Store Visits Grow At Trader Joe's, Aldi
Foot traffic at Trader Joe’s and Aldi stores continues to grow, but there remain some key differences with who is shopping at the two grocers that focus on selling broad selections of private label products.
New data from Placer.ai show visits in 2024 at Trader Joe’s were up 6.2% while visits at Aldi were up 18.2%. When looking at visits per location, Trader Joe’s saw an increase of 3.2% while Aldi saw growth of 13.5%.
While store expansion has contributed to store traffic growth for both, the boost in average visits per location indicates strong consumer demand, Placer’s report said. In 2024, Trader Joe’s added 35 new stores. Aldi’s well-documented store expansion led to more than 100 new stores this past year.
The growth of monthly store visits at both grocers has transitioned into 2025. Placer.ai stats show visit growth of 10.5% in January and 8.3% in February at Trader Joe’s. At Aldi, January visits were up 13.6% and 8.5% in February.
Stores in both grocery chains also received a larger share of weekend visitors — 35% at Trader Joe’s and 34.4% at Aldi — outpacing the grocery nationwide average of 32.1%. These figures suggest that, despite both chains’ limited assortment, consumers view both as weekend stock-up destinations – taking advantage of their days off to enjoy a more leisurely shopping experience at these value-driven retailers, Placer.ai said.
The strong weekend figures for Trader Joe’s and Aldi also suggests that both are increasingly becoming primary destinations for grocery shoppers. Between 2023 and 2024, both saw a decrease in the share of visitors that visited another grocery chain immediately before or after their Aldi or Trader Joe’s trip.
This shift may be a result of an increasingly budget-conscious shopper, and suggests that visitors are choosing Aldi and Trader Joe’s as a main shopping destination rather than supplementing trips to larger chains, the report concluded.
With both grocers seeing visits grow, and the two having commonalities including limited assortments, smaller store sizes, and budget-friendly offerings, a big difference is the income level of the shopper walking through the doors at each.
Placer.ai figures show the median household income of Trader Joe’s shoppers at $110,100 while the Aldi shopper’s median household income is $75,700. For grocery chains nationwide, the median household income is $82,000.
