chains managed to plow ahead, enjoying visit growth in March 2025. Once again, Chili’s Grill & Bar held on to the top spot in the Placer 100 Index for YoY visits (22.6%) and visits per location (23.4%) growth, likely due to continued success in the areas of value and virality. Meanwhile, three fitness chains made the top 10 in YoY visits – Crunch Fitness (22.5%), LA Fitness (10.0%), and Planet Fitness (9.7%), at least in part due to continuing expansions of their respective footprints.
Expansion is perhaps only one driving factor behind the success of Crunch Fitness, Planet Fitness, and LA Fitness in March 2025. The beginning of the year is generally busy for fitness chains as many consumers adopt new years’ resolutions to get in shape, even if many abandon their pursuit down the line. But the data suggests that Crunch Fitness, Planet Fitness, and LA Fitness experienced visit growth in March in part due to a sustained increase in visitor frequency.
All three chains saw an increase in the share of visitors visiting 8 or more times in March 2025 compared to 2024, indicating that the chains are driving more traffic from fitness-invested visitors. And these fitness buffs, who attend the gym quite often, are perhaps less likely to give up on their fitness goals during the year, which bodes well for the fitness chains’ chances to sustain members and elevated traffic in the months ahead.
The Placer 100 Index for March 2025 demonstrates the effect of harsh winter conditions on retail and dining visits. Still, the strong performance of several chains highlights the consumer trends and brand strategies that can drive growth.
For more insights anchored in location analytics, visit Placer.ai/anchor.
It’s hard to imagine, but we’ve eclipsed the five year anniversary of the onset of the pandemic lockdowns across the U.S., when the retail industry was transformed overnight. By April 2020, thousands of stores had closed and uncertainty loomed. At the time, it felt like the potential end of physical retail that the industry had been ruminating over for years.
Five years later, the industry looks mostly like it did at the beginning of 2020. Online shopping did not kill physical retail, and although e-commerce adoption has substantially increased since pre-pandemic – fueled by the spike in new online shoppers in 2020 – the vast majority of retail transactions (over 80%) still occur in brick-and-mortar locations.
At the same time, while the retail industry looks similar to itself structurally, there have been numerous changes at the category level. Many large ticket purchases like consumer electronics and home furnishings that experienced a pull forward in demand during the pandemic waned over the past few years. Visits to apparel retailers and department stores looked, for a while, like they would never recover. And as people emerged from their homes or found their way to TikTok, beauty became the in-demand category that spread like wildfire. Grocery shopping went from a mundane chore to a form of consumer escapism in 2020; in many ways, that behavior has stuck for shoppers as they now frequent more grocery chains in their journey.
We’ve also observed some fundamental changes across U.S. consumers; more workers still work from home than before the pandemic, although return to office numbers keep rising. And many city dwellers who migrated during the peak pandemic period still remain in more suburban and rural areas.
So what have the past five years taught us about U.S. shoppers? First, we’ve learned that consumers are much more resilient than we give them credit for as they demonstrated a remarkable ability to both adapt to unprecedented circumstances and return to their former shopping habits once the situation normalized. Second, consumers are very cyclical in their behaviors and interests – five years after the pandemic’s start, many of the categories that suffered are coming back into their own. And, as consumers face different types of economic uncertainty, we should be optimistic that they can weather different types of storms. But perhaps the key lesson from the past five years has been that brick-and-mortar stores serve a distinct purpose to both retailers and shoppers – and that physical commerce is definitively here to stay.
Looking at the Placer 100 Retail and Dining Index reveals that visits to retail and dining locations not only rebounded from the pandemic, but have surpassed pre-pandemic levels. There are a few underlying causes that could have contributed to these changes: store and unit openings, a higher frequency in visits to certain categories, and increased consumer demand.
At the same time, dwell times across the macro retail industry have shifted since the pandemic as consumers are generally spending less time in stores than they did in 2019. There could be a few reasons contributing to this decrease: a higher adoption of e-commerce as a research tool before visiting a store, a higher utilization of BOPIS and curbside offerings, or more frequent visits leading to shorter individual trips but longer overall time in store. Last year (2024) also saw a higher share of weekday visits compared to the pre-pandemic period, where more consumers shopped on the weekend.
From a consumer perspective, as we wrote about recently, higher income households are more important to the retail industry than prior to the pandemic – even though they account for fewer visits overall. Meanwhile, lower income households are visiting retailers more frequently, especially in essential categories, as they look to combat inflationary pressures that exploded since the pandemic.
What did the pandemic reveal about essential retail categories? For many consumers, these segments got them through the peak pandemic time period as discretionary retail locations remained closed. Grocery stores, pharmacies, and superstores provided a sense of normalcy for shoppers as visiting a store became much more than a weekly errand. Today’s shoppers mirror many of those behaviors; they visit these types of retailers more frequently and don’t balk at making an extra trip for that “must-have” item from a specific chain.
Looking at the relative share of visits by category shows that dollar and discount stores gained the most visit share compared to the pre-pandemic trends. These chains have invested heavily in fresh food items and assortment expansion to become more of a destination for shoppers, especially those who are more price sensitive. So while visitation growth to dollar store chains did stagnate in 2024, even as retailers continued to expand store fleets, the leading players in this category have already entrenched themselves deeper into consumers' shopping journey compared to the pre-pandemic period.
Similarly, value based grocers and warehouse clubs have become more frequent stops in consumer daily routines, even if their share of visitation hasn’t risen dramatically. These chains have benefitted from changes in consumer behavior over the past five years: Warehouse clubs were well positioned for consumers who migrated from urban to suburban environments, and value grocery stores such as Aldi and Trader Joe’s became a safe haven for consumers trying to combat inflationary pressures as the country emerged from the pandemic.
