Here’re the Grocers That Pulled Off a 'Covid Lift'
“While some grocers were negatively impacted by pandemic retail patterns, many possessed the brand relationship necessary to drive a strong recovery.”
Grocers like Lidl and Aldi continued their massive expansion across the US in spite of the COVID pandemic—but it was Southern stalwart Winn-Dixie that truly ‘redefined’ itself in the midst of the crisis, according to a new analysis from Placer.ai.
The grocer’s “focus on value ,being a one-stop shop, and proximity to audiences drove significant growth during COVID,” Placer.ai’s Ethan Chernofsky writes in a new report. And foot traffic states back up that claim: visits to the brand’s locations are up 18.4% over July 2019 numbers, suggesting the chain “could be oriented towards a much brighter trajectory as a result of its pandemic performance.”
Meanwhile, brands like Trader Joe’s, H-E-B, Ralph’s and Harris Teeter showed significant recoveries over recent months, with all four brands showing improvements in July over July 2019 numbers. Visits to H-E-B were up 4.5% over July 2019 figures, while Trader Joe’s saw visits up 11% in the same period.
“While some grocers were negatively impacted by pandemic retail patterns, many possessed the brand relationship necessary to drive a strong recovery,” Chernofsky says. “The key factor appears to be success pre-pandemic along with activities to sustain brand loyalty even when the conditions were less ideal. The result has been a strong and steep recovery pattern that should position these chains well moving forward.”
And key players like Publix, Albertsons and Kroger posted even bigger numbers: Publix averaged a “massive” visit jump of 17.3% for April, May, June and July when compared to the same period in 2020 an. Albertsons and Kroger increased 5.4% and 5.3% respectively.
“The ability of these brands to turn effective alignment with short-term trends into a foundation for extended success is a huge testament to their current strength and continued potential,” Chernofsky says.
Overall, the US grocery market registered $7 billion in sales in May, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence—a 16% decrease over May 2020 numbers, but a figure that’s still three times August 2019’s result.