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Los Angeles is famous for its film and music industry, but the city also boasts several world-class museums that educate and entertain local visitors and tourists alike. We dove into the data for several of LA’s top museums in order to examine the visitation patterns and demographics of museum goers in the City of Angels.
Analyzing monthly visits to the top LA museums over the past 12 months reveals that although most receive a visit boost in the spring and summer, each institution has a unique seasonal visit pattern.
The California Science Center and La Brea Tar Pits and Museum received the largest July visit surges, likely due to heavy traffic from young families on vacation. Meanwhile, The Petersen Automotive Museum received the largest December visit spike, perhaps due to a boost from private holiday events. And The Museum of Contemporary Art appears to have maintained a steady flow of visitors – experiencing a relatively muted summer uptick, but relatively robust visits in the fall.
Diving further into the data reveals that LA museums are particularly popular with hyper-local visitors and with out-of-towners: Every museum analyzed received large shares of visitors from less than 30 and/or from more than 250 miles away, with fewer visitors coming from 30-250 miles.
The California Science Center received the greatest share of visitors residing less than 30 miles (60.7%) from the museum, perhaps due to its popularity with educational groups and its location in bustling Exposition Park.
Griffith Observatory, with views of the Hollywood sign and Los Angeles's urban landscape, was highly popular with out-of-town visitors – 48.7% of guests resided at least 250 miles away. And as a unique active fossil excavation site, La Brea Tar Pits and Museum was also favored by out-of-town visitors (42.9% of guests came from 250+ miles away).
The relatively high shares of out-of-town visitors at most LA museums analyzed highlights the role that tourists play in supporting LA’s cultural institutions. And diving into the median HHI in the museums’ captured market reveals that these out-of-towners may represent a particularly desirable audience.
In general, the museums analyzed tend to attract a relatively wealthy audience. In 2024, the median household income (HHI) in all the analyzed museums’ captured market trade areas was higher than the median HHI nationwide ($79.6K/year) – perhaps due to California’s relatively high median HHI of $99.3K/year. Most museums also drove traffic from regions with a higher median HHI than the state benchmark – likely due to the relative affluence of the Los Angeles area. The Getty and The Museum of Contemporary Art’s captured trade areas had the highest median HHIs, at $107.2K/year and $103.7K/year, respectively.
But when analyzing only out-of-town visitors (who traveled 250 miles or more), the median HHIs of the captured trade areas increased – indicating that out-of-town museum guests were more affluent than local ones. This suggests that tickets to special exhibitions could be set at higher price points during peak seasons when more out-of-town guests are anticipated.
Though there are similarities between the behavior and demographics of visitors to LA’s museums, they each experience somewhat distinct seasonal visit patterns and attract diverse audiences. With the busiest museum season ramping up, cultural institutions stand to gain from understanding the changing characteristics of their guests.
For more insights, visit Placer.ai.
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.
This report leverages location intelligence data to analyze the auto dealership market in the United States. By looking at visit trends to branded showrooms, used car lots, and mixed inventory dealerships – and analyzing the types of visitors that visit each category – this white paper sheds light on the state of car dealership space in 2023.
Prior to the pandemic and throughout most of 2020, visits to both car brand and used-only dealerships followed relatively similar trends. But the two categories began to diverge in early 2021.
Visits to car brand dealerships briefly returned to pre-pandemic levels in mid-2021, but traffic fell consistently in the second half of the year as supply-chain issues drove consistent price increases. So despite the brief mid-year bump, 2021 ended with overall new car sales – as well as overall foot traffic to car brand dealerships – below 2019 levels. Visits continued falling in 2022 as low inventory and high prices hampered growth.
Meanwhile, although the price for used cars rose even more (the average price for a new and used car was up 12.1% and 27.1% YoY, respectively, in September 2021), used cars still remained, on average, more affordable than new ones. So with rising demand for alternatives to public transportation – and with new cars now beyond the reach of many consumers – the used car market took off and visits to used car dealerships skyrocketed for much of 2021 and into 2022. But in the second half of last year, as gas prices remained elevated – tacking an additional cost onto operating a vehicle – visits to used car dealerships began falling dramatically.