The one sector that hasn’t fared as well? The drugstore channel. The increase in visitation during the vaccine roll out period didn’t result in long term sustained traffic, and drugstores with their expansive store fleet have struggled to find their true value proposition as competition from wellness chains (such as GNC & Vitamin Shoppe), beauty retailers, and superstores grew. Drug-based retailers are still working to right size business today, as further constrained shoppers look elsewhere.
Essential retail players have had to contend with ever-evolving consumer needs in the post-pandemic period and continue to play a key role in the return for normalcy. Some sectors have fared better than others, but those that have emerged as winners looked to stay in lock step with their consumers on their journey. Retailers realized that they didn’t have to be the best at everything – experience, convenience, value, and assortment – but they needed to lean into their speciality to be successful.
On the other end of the retail spectrum, discretionary categories have faced headwinds as consumers exited the peak pandemic period. The peak pandemic years (2020 and 2021) were banner years for retail segments that cater to shoppers’ “wants”. But as the need to self-soothe with goods waned and inflationary pressures rose, consumers walked away from many of the retailers who had benefited from their behavioral changes. (The declines in foot traffic in these categories likely also reflected some of the shift to online channels, as most of these retailers were forced to shut their doors during the early days of COVID.)
It’s been a long road to recovery for discretionary businesses, but we began to see some renewed signs of life over the past year. These retailers must remain vigilant in their quest for relevance with shoppers; high levels of uncertainty, debts, and increasing focus on value all still present headwinds for the retail industry – particularly those who focus on satisfying desires instead of needs.
In reviewing the visitation growth since 2022, discretionary retail could be broken into two performance categories: beauty and everything else. As we’ve written previously, the beauty industry was able to ride the wave of post-lockdown consumer behaviors, including the need to replace outdated products that hadn’t been worn while spending more time at home. At the same time, consumers also became more enamored with mass beauty brands, or those sold at drugstores or mass merchants at lower price points. The success of these brands and retailers that harnessed the power of consumer choice, like Ulta Beauty, intersected with a strong consumer desire for value. And although 2024 was a year of reckoning for the beauty industry as the consumer shifts towards other priorities, the category’s strong success during the early post-pandemic period cannot be overstated.
The performance of other discretionary segments has been more mixed. Categories that saw meteoric growth during the pandemic lockdowns – such as home furnishings, home improvement and consumer electronics – failed to sustain momentum. Apparel trends, like the rise of athleisure, had helped drive continued demand to retail chains and department stores even without the need for traditional clothing, and as life got back to normal and these trends faded, retailers saw year-over-year declines in visitation.
But the 2024 data began the slow rebound of some of these categories, particularly in home and apparel. Home furnishings, home improvement, and consumer electronics may continue to see a rebound in 2025 as we enter a new replacement cycle and those who purchased these categories during the pandemic look to refresh their homes and upgrade their technology. Apparel’s rebound can be attributed to a resurgence of national brands as increased use of semaglutide medications and an interest in healthy living drive shoppers to revamp their wardrobes.
The one area of discretionary retail that outperformed its competitors and continues to shine? The off-price channel has had an extraordinary few years of visitation growth since the onset of the pandemic. Off-price retailers have enticed consumers with the perfect blend of value orientation, in-store experience, and immediacy that drive repeat visitation and keep shoppers engaged. The success of off-price retail also underscores the continued importance of physical retailers, despite the initial changes in behavior during the pandemic. This sector of discretionary retail is probably best positioned to handle the potential economic uncertainty of 2025 and beyond.
Overall, the discretionary side of the retail industry has begun to recover from its challenging few years of visitation, but 2025 does pose uncertainty that could impact consumers’ disposable income levels. Retailers that cater to consumers’ “wants” must work even harder to stay on their customers’ radar and entice shoppers to come into physical retail locations instead of shopping online or via social media platforms. As mentioned earlier, high income shoppers are going to become even more valuable to this sector of retail as it tries to maintain momentum.
The retail industry has undergone a tremendous transformation over the past five years. But while so much has evolved, there is still a lot of opportunity for the industry to be more agile in its ability to satisfy consumer demands. Despite the early days of store closures during the pandemic, physical retail not only bounced back, but has flourished. Retailers continue to focus on upgrading store fleets and opening new stores. Stores have moved away from being experiential to trying to just provide a good shopper experience. Retail’s reality is that consumers still face many challenges ahead, especially economic uncertainty. But, the pandemic highlighted the resilience of both retailers and shoppers to support one another, which will hopefully continue into the future of retail.
The battle for theme park dominance in Orlando is heating up this spring and summer. The highly anticipated opening of Universal Orlando Resort’s Epic Universe on May 22nd brings a third theme park gate to the resort, inching closer to the count of Walt Disney World. Universal has been slowly chipping away at Disney’s stronghold over the Orlando market with new resort hotels, water parks and now the addition of a third gate, while Disney has concentrated efforts around upgrades to existing parks and expansion of programs like the Disney Vacation Club.
The opening of Epic Universe reveals some of the tension brewing beneath the surface when it comes to changing consumer demands. Visiting the resorts in Orlando, a rite of passage for many families, has gotten much more expensive in recent years, and theme park ticket prices are similar at both destinations, although Walt Disney World does have a higher overall Median Household Income in its captured market. According to Placer.ai’s cross-visitation analysis, 40% of visitors to Universal Orlando Resort also visit Walt Disney World, signaling that Epic Universe needs to wow in order to keep visitors on property instead of resort hopping.
Placer.ai’s foot traffic estimates show that the two resorts attract slightly different demographic profiles. Walt Disney World attracts a higher distribution of Ultra Wealthy Families and Wealthy Suburban Families, while Universal Orlando Resort captures more visits from middle-income cohorts like Blue Collar Suburbs, City Hopefuls and Near-Urban Diverse Families. There’s even a difference in the young people who visit each resort: Walt Disney World captures more Young Professionals – the potential “Disney Adults” – whereas Universal sees a higher share of visits from Young Urban Singles.
