Placer.ai: These four retailers are ruling the roost

Discount and dollar (extreme-discount) stores won the hearts of many shoppers during the pandemic — and have since held onto them.

Four players that dominate the discount and dollar (extreme discount)  store space —  Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Dollar General and Five Below  —   were among the biggest foot traffic winners throughout the pandemic and 2022, according to foot traffic analytics firm Placer.ai. 

The report also shows that visits to discount and dollar stores are outpacing visits to shopping centers, grocery stores and superstores as of January 2023. But that’s not new — the sector has been beating the others in terms of foot traffic going back to January 2020, noted Placer.ai.

As of January 2023, visits to the segment were up 19.4% compared to January 2020, whereas none of the other three segments are seeing positive visit numbers.

“Most discount and dollar brands continued growing last year, with visits most months of 2022 outpacing those of 2021,” the report stated. “And while some chains saw slight dips in foot traffic during the second half of the year, framed within the context of an unusually strong 2021, these gaps only highlight how resilient dollar stores are.”

Highlights from the Placer.ai report, “2023: The Year of the Discount Store,” are below.

• Year-over-year numbers: During January, visits to three of the four brands were up year-over-year. Visits were up 10% at Dollar Tree, 3.7% at Family Dollar, and 18% at Five Below. Only Dollar General saw a decline, with visits down 3.1%.
• Smashing pre-pandemic numbers: Looking at January 2023 compared to January 2020, visit numbers are way up across all the chains. Visits were up 21.2% at Dollar Tree, 19.9% at Family Dollar, 19.2% at Dollar General, and 66.6% at Five Below.

“As people look for ways to save money on groceries, discount stores have become a popular choice, creating a challenge for traditional grocery stores,” wrote Placer.ai’s Bracha Arnold in the report. “And since the large footprint of most dollar & discount stores puts most Americans within several miles of a store, the category’s strength is likely to continue in 2023.”