Report: Grocers Should Consider Untapped Markets

Last year, grocery chains accounted for 43.4 percent of nationwide visits to food retailers. A recent report from market insights firm Placer.ai, however, found dramatic regional variation. In some states, grocery stores attract the majority of food retailer visits, while in others, dollar stores or superstores lead.

Traditional grocery stores have an advantage over dollar stores and superstores when it comes to serving local communities, “With their primary focus on stocking a wide variety of fresh foods, these chains serve a critical function in offering consumers access to healthy options,” noted the report. Despite their benefit, traditional grocers are unevenly distributed across the country.

A map of all grocery, superstore, and discount and dollar stores across the country shows that, while some areas are dense with traditional grocery store options, particularly the Northeast, Midwest, South Atlantic, and Pacific regions, other areas, even those with population centers large enough to have a strong dollar store presence, remain in short supply, according to the report. For example, in North Dakota, grocery chain visits accounted for only 11.7 percent of food retailer visits.

The report found that many areas around the country with fewer grocery stores have conditions that indicate that traditional grocery expansion may be highly profitable. For example, it noted that Central Alabama has robust demand with little competition because the few locations available are highly frequented, while Greenville County, South Carolina has seen a population boom of 4.8 percent over the last four years, which increases demand for a breadth of food options.