With the year-over-year price increases, even a wealthier base of visitors may not help to sustain visitation with a new theme park opening and uncertain economic headwinds. Both Orlando destinations are up against a changing consumer base and theme park loyalists who expect the highest standard of excellence and innovation.
For more data-driven consumer insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Visits to brick-and-mortar retail and dining chains fell slightly in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024. The year-over-year (YoY) visit gaps widened to 0.5% for retail while dining visits dropped 1.4% below Q1 2024 levels. And while some of the dip may be due to Q1 2025 having one day less than 2024’s longer February, the decline could also signal a softening of consumer sentiment.
At the same time, the decrease in visits was extremely minor. In the retail space especially, YoY visits were technically negative, but at -0.5% this year’s Q1 visitation trends remained essentially on par with last year’s traffic numbers. The muted dip in visits during this period of economic uncertainty is likely due to the resilience of the U.S. consumer and to the range of budget-friendly retail and dining segments that provide options to even the most price conscious consumers.
Although overall dining visits declined in Q1, some budget-friendly options did experience visit growth. Visits to coffee chains were up 1.7% in Q1 2025, and fast casual and QSR concepts – that operate at a somewhat higher price point – saw a minor traffic drop of 1.4% YoY. Meanwhile, traffic to full-service restaurants declined 3.0% YoY.
These visitation patterns suggest that consumers are still willing to spend on budget-friendly treats, such as a specialty coffee or pastry, and – to a lesser extent – slightly pricier fast-food or fast-casual entrees. But many may be cutting back on meals at sit-down restaurants and redirecting their spending towards more affordable indulgences.
Although overall retail visits remained relatively close to Q1 2024 levels, traffic declined to several essential retail categories – including superstores, gas stations & convenience stores, and drugstores & pharmacies. Retailers in these categories also carry many non-essential items, so the dip in visitation may be due to reduced discretionary spending within those categories.
Meanwhile, visits to the grocery category increased 0.9% relative to last year following three straight quarters of YoY visit growth, and traffic to discount & dollar stores stabilized following several years of rapid growth. This suggests that the competitive pressure from discount & dollar stores on traditional grocery formats may be abating and highlights grocery's ability to withstand challenges in the evolving retail landscape.
Consumers’ budgetary concerns are also evident in the recent performance of the various apparel segments. Off-price continued leading the apparel pack with Q1 2025 visits up 3.2% YoY, while every other apparel segment analyzed experienced a dip in traffic. Sportswear & athleisure in particular – which saw visits surge over the pandemic – saw visits decline for the fourth quarter in a row.
The auto retail space also revealed consumers' relatively thrifty preferences over this past quarter. While visits to auto parts shops & service chains increased 2.5% YoY in Q1 2025, visits to car dealerships fell 4.1% – suggesting that consumers are bringing in their cars for repairs rather than trading them in for newer vehicles.
Q1 2025’s retail and dining visitation patterns suggest that today’s consumer continues to be highly price conscious, with the budget-friendly segment coming out ahead in almost every category analyzed. Retailers and dining concepts who can cater to consumer’s value orientation will likely come out ahead in this increasingly competitive market.
For more data-driven retail and dining insights, visit placer.ai/anchor.
Traffic to Albertsons banners has increased steadily over the past couple of years, with visits still significantly higher (10.5%) than in pre-pandemic 2019. So while visits did dip slightly relative to 2023 (-1.1%) – likely due to stabilization following the robust growth of recent years – the minimal decline highlights Albertsons’ capacity to maintain strong foot traffic despite a challenging economic environment.
Zooming into quarterly-level data also highlights Albertsons’ strength. After narrowing its year-over-year (YoY) visit gap from -2.5% in Q2 2024 to -0.9% in Q3 and Q4 2024, Q1 2025 visits are now level with Q1 2024 traffic – suggesting that Albertsons’ visits have indeed stabilized, with the company holding on the gains of the past couple of years.
The company’s resilience in the face of the growing competition from discount & dollar stores is likely contributing to Albertsons’ strength.
Inflation and high prices have had a major impact on grocery shopping behavior in recent years, with discount stores emerging as significant players in the grocery market. Indeed, between 2019 and 2024, the share of visits to the discount & dollar category out of total grocery and discount & dollar store visits increased from 23.4% to 25.5% – likely due to some shoppers favoring more affordable grocery channels over traditional supermarkets. Meanwhile, grocery’s relative visit share decreased, with traffic to the grocery category (excluding Albertsons banners) falling from 67.8% in 2019 to 66.0% in 2024. But Albertsons’ relative visit share remained largely stable during this period – suggesting that, even as budget-conscious consumers gravitate towards discount stores, Albertsons has managed to retain its customer base.
Albertsons, like other grocery stores, has seen an increase in short visits in recent years, leading to shorter average dwell time. Between 2019 and 2024, the average length of stay across Albertsons brands dropped from 22.7 minutes to 21.6 minutes.
The drop in visit duration may be partially attributed to the growing segment of consumers who prefer the convenience of picking up their groceries via lockers or curbside, or who are supplementing their online orders with quick trips in-store. And as Albertsons has invested in curbside pickup, delivery, and online shopping options across a number of its banners, the company is well positioned to meet the demand for flexibility and efficiency in the grocery space.
Diving into some of Albertsons’ biggest brands reveals that visits to most banners stayed relatively close to 2023 levels, with YoY traffic trends ranging from -2.7% to +2.9%. While banners like Albertsons, Safeway, and VONS saw slightly fewer visits in 2024 compared to 2023, Jewel-Osco and Shaw's Supermarket enjoyed YoY visit growth.
