Foot traffic in supermarkets operated by Albertsons was higher last year than in 2019 even as visits to discount and dollar stores increased over that period, Placer.ai reported Friday. The trend is a sign that the chain has been able to hold onto its base of shoppers even as they focus on saving money, according to the retail data analytics firm.
Visits to the grocer’s stores rose more than 10% in 2024 compared with 2019, although traffic was down about 1% last year on a year-over-year basis, according to the research company, which tracks foot traffic at retail locations using anonymized cell phone location data.
Albertsons’ foot traffic patterns varied last year depending on the banner. For example, while its Shaw’s chain saw visits rise by almost 3% in 2024 compared with the prior year, Albertsons’ namesake banner saw a year-over-year drop in foot traffic of 2.6%. Placer.ai found.
Placer.ai also noted that Albertsons’ foot traffic was about the same in the first quarter of 2025 as it was during the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, the grocer’s quarterly foot traffic was off on a year-over-year basis during each of the previous three quarters, Placer.ai reported.
The amount of time people spend in Albertsons-owned stores has also declined in recent years, Placer.ai found. Consumers spent an average of 21.6 minutes on visits to the companies’ stores in 2024, compared with 22.7 minutes in 2019. The decrease may be connected to growing interest among people in using curbside or locker-based pickup services instead of shopping in stores or making short trips into stores when stopping by to collect pickup orders, Placer.ai said.
Albertsons ran 2,273 supermarkets in 34 states and Washington, D.C., as of Nov. 30, 2024.
