Department stores have been part of the American retail landscape for decades – but their role in consumers’ shopping routines is changing. We dove into foot traffic trends for leading mid-range and luxury brands to see how these iconic retailers are performing in this almost-post COVID world. COVID hit department stores particularly hard – even after non-essential business reopened, many consumers still avoided shopping indoors. By summer 2021, however, many brands, including Macy’s, Dillard’s, and Kohl’s, were nearing – and sometimes exceeding – pre-pandemic levels.
Following a strong 2021, the impact of inflation and rising prices have now reached the home improvement sector. We dove into location analytics data for leading retailers to understand whether the pandemic-induced surge has finally come to an end and what lies ahead for these categories. The home improvement sector was one of the biggest retail winners of 2020 and 2021, as consumers stuck at home – or moving home – invested heavily in their living space.
When we last dove into the performance of Walmart and Target, the writing was already on the wall – both brands were positioned for a strong 2022. And a few months into the year, it appears that this prediction – albeit not bold – was very much on point. Looking at visits for both retailers through the beginning of 2022 showed a significant year-over-year jump in visits. Walmart has averaged a 4.9% monthly visits increase compared to the equivalent months in 2021, while Target has seen a 6.1% average monthly increase.
Off-price stores, which sell branded clothing at a discount, have overperformed compared to the wider apparel sector throughout the pandemic. Much like the grocery segment, this market seemed to thrive in an uncertain world. Now, with a new set of challenges – including inflation, gas prices, and supply-chain disruptions – impacting almost all retail segments, we checked in with the category to see how it’s holding up. When COVID’s retail impact first began, the future of retail seemed uncertain.
When indoor malls saw a return to growth in October 2021, there was a sense of a turning tide for one of the key institutions in brick and mortar retail. Yet, comparisons to pre-pandemic holiday seasons and the rise of Omicron alongside a myriad of other challenges stunted that development. The traffic declines continued into 2022, driven largely by those same factors. Yet, already in March, weekly data started showing a shift with visit rates improving amidst a trend of normalizing behaviors.
In our most recent white paper, we took a closer look at the grocery sector. We examined how the recent economic shifts are impacting the industry and how consumer attitudes are changing two years into the pandemic. The grocery sector was widely considered one of the most resilient retail segments during the pandemic’s early period, and the strength continued in 2021. Year-over-year (YoY) and year-over-three-year (Yo3Y) foot traffic remained strong throughout much of last year, with Yo3Y performance peaking in July 2021 at 12.5%.
In this Placer Bytes, we dive into the COVID recovery of two leading brands in their respective categories – Planet Fitness and AMC. The COVID surge in January may have caused Planet Fitness to miss out on its seasonal January boost, but the fitness leader’s more recent visit data has once again disproved the skeptics. Since February, visits have been on the rise, with March visits coming in far ahead of pre-pandemic levels.
In this Placer Bytes, we look at recent foot traffic patterns for David’s Bridal, the go-to destination for many brides-to-be across the nation, and for Bed Bath & Beyond, a popular choice for wedding registries. As life returns to normal in states across the nation, 2022 is shaping up to be a huge year for weddings. Gradually waning cases of COVID mean that couples can plan their big day with a lot more certainty than in 2020 and 2021. Enter David’s Bridal, the nation’s leading bridal dress retailer.
In this Placer Bytes, we use foot traffic data to dive into two opposing sides of the driving landscape – Wawa and Tesla. Wawa recently announced plans to double its current store base over the next 10 years. At present, the convenience store and gas station chain operates 965 stores across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, D.C, but according to an interview by CEO Chris Gheysens in the Philadelphia Business Journal, the company aspires to operate 1,800 locations by 2030 with a focus on existing markets and filling in the gap between Florida and Virginia, including North Carolina.
The coffee space performed very well in 2021, with foot traffic back to pre-pandemic levels for much of 2021. In recent months, however, the Omicron surge, rising prices, and ongoing economic uncertainty has put a dent in the sector’s fairytale recovery. We dove into recent visit data for Starbucks, Dutch Bros., and Dunkin’ to understand where the coffee category stands today. Starbucks and Dunkin’ visits essentially recovered in the second half of 2021, before dropping again in early 2022 as a result of Omicron.