Albertsons is making the best of a challenging economic environment, keeping visits close to previous levels and maintaining its share of the grocery visit pie.
Will the grocery banner see visit growth into 2025? Visit Placer.ai for more up-to-date grocery retail insights.
Consumer preferences have shifted over the past five years. COVID-19 and inflation impacted shopping habits and behaviors across the retail space – and while some of the changes were short-lived, others appear to have more staying power. Now, with memories of the lockdowns fading, and as the inflation that plagued much of 2022 and 2023 wanes (hopefully), we analyzed location intelligence data to understand what the retail and dining landscape looks like today.
This report leverages historical and current foot traffic data and trade area analysis to better understand the current retail and dining landscape and reveal consumer trends likely to shape 2024 and beyond. Which segments have benefited most from the shifts of the past five years? How are legacy brands staying on top of current shopping and dining trends? Where are people shopping and dining in 2024? And what characterizes the modern consumer?
One of the major retail stories of the past five years has been the rise of Discount & Dollar Stores. Category leaders such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree expanded significantly prior to the pandemic, which helped these essential retailers attract large numbers of customers during the initial months of lockdowns.
During this period, many Discount & Dollar Stores invested in more than just their store count – several leading chains also expanded their grocery selection, allowing these companies to compete more directly for Grocery and Superstore shoppers. As Discount & Dollar Stores continued growing their store fleets – and as the pandemic gave way to inflation concerns – shoppers looking for more affordable consumables options gravitated to this segment.
Location intelligence shows that the rapidly opening stores and stocking them with fresh groceries is working – since 2019, Discount & Dollar Stores have slowly but steadily grown their visit share relative to the Grocery and Superstore sectors.
In 2019, Discount & Dollar retailers captured 15.1% of the visit share between the three categories analyzed. This number grew by a full percentage point between 2019 and 2020 and the trend has continued, with the category enjoying 16.6% of the relative visit share in 2023. Meanwhile, Superstores’ relative visit share decreased during the same period, dropping from 41.7% in 2019 to 40.0% in 2023, while the relative visit share of Grocery Stores remained mostly stable.
Still, consumers are not giving up their regular Grocery or Superstore run quite yet – over 80% of combined visits to Grocery Stores, Superstore, and Discount & Dollar Store sectors still go to Grocery Stores and Superstores. But the data does indicate that some shoppers are likely choosing to shop for groceries and other consumables at Discount & Dollar Stores. And CPG companies and category managers looking to reach customers where they shop may want to consider adding Discount & Dollar Stores to their distribution channels.
The key question that remains is how much of the gained visit share can the Discount & Dollar leaders maintain as the economic environment improves. This metric will be the strongest sign of whether the short term gains made within a favorable context drove long term value.
Superstores’ visit share may be shrinking somewhat in the face of Discount & Dollar Stores’ growth. But diving into the Superstore leaders reveals that these macro-shifts are having a different impact on the various sub-categories within the wider Superstore segment.
Walmart remains the undisputed Superstore leader thanks to its 61.8% share of overall visits to Walmart, Target, Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s in 2023. But 61.8% is still lower than the 66.3% relative visits share that the Superstore behemoth enjoyed in 2019. Meanwhile, Target grew its relative visit share from 17.3% in 2019 to 19.3% in 2023, while the combined visit share of the three membership club brands increased from 16.5% in 2019 to 18.9% in the same period.
Some of the shift in visit share can be attributed to Walmart closing several locations while Target, Costco Sam's Club, and BJ's expanded their fleet – but other factors are likely at play.
Costco and Target attract the most affluent clientele of the five chains analyzed, which could explain why these chains have seen significant growth at a time when many consumers are operating with tighter budgets. The success of these companies also suggests that there are enough consumers willing to spend beyond the basics – as shown with Target’s Stanley Cup success (more on that below) – to support a varied product selection that includes higher-priced options. It also speaks to a high upside on a per customer basis for chains that have proven effective at providing higher-end products alongside those with a value orientation. This speaks to a unique capacity to effectively address “the middle” – an audience that is defined neither solely by value-seeking nor by high-end product proclivities.
Sam's Club and BJ’s also give shoppers an opportunity to save by buying in bulk and cutting down on shopping trips – and related gas expenses – which may also have contributed to their success. The increase in the relative visit share of wholesale clubs indicates that today’s consumer might react positively to more options for bulk purchases in non-warehouse club chains as well.
Retail is not the only sector that has seen slow and steady shifts in recent years – the dining space was also significantly impacted by pandemic restrictions of 2020-2021 and the inflation of 2022-2023. Location intelligence reveals shifts in both the types of establishments favored by consumers and in the in-store behaviors of dining consumers.
Convenience stores’ dining options have evolved in recent years, with today’s consumers heading to Wawa for a freshly made specialty hoagie or to Buc-ee’s to enjoy the chain’s variety of specialty snacks.
Analyzing the visit distribution among C-Stores and other discretionary dining categories (Fast Food and QSR, Restaurants, and Breakfast & Coffee, not including Grocery and Superstores) showcases the growing role of C-Stores in the dining space. Between 2019 and 2023, C-stores' visit share relative to the other discretionary dining categories jumped from 24.2% to 27.1%. The relative visit share of Breakfast, Coffee, Bakeries & Dessert Shops also grew slightly during the period. Meanwhile, Restaurants’ relative visit share dropped from 13.8% to 11.7% and Fast Food & QSR’s dipped from 51.8% to 50.6%.
Several factors are likely driving this evolution. Most Restaurants shuttered temporarily at the height of the pandemic while C-Stores remained open – and consumers likely took the opportunity to get acquainted with C-Stores’ food-away-from-home options. And many C-Stores expanded their footprint in recent years, while some dining chains downsized, which likely also contributed to the changes in relative visit share between the segments.
