The retail sector in 2024 outperformed 2023 with discount stores leading the way, as visits increased during most months last year, according to an analysis by Placer.ai. The sector’s performance indicates a promising foundation for the new year, the firm said.
Sporadic gaps in visits during 2024 can be attributed to extraneous circumstances rather than a consumer slowdown. For example, the year’s largest year-over-year retail visit gap was in January and was tied to severe winter weather across large areas of the country. Calendar shifts created visit drops in April due to the timing of Easter and September and December, which both had one less Saturday than in 2023, the analysis said.
Overall, retail visits were up 0.4% in 2024, signaling sustained consumer resiliency that could continue into 2025 and gain momentum if inflation maintains its cooling trend, the firm said.
However, there was significant variation in performance among retail categories. Discount and dollar stores as well as superstores led the retail market with 2.8% and 1.7% year-over-year growth in visits respectively. This highlights consumer demand for value amid high prices and economic uncertainty, said Placer.ai.
On the other hand, some discretionary retail categories had struggles in 2024. For example, furniture and home furnishings saw the steepest decline in visits from January to July 2024, but the category finished the year strong with 3.5% year-over-year growth in visits, according to the report.
The performance also varied by geography, with Maine and North Dakota leading the country with 2.2% and 2% year-over-year visit growth respectively. Both markets were resilient even during challenging periods of the year, said Placer.ai. Maine benefited from an increase in inbound domestic migration while North Dakota benefitted from a large share of superstore and dollar stores.