In this Placer Bytes, we dive into the recent performances of RBI, Bloomin’ Brands, and Yum! Brands – three companies operating some of the biggest dining concepts in the United States. Following a difficult 2020 for in-location visits, many restaurant concepts – including Popeyes, Tim Hortons, Burger King, and Firehouse Subs – saw their foot traffic increase in 2021. Between July ‘21 and February ‘22, monthly visits for all four RBI brands analyzed were up by double digits compared to the equivalent month in the previous year.
With Q1 2022 behind us, we dove into foot traffic data to find out how CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid were performing. Walgreens and CVS both saw big successes during 2021, and foot traffic to both brands is still ahead of where it was pre-pandemic; visits the week of April 11th were up 11.8% and 8.8% for Walgreens and CVS, respectively, compared to the equivalent week in 2019. Still, there does appear to be a dip in visits since the beginning of 2022, which could be due to waning numbers of COVID and reduced demand for tests and vaccines.
McDonald’s foot traffic is now on par with pre-pandemic visit levels, but that doesn’t mean that consumer habits have returned to where they were in 2019. We dove into the latest data to find out how McDonald’s consumer behavior has changed since the pandemic. McDonald’s started out 2021 with a larger Yo2Y visit gap than the nationwide category average and remained behind the wider QSR sector throughout the first half of the year. But in July, as the wider dining recovery accelerated, the visit gap to McDonald’s also narrowed significantly.
Our latest white paper dives into the dining sector. We examined how this sector is evolving, tapping into community resources, and adapting to consumer desires – and looked at the challenges the industry may be facing. Below is a taste of our findings. Inflation rates have recently begun to rise worldwide, and the United States is feeling the impact. Gas prices have also hit historic highs over the past few months, and consumers have been adjusting their dining habits accordingly. These changes may not only impact how often people go out to grab a bite, but also how far they are willing to drive for their meal.
Our quarterly indexes track foot traffic patterns for major retail and retail-adjacent sectors, including grocery, superstores, home improvement, fitness, and dining. Below is a taste of our findings. For the full report, visit our Q1 2022 quarterly indexes. The home improvement sector has reached wild heights since spring 2020, but recent foot traffic data indicates that the heightened demand of the past two years started to taper off. We dove into Q1 2022 home improvement patterns to find out where the sector stands as we move into the third pandemic year.
Our quarterly indexes track foot traffic patterns for major retail and retail-adjacent sectors, including grocery, superstores, home improvement, fitness, and dining. Below is a taste of our findings. For the full report, visit our Q1 2022 quarterly indexes. Offline fitness experienced a revival in Q1. After a budding recovery in Q4 followed by an Omicron-induced drop in visits in January, fitness foot traffic rose once more, leading to an overall 5.6% increase in fitness visits in Q1 2022 compared to Q1 2019.
Foot traffic to Five Below has been increasing steadily for the past several years, but the pandemic catalyzed a major growth spurt. We dove into this rising retail giant to understand what contributed to its astronomical rise. In mid-March, 2020, Five Below announced that it would close all of its stores in response to the emerging Coronavirus. But even at the height of the COVID closures, Five Below CEO and President Joel Anderson (formerly the CEO of Walmart) could already see the potential opportunity.
We’ve previously discussed the strength of grocery stores during the pandemic. Here, we’ll dive into two European grocers – Aldi and Lidl – who have deepened their foothold in the US over the past few years. In a recent survey that we conducted in March 2022 of US-based adults aged 18 to 64, data shows that compared to pre-pandemic, a majority of people in the US (52.3%) are doing more of their grocery shopping online. At the same time, the vast majority of respondents – 62.5% – also stated that they visit physical grocery stores more often or about the same as they did pre-COVID
Last year, foot traffic to Lululemon and Athleta consistently outpaced 2019 levels, buoyed by the growing interest in health and wellness and the rising demand for comfortable clothes. With Q1 2022 behind us, and on the heels of Lululemon’s recent footwear launch, we dove back into the data to understand how this year is shaping up for these two athleisure category leaders.
From Omicron’s impact on January visits to rising gas prices in March, the first quarter of 2022 was rife with challenges. Yet, even within this difficult environment, some retailers outperformed and showed unique levels of strength in the face of an ever-mounting series of obstacles. Here are some of the retailers and segments that thrived in an especially difficult Q1.