But the continued growth of C-Stores between 2021 and 2022, and again between 2022 and 2023, indicates that many diners are now embracing C-Store food out of choice and not just due to necessity. The rise of the Breakfast, Coffee, Bakeries & Dessert Shops category alongside C-Stores in the past five years may also highlight the current appetite for affordable grab-and-go food options. And with C-Store operators embracing the shifts brought on by the pandemic and actively expanding their food options, diners are increasingly likely to consider C-Stores for their portable meals and packaged snacks.
C-Store visitors are increasingly receptive to trying new products at their local c-store. So how can C-Store operators and CPG companies determine which products will best appeal to customers? Analyzing the trade areas of seven major chains – 7-Eleven, Wawa, Casey’s, QuikTrip, Cumberland Farms, Plaid Pantry, and Buc-ee’s – using the Spatial.ai: FollowGraph dataset reveals significant variance in food preferences between the chains’ visitor bases.
For instance, Plaid Pantry visitors were 55% more likely than the nationwide average to fall into the “Asian Food Enthusiasts” segment in 2023, in contrast with Casey’s visitors who are 7% less likely to belong to this psychographic. Residents of the trade areas of QuikTrip and Buc-ee’s rank highest for "Fried Chicken Lovers," while Cumberland Farms and Plaid Pantry visitors register the least interest. C-Store operators, QSR franchisees, packaged food manufacturers, and other stakeholders can leverage these insights to optimize food offerings, identify promising partnership opportunities, and find new venues for product testing.
While C-Stores stores may be the exciting story of the day, Full-Service Restaurants continue to play a major role in the wider dining landscape. And despite the ongoing economic headwinds, several dining brands and categories are seeing growth – although location intelligence suggests that in-restaurant behavior may be changing as well.
For example, the hourly visits distribution for leading steakhouse chains has shifted over the past five years: Between 2019 and 2023, Texas Roadhouse, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Outback Steakhouse all saw a jump in the share of visits occurring between 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM – not typical steak eating hours.
Outback and Texas Roadhouse offer early bird dinner specials while LongHorn has a happy hour, so some diners may be choosing to visit these restaurant chains earlier in the evening in order to stretch their eating out budget. Other consumers who are still working from home most of the week may also be eating on a more flexible schedule, and these diners may be having more late lunches in 2023 when compared to 2019. Restaurant operators, drink providers, and menu developers may want to adapt their offerings to this emerging mid-afternoon rush.
The data examined above shows changes within key retail and dining segments over the past five years. So what do these shifts reveal about today’s consumer? What are shoppers and diners looking for in 2024?
The beginning of 2024 was marked by an Arctic blast and plunging temperatures. Consumers, unsurprisingly, hunkered down at home – and foot traffic to many retail categories took a dip. But the declines were short-lived, and by the fourth week of January 2024 foot traffic had rebounded across major categories.
Still, zooming into weekly visit performance for key retail and dining categories for the first eight weeks of the year reveals that the cold did not impact all segments equally – and the subsequent resurgence boosted some sectors more than others.
Discount & Dollar Stores had the strongest start to 2024, with YoY visits up almost every week since the start of the year, and the category showing even more substantial growth once the cold spell subsided. The Grocery category also succeeded in exceeding 2023 weekly visit levels almost every week, although its visit increases were more subdued than those in the Discount & Dollar Store segment.
Superstore and C-Store experienced relatively muted YoY declines in early January and saw significant weekly visit growth as Q1 progressed, with C-Stores outperforming Superstores by late January 2024. And Dining – which suffered a particularly heavy blow in early 2024 – also rebounded with gusto, offering another strong indicator of the resilience of today’s consumer.
Like in the wider Dining industry, weekly YoY visits to the QSR segment quickly rebounded following the unusual cold of the first three weeks of January 2024. And three chains from across the QSR spectrum – legacy chain Wingstop, rapidly expanding Raising Cane’s, and regional cult favorite Whataburger – are seeing particularly strong foot traffic performances.
Diving deeper into the location intelligence reveals that the three chains’ success may be due in part to their visitor base composition: The trade areas of all three brands included a larger share of four-person households compared to the nationwide average of 24.6%.
Wingstop, Raising Cane’s, and Whataburger’s menus all include larger orders to create shareable meals. And larger households seem to be particularly receptive to dining options that allow them to save money, which could explain the significant share of 4+ person households that visit these chains.
The success of these diverse QSR chains also indicates that, although larger households may have more expenses – and might therefore be more impacted by inflation – they can also drive visits to brands that cater to their needs. So dining operators and food manufacturers looking to attract family demographics may consider offering larger meal combos or larger packaging to help larger households splurge on affordable luxuries without breaking the bank.
Perhaps the most significant sign that today’s consumers are still willing to spend money on non-essentials is the recent success of the Starbucks X Stanley “Pink Cup”. The cup has caused such a sensation that re-sellers ask for up to six times the original $50 price – and for those unwilling to shell out the big bucks on the cup, enterprising cup owners offer photo shoots with the product for $5.
The Starbucks X Stanley “Pink Cup” was released on January 3rd, 2024 and could only be bought at Starbucks kiosks located inside a Target. Viral videos of the release circulated on social media, showing eager crowds lining up early in the morning for the chance to be first to grab their cup. Location intelligence reveals that these early morning visits were significant enough to change Target’s typical hourly visit pattern.
Foot traffic between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM on January 3rd, 2024 accounted for 4.4% of daily visits, compared to 2.6% of daily visits occurring during that time slot on a typical Wednesday in January or February. And demand for the pink Stanley cup drove a spike in daily visits as well – overall daily visits to Target on January 3rd were 18.7% higher than the average Wednesday visits in January and February 2024.