Now, the price of both used and new cars has finally begun falling slightly. Foot traffic data indicates that the price drops appear to be impacting the two markets differently. So far this year, sales and visits to dealerships of pre-owned vehicles have slowed, while new car sales grew – perhaps due to the more significant pent-up demand in the new car market. The ongoing inflation, which has had a stronger impact on lower-income households, may also be somewhat inhibiting used-car dealership visit growth. At the same time, foot traffic to used car dealerships did remain close to or slightly above 2019 levels for most of 2023, while visits to branded dealerships were significantly lower year-over-four-years.
The situation remains dynamic – with some reports of prices creeping back up – so the auto dealership landscape may well continue to shift going into 2024.
With car prices soaring, the demand for pre-owned vehicles has grown substantially. Analyzing the trade area composition of leading dealerships that sell used cars reveals the wide spectrum of consumers in this market.
Dealerships carrying a mixed inventory of both new and used vehicles seem to attract relatively high-income consumers. Using the STI: Popstats 2022 data set to analyze the trade areas of Penske Automotive, AutoNation, and Lithia Auto Stores – which all sell used and new cars – reveals that the HHI in the three dealerships’ trade areas is higher than the nationwide median. Differences did emerge within the trade areas of the mixed inventory car dealerships, but the range was relatively narrow – between $77.5K to $84.5K trade area median HHI.
Meanwhile, the dealerships selling exclusively used cars – DriveTime, Carvana, and CarMax – exhibited a much wider range of trade area median HHIs. CarMax, the largest used-only car dealership in the United States, had a yearly median HHI of $75.9K in its trade area – just slightly below the median HHI for mixed inventory dealerships Lithia Auto Stores and AutoNation and above the nationwide median of $69.5K. Carvana, a used car dealership that operates according to a Buy Online, Pick Up in Store (BOPIS) model, served an audience with a median HHI of $69.1K – more or less in-line with the nationwide median. And DriveTime’s trade areas have a median HHI of $57.6K – significantly below the nationwide median.
The variance in HHI among the audiences of the different used-only car dealerships may reflect the wide variety of offerings within the used-car market – from virtually new luxury vehicles to basic sedans with 150k+ miles on the odometer.
Visits to car brands nationwide between January and September 2023 dipped 0.9% YoY, although several outliers reveal the potential for success in the space even during times of economic headwinds.
Visits to Tesla’s dealerships have skyrocketed recently, perhaps thanks to the company’s frequent price cuts over the past year – between September 2022 and 2023, the average price for a new Tesla fell by 24.7%. And with the company’s network of Superchargers gearing up to serve non-Tesla Electric Vehicles (EVs), Tesla is finding room for growth beyond its already successful core EV manufacturing business and positioning itself for a strong 2024.
Japan-based Mazda used the pandemic as an opportunity to strengthen its standing among U.S. consumers, and the company is now reaping the fruits of its labor as visits rise YoY. Porsche, the winner of U.S New & World Report Best Luxury Car Brand for 2023, also outperformed the wider car dealership sector. Kia – owned in part by Hyundai – and Hyundai both saw their foot traffic increase YoY as well, thanks in part to the popularity of their SUV models.
Analyzing dealerships on a national level can help car manufacturers make macro-level decisions on marketing, product design, and brick-and-mortar fleet configurations. But diving deeper into the unique characteristics of each dealership’s trade area on a state level reveals differences that can serve brands looking to optimize their offerings for their local audience.
For example, analyzing the share of households with children in the trade areas of four car brand dealership chains in four different states reveals significant variation across the regional markets.
Nationwide, Tesla served a larger share of households with children than Kia, Ford, or Land Rover. But focusing on California shows that in the Golden State, Kia’s trade area population included the largest share of this segment than the other three brands, while Land Rover led this segment in Illinois. Meanwhile, Ford served the smallest share of households with children on a nationwide basis – but although the trend held in Illinois and Pennsylvania, California Ford dealerships served more households with children than either Tesla or Land Rover.
Leveraging location intelligence to analyze car dealerships adds a layer of consumer insights to industry provided sales numbers. Visit patterns and audience demographics reveal how foot traffic to used-car lots, mixed inventory dealerships, and manufacturers’ showrooms change over time and who visits these businesses on a national or regional level. These insights allow auto industry stakeholders to assess current demand, predict future trends, and keep a finger on the pulse of car-purchasing habits in the United States.
