Discount grocers Trader Joe’s, Lidl and Aldi all saw visits to their U.S. stores increase throughout 2025 compared with the previous year, reflecting continued strong interest by shoppers in holding down costs, according to data released Wednesday by Placer.ai.
But while the chains are all known for focusing on value, they differ in terms of the amount of time customers tend to spend in their stores, underscoring the experiential differences that set the retailers apart from one another and the grocery industry as a whole.
Among the three private label-centric discounters, Lidl saw the highest share of shoppers whose visits lasted longer than 45 minutes, with nearly 12% of shoppers spending that amount of time in its stores last year, Placer.ai found. The analytics company linked that statistic to Lidl’s larger assortment, which it said takes people longer to navigate.
Aldi, meanwhile, saw the greatest share of visits to its stores last between 15 and 29 minutes, with more than 40% of visits falling into that range. About 9% of visitors to Aldi locations spent more than 45 minutes shopping, Placer.ai said, adding that the chain’s visit patterns likely reflect its limited SKU count and no-frills approach to displaying products.
Trader Joe’s recorded the speediest shopping trips of the three discount grocers Placer measured. It had the highest percentage of shopping trips in the range of 15-29 minutes, and just 5% of shoppers spent more than 45 minutes in its stores. Placer.ai said this dynamic likely reflects the speciality chain’s balance of curated offerings and small-format stores. “Shoppers appear to arrive with a plan and move quickly through the store – reinforcing Trader Joe’s strength as a fast, focused destination,” the data analysis company wrote.
Placer.ai noted that all three chains recorded a smaller percentage of visits lasting under 10 minutes than the overall grocery category last year, where about 22% of visits were that quick. The firm attributed the gap to the fact that Trader Joe’s and Lidl do not offer pickup and only selected Aldi locations provide the service.