The visit trends to Target on Pink Cup Day are particularly impressive given the freezing weather in some regions of the country and because consumers were coming off the holiday shopping season. And the success of the cup shows that 2024’s shopper is willing to show up – especially for a viral product. Creating buzzy marketing campaigns, then, may be the key to driving retail success.
The retail changes of the past few years have left their mark on how people shop, eat, and spend. And keeping ahead of these changes allows companies and product managers to ensure they can tailor their offerings – whether product selection or marketing campaigns – to the right audience.
The Placer.ai Nationwide Office Building Index: The office building index analyzes foot traffic data from some 1,000 office buildings across the country. It only includes commercial office buildings, and commercial office buildings with retail offerings on the first floor (like an office building that might include a national coffee chain on the ground floor). It does NOT include mixed-use buildings that are both residential and commercial.
This white paper includes data from Placer.ai Data Version 2.0, which implements improvements to our extrapolation capabilities, adds short visit monitoring, and enhances visit detection.
The remote work war is far from over – and as the labor market cools, companies are ramping up efforts to get workers back in the office. But even those employers that are cracking down on WFH aren’t generally insisting that employees come in five days a week – for the most part.
Indeed, a growing consensus seems to posit that though in-person work carries important benefits, plugging in remotely at least part of the time also has its upsides. Nixing the daily commute can put the ever-elusive work/life balance within reach. And there’s evidence to suggest that remote work can enhance productivity – limiting distractions and letting workers lean into their individual biological clocks (so-called “chronoworking”).
But the precise contours of the new hybrid status-quo are still a work in progress. And to keep up, relevant stakeholders – from employers and workers to municipalities and local businesses – need to keep their fingers on the pulse of how this fast-changing reality is evolving on the ground.
This white paper dives into the data to explore some of the key trends shaping the office recovery. The analysis is based on Placer.ai’s Nationwide Office Index, which examines foot traffic data from more than 1,000 office buildings across the country. What was the trajectory of the post-COVID office recovery in 2023? What impact did return-to-office (RTO) mandates have on major cities nationwide, including New York, Dallas, San Francisco, and others? And how has the demographic and psychographic profile of office-goers changed since the pandemic?
Analyzing office building foot traffic over the past several years suggests that the office recovery story is still very much being written. After plummeting during COVID, nationwide office visits began a slow but steady upward climb in 2021, reaching about 70.0% of January 2019 levels in August 2023.
Since then, the recovery appears to have stalled – with some observers even proclaiming the death of RTO. But looking back at the office visit trajectory since 2019 shows that the process has been anything but linear, with plenty of jumps, dips, and plateaus along the way. And though office foot traffic tapered somewhat between November 2023 and January 2024, this may be a reflection of holiday work patterns and of January’s unusually cold and stormy weather, rather than of any true reversal of RTO gains. Indeed, if 2024 is anything like last year, office visits may yet experience an additional boost as the year wears on.
TGIF Vibes
But for now, at least, a full return to pre-COVID work norms doesn’t appear to be in the cards. And like in 2022, last year’s hybrid work week gave off some serious TGIF vibes.
On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, office foot traffic was just 33.2% to 35.3% lower than it was pre-COVID. But on Mondays and Fridays, visits were down a whopping 46.0% and 48.9%, respectively. From a Year-over-year (YoY) perspective too, the middle of the week experienced the most pronounced visit recovery, with Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday visits up about 27.0% compared to 2022.
The slower Monday and Friday office recovery may be driven in part by workers seeking to leverage the flexibility of WFH for extended weekend trips. (Indeed, hybrid work even gave rise to a new form of nuptials – the remote-work wedding.) So-called super commuters, many of whom decamped to more remote locales during COVID, may also prefer to concentrate visits mid-week to limit time on the road. And let’s face it – few people would object to easing in and out of the weekend by working in their pajamas. Whatever the motivating factors – and despite employer pushback – the TGIF work week appears poised to remain a fixture of the post-pandemic working world.
Analyzing nationwide office visitation patterns can shed important light on evolving work and commuting norms. But to really understand the dynamics of office recovery, it is crucial to zoom in on local trends. RTO in tech-heavy San Francisco doesn’t look the same as it does in New York’s financial districts. And commutes in Dallas are very different than in Chicago or Washington, D.C.
Overall, foot traffic to buildings in Placer.ai’s Nationwide Office Index was down 36.8% in 2023 compared to 2019 – and up 23.6% compared to 2022. But drilling down into the data for seven major markets shows that each one experienced a very different recovery trajectory.
In New York and Miami, offices drew just 22.5% and 21.9% less visits, respectively, in 2023 than in 2019 – meaning that they recovered nearly 80.0% of their pre-COVID foot traffic. In New York, remote work policy shifts by major employers like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan appear to have helped set a new tone for the financial sector. And Miami may have benefited from Florida’s early lifting of COVID restrictions in late 2020, as well as from the steady influx of tech companies over the past several years.
San Francisco, for its part, continued to lag behind the other major cities in 2023, with office building foot traffic still 55.1% below 2019 levels. But on a YoY basis, the northern California hub experienced the greatest visit growth of any analyzed city, indicating that San Francisco’s office recovery is still unfolding.
To better understand the relationship between employees’ occupational backgrounds and local office recovery trends, we examined the share of Financial, Insurance, and Real Estate sector workers in the captured markets of different cities’ office buildings. (A POI’s captured market is derived by weighting the census block groups (CBGs) in its True Trade Area according to the share of actual visits from each CBG – thus providing a snapshot of the people that actually visit the POI in practice). We then compared this metric to each city’s year-over-four-year (Yo4Y) office visit gap.
