The brick-and-mortar grocery store segment has demonstrated resilience so far this year despite headwinds created by rising food costs, fluctuating consumer confidence and increased competition from discounters and superstores. According to a Placer.ai analysis, grocery stores are maintaining visit share and enjoying growing foot traffic.
Overall visit growth since 2022 has outpaced increases in visits per location, signaling that chain expansion is playing a key role in the success of brick-and-mortar grocery stores, the report said. The average number of visits to grocery stores has also been increasing, which indicates expansion is not coming at the expense of existing store traffic.
Visitor dwell times have been dropping since 2021, suggesting that shoppers are making more frequent but shorter trips to avoid large, costly carts. Consumers may also be cherry-picking deals across many retailers and supplementing bulk online orders with additional items in stores, according to the report. Operators can respond to these trends by optimizing store layouts and promoting grab-and-go areas for more efficient quick-trip experiences, said Placer.ai.
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Over the past six years, wholesale clubs and discount and dollar stores increased their share of total food-at-home visits, which have primarily eaten into traffic from the likes of Walmart and Target. But grocery outlets have held firm, holding visit share essentially unchanged from the first quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2025.
Traditional grocery stores continue to dominate foot traffic amid an increasingly diversified market, although they have ceded some ground to value chains, fresh-format banners and ethnic grocers. The grocery market is also bifurcating, similar to other retail categories, with more affluent visitors preferring fresh-format grocers and less affluent visitors trending toward value retailers, said the report.
“This trend highlights the power of both value and health-focused quality to motivate consumers in 2025,” Placer.ai said. “And grocery players that can meet these needs will be well-positioned for success in the months ahead.”
In addition, consumers working from home accounted for more than 20% of the fresh format grocery store captured market, a significantly higher share than any other analyzed grocery segment. These stores tended to be busier midday.
“This finding suggests an opportunity for grocery operators across all segments to develop or enhance in-store salad bars and quick-serve sections to tap into the lunch rush,” said the report.
Store size makes a difference in shopping habits as well. Smaller format grocery store locations under 30,000 square feet outpaced larger stores with a 3.2% increase in visits year-over-year.
“Bigger isn’t always better in the grocery store space,” the report concluded.
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Kristen Smithberg
Kristen Smithberg is a Colorado-based freelance writer who covers commercial real estate, insurance, benefits and retirement topics for BenefitsPRO and other industry publications.
