Nationwide, in March 2023, retail foot traffic fell 5.0 percent year-over-year, according to Placer.ai. The foot traffic analytics company’s March report found that traffic performed better in some regions of the U.S. than in others.
In the five best-performing U.S. states, the year-over-year retail visit gap was smaller than 2.2 percent, and in the five worst-performing states, the year-over-year retail visit gap exceeded 7.4 percent. The data also shows seven of the ten best-performing states—Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, and Vermont—were in the Northeast.
The regional differences were even more pronounced when comparing retail foot traffic to pre-pandemic levels. Retail traffic was down 8.1 percent in March 2023 relative to March 2019, but the top five performing states all had visit gaps smaller than 2.1 percent, while the five worst-performing states had visit gaps greater than 10.3 percent. When looking at the traffic data relative to March 2019, four of the ten best-performing states were in the Northeast—Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont.
Placer.ai added in its report, “Even as overall retail visits fell, several retail and retail service categories succeeded in growing their traffic in the first three months of 2023. Fast Food & QSR and Discount & Dollar Stores likely benefited from consumers’ value orientation, while Fitness and Beauty & Spa maintained their impressive post-pandemic growth. And Theaters & Music Venues continued their post-COVID recovery trajectory, with early 2023 consistently up relative to early 2022.”
Photo courtesy Dollar General