The analysis suggests that the finance sector has indeed been an important driver of office recovery. Generally speaking, cities with greater shares of employees from this sector tended to experience greater office recovery than other urban centers. And for New York City in particular, the dominance of the finance industry may go some way towards explaining the city’s emergence as an RTO leader.
Regional differences notwithstanding, office foot traffic has yet to rebound to pre-COVID levels in any major U.S. market. But counting visits only tells part of the RTO story. Stakeholders seeking to adapt to the new normal also need to understand the evolving characteristics of the in-office crowd. Are office-goers more or less affluent than they were four years ago? And is there a difference in the employee age breakdown?
To explore the evolution of the demographic and psychographic attributes of office-goers since COVID, we analyzed the captured markets of buildings included in the Placer.ai Office Indexes with data from STI (Popstats) and Spatial.ai (PersonaLive). And strikingly, despite stubborn Yo4Y office visit gaps, the profiles of last year’s office visitors largely resembled what they were before COVID – with some marked shifts. This may serve as a further indication that 2023 brought us closer to an emerging new normal.
The median household income (HHI) of the Office Indexes fell during COVID. But by 2022, the median HHI in the trade areas of the Office Indexes was climbing back nationwide in all cities analyzed, and fell just 0.6% short of 2019 levels in 2023. And in some cities, including San Francisco and Dallas, the median HHI of office-goers is higher now than it was pre-pandemic.
Better-paid, and more experienced employees often have more access to remote and hybrid work opportunities – and at the height of the pandemic, it was these workers that disproportionately stayed home. But as COVID receded, many of them came back to the office. Now, even if high-income workers – like many other employees – are coming in less frequently, their share of office visitors has very nearly bounced back to what it was before COVID.
Who are the affluent employees driving the median HHI back up? Foot traffic data suggests that much of the HHI rebound may be fueled by “Educated Urbanites” – a segment defined by Spatial.ai PersonaLive as affluent, educated singles between the ages of 24 and 35 living in urban areas.
For younger employees in particular, fully remote work can come at a significant cost. A lot of learning takes place at the water cooler – and informal interactions with more experienced colleagues can be critical for professional development. Out of sight can also equal out of mind, making it more difficult for younger workers that don’t develop personal bonds with their co-workers and to potentially take other steps to advance their careers.
Analyzing the trade areas of offices across major markets shows that – while parents were somewhat less likely to visit office buildings in 2023 than in 2019 – affluent young professionals are making in-person attendance a priority. Indeed, in 2023, the share of “Educated Urbanites” in offices’ captured markets exceeded pre-COVID levels in most analyzed cities – although the share of this segment still varied between regions, as did the magnitude of the shift over time.
Miami and Dallas, both of which feature relatively small shares of this demographic, saw more dramatic increases relative to their 2019 baselines – but smaller jumps in absolute terms. On the other end of the spectrum lay San Francisco, where the share of “Educated Urbanites” jumped from 47.8% in 2019 to a remarkable 50.0% in 2023. New York office buildings, for their parts, saw the share of this segment rise from 28.8% in 2019 to 31.0% in 2023.
Other segments’ RTO patterns seem a little more mixed. The share of “Ultra Wealthy Families” – a segment consisting of affluent Gen Xers between the ages of 45 and 54 – is still slightly below pre-COVID levels on a nationwide basis. In 2023, this segment made up 13.0% of the Nationwide Office Index’s captured market – down slightly from 13.3% in 2019. In New York and San Francisco, for example – both of which saw the share of “Educated Urbanites” exceed pre-COVID levels last year – the share of “Ultra Wealthy Families” remained lower in 2023 than in 2019. At the same time, some cities’ Office Indexes, such as Miami, Dallas, and Los Angeles, have seen the share of this segment grow Yo4Y.
Workers belonging to this demographic tend to be more established in their careers, and may be less likely to be caring for small children. Well-to-do Gen Xers may also be more likely to be executives, called back to the office to lead by example. But employees belonging to this segment may consider the return to in-person work to be a choice rather than a necessity, which could explain this cohort’s more varied pace of RTO.
COVID supercharged the WFH revolution, upending traditional commuting patterns and offering employees and companies alike a taste of the advantages of a more flexible approach to work. But as employers and workers seek to negotiate the right balance between at-home and in-person work, the office landscape remains very much in flux. And by keeping abreast of nationwide and regional foot traffic trends – as well as the shifting demographic and psychographic characteristics of today’s office-goers – stakeholders can adapt to this fast-changing reality.
Last year ended on a high note for many retailers, with cooling inflation and rebounding consumer confidence contributing to a robust holiday season. Still, 2023 was a year of headwinds for the sector, as consumers traded down and cut back on unnecessary indulgences.
In the midst of these challenges, some segments thrived. Continued prioritization of health and wellness by consumers drove strong visit growth for the Fitness and Beauty & Self Care segments – which emerged as 2023 winners and enjoyed positive foot traffic growth in Q4. At the same time, price consciousness drove foot traffic to Discount & Dollar Stores and Superstores, both of which made inroads into the affordable grocery space during the year.
The Grocery category, too, saw a 4.3% jump in visits last year compared to 2022, as well as a slight uptick in Q4 visits. And even the discretionary Dining sector held its own, with a 2.1% year-over-year (YoY) annual increase in foot traffic, and a Q4 quarterly visit gap of just 1.8%.
Fitness had a particularly strong 2023, buoyed by consumers’ sustained interest in self-care and wellness. Since the pandemic, gym memberships have graduated from a discretionary expense to something of a necessity – an important investment in health and wellbeing. The category has also likely continued to benefit from the post-COVID craving for experiences.
And quarterly data shows that the Fitness segment is positively flourishing. Throughout most of Q4 2023, Fitness venues experienced YoY weekly visit growth ranging from 8.8% to 12.2%. (The unusual visit spike and dip during the last two weeks of the quarter are due to calendar discrepancies: The week of December 18th, 2023 is being compared to the week of December 19th, 2022, which included Christmas Day – while the week of December 25th, 2023 is being compared to the week of December 26th, 2022, which did not).
