Placer.ai: Visits to Trader Joe's outpacing overall grocery category
Fan-favorite grocery chain Trader Joe’s is having a successful 2024 so far.
According to foot traffic data from Placer.ai, the grocer, known for unique private label items and low prices, has outperformed the wider grocery category in year-over-year visit growth every month of this year. In August 2024, Trader Joe’s saw a year-over-year foot traffic boost of 8.7%, compared to 3.0% for the wider segment. In February and March, Trader Joe’s saw high visit increases of 9.8% and 10.8%, compared to 3.1% and 4.2% for the category overall.
“Perhaps bolstered in part by several new locations, Trader Joe’s year-over-year visit growth has outperformed the wider grocery category every month of 2024 so far,” said Ezra Carmel, content writer for Placer.ai. “And the chain appears to be doubling down on its expansion strategy, with two dozen new stores planned through the end of 2024.”
Between January and August 2024, Trader Joe’s stores in California, its home state and largest market, experienced year-over-year visit growth ranging from 3.2% to 11.1%, while foot traffic for the wider grocery segment ranged from -2.7% to 4.6%.
Over the same period, the share of Trader Joe’s visitors that also frequented other leading California grocery chains decreased significantly. Between January and August 2023, 50.1% of visitors to a California Trader Joe’s also visited Ralphs. This share dropped to 47.1% during the equivalent period of 2024.
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Placer.ai points to another factor that could be contributing to Trader Joe’s increased number of visitors in 2024: single households. Analyzing the grocer’s trade areas in California with data from STI: PopStats reveals that Trader Joe’s drives an outsized share of visits from singles who are living on their own or with roommates.
Between January and August 2024, 26.5% of residents in Trader Joe’s California captured market lived in one-person households compared to a statewide average of 22.9%. Meanwhile, 10.0% of the trade area residents were from non-family households, which was above the state average of 8.0%.
“Trader Joe’s continues to shine in the grocery space in part due to ongoing consumer demand for value and the chain’s expansion,” added Carmel. “And in California, a loyal and disproportionately single audience is a significant driver of foot traffic.”