Drilling down into the data for several leading fitness chains shows that there’s plenty of success to go around. Crunch Fitness – ranked by Entrepreneur as 2024’s top fitness franchise – led the pack with a remarkable 28.2% YoY annual increase in visits, partly fueled by the steady expansion of its fleet. And while other value gyms like Planet Fitness also saw robust visit growth, the boost wasn’t limited to budget options. Given the Fitness sector’s already-impressive 2022 performance, the category’s strong YoY showing is especially noteworthy.
Beauty & Self Care was another category to benefit from 2023’s obsession with wellness – as well as the “lipstick effect”, which sees consumers treating themselves to fun, affordable luxuries when money’s tight. Driven in part by the evolving preferences of Gen Z consumers, cosmetics leaders have embraced wellness-focused approaches to cosmetics that prioritize self-care and self-expression. This strategy continues to prove successful: Throughout Q4 2023, Beauty & Self Care chains saw steady YoY weekly visit growth, especially in November and early December – perhaps highlighting Beauty’s growing role in the holiday shopping frenzy.
One brand leading the cosmetics pack in 2023 was Ulta Beauty – which drew growing crowds with its diverse product selection. Everybody loves makeup, and Ulta makes sure to have something for everyone – from discount fare to more upscale products. Buff City Soap, which now pairs its signature offerings with experiential vibes at some 270 locations across 33 states, also experienced YoY annual visit growth of 14.7%. And Bath & Body Works, which made the Wall Street Journal’s list of best-managed companies for 2023, also saw visit strength, with an overall increase in annual foot traffic, even as Q4 visits saw a slight decline.
If wellness was a key retail buzzword in 2023, value was an equally discussed topic. And Discount & Dollar Stores – ideal destinations for cash-strapped consumers seeking bargain merchandise – made the most of this opportunity. Shoppers frequented these chains year-round for everything from groceries to home goods, propelling the category firmly into the mainstream.
And in Q4 2023, shoppers flocked to discount chains in droves to snag food items, stocking stuffers, and other holiday fare – fueling near-uniform positive YoY foot traffic growth throughout the quarter. The week of October 30th seems to have kicked off the Discount & Dollar holiday shopping season, perhaps showcasing the segment’s growing role as a Halloween candy and costume hotspot.
Every discount chain is somewhat different – and the success of the various Discount & Dollar chains can be attributed to a range of factors. Dollar Tree and Dollar General likely benefited from the broadening and diversification of their grocery selections – while Ollie’s (“Get Good Stuff Cheap!”) solidified its position as a place to find relatively upscale items at a bargain. All three chains – and particularly Dollar General and Ollie’s – also grew their footprints over the past year. Family Dollar (also owned by Dollar Tree) also came out ahead on an annual basis – despite the comparison to a strong 2022.
Of all the Discount & Dollar chains, Five Below saw the biggest surge in foot traffic, partly as a result of its increasing store count. But the retailer’s offerings – affordable toys, party supplies, and other fun splurges – also appear to have been tailor-made for 2023’s retail vibe.
During the fourth quarter of the year, Superstores saw a slight YoY increase in visits – including during the all-important week of Black Friday, beginning on November 20th. (This week was compared with the week of November 21st, 2022, which also included Black Friday). Like Discount & Dollar chains, Superstores saw an appreciable YoY visit uptick during the week of Halloween.
On an annual basis, Superstore mainstays Walmart and Target experienced visit increases of 2.8% and 4.7%, respectively. But while all the major category players enjoyed a successful year, membership warehouse chains’ YoY visit numbers were especially strong. As perfect venues for mission-driven shopping expeditions, Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s likely drew shoppers eager to load up on both inexpensive gifts and essentials.
The traditional Grocery sector also held its own during Q4 2023. Notably, grocery stores saw positive visit growth for most weeks of November and December, a period encompassing the critical Turkey Wednesday milestone – no small feat given the disruptions experienced by the category.
Unsurprisingly, it was discount grocery chains that saw some of the greatest YoY visit growth, as shoppers – including higher-income segments – sought to counter inflation with lower-priced food-at-home alternatives. Whether through opportunistic buying models, private label merchandising, or no-frills customer experiences, value supermarkets proved once again that even quality specialty items don’t have to carry high price tags.
Eating out can be expensive – and when money’s tight, restaurants and other discretionary categories are often first to feel the crunch. But the Dining category seems to have emerged from 2023 relatively unscathed, with overall yearly visits up 2.1% compared to 2022 despite the modest YoY weekly visit gaps in Q4 2023. And given the myriad challenges out-of-home eateries had to contend with in 2023 – from inflation to labor shortages – even the minor weekly gaps are quite an attainment. (As noted, the last two weeks of the quarter reflect calendar discrepancies).
Foot traffic data shows that dining success could be found across sub-categories. Wingstop, Shake Shack, and Jersey Mike’s Subs rocked Fast Casual and QSR, with annual YoY visit growth ranging from 11.8% to 20.3%, partly fueled by the chains’ growing footprints. Full-Service Restaurants also had their bright spots, including all-you-can-eat buffet star Golden Corral and two steak venues: Texas Roadhouse and LongHorn Steakhouse.
And in the Coffee, Breakfast, and Bakeries space, Playa Bowls led the charge. The superfruit bowl chain’s affordable, wellness-oriented treats seem to have been created with 2023 in mind – and during the year Playa Bowls expanded its fleet while also seeing double-digit increases in comparable store sales. Steadily expanding Biggby Coffee and Dutch Bros. Coffee also saw significant YoY foot traffic growth.
