New research from foot traffic research firm Placer.ai found that wholesale clubs “outperformed more traditional superstores in 2024, as Costco, BJ’s and Sam’s Club saw 4.8% to 7.8% year-over-year (YoY) increases in visits, while Target and Walmart’s traffic remained relatively flat,” reported Placer.ai.

While wholesale clubs continued outperforming Target and Walmart in the new year as well, the two superstore leaders did see visit increases of 3.6% and 3.0%, respectively, in January 2025—a “promising sign for the retail giants’ growth in the year ahead.”

Placer.ai also broke down visitor stats for the two stores. “Target tends to attract visitors from areas with higher household income (HHI) and larger households: The company’s captured market includes a larger share of both households with children and non-family (e.g., roommates) households than Walmart’s ... Meanwhile, Walmart seems to attract more repeat monthly visitors (who visit the chain at least twice a month), perhaps thanks to the chain’s extensive grocery offerings and to its popularity among rural and semirural segments who may not have a variety of retail options to frequent.”

According to the research, the two chains’ visitor bases also exhibit differences in in-store behavior. Walmart visitors seem to “linger a little longer in store, with 20.7% of the chain’s visits lasting longer than 45 minutes compared to Target’s 17.1%—maybe thanks to the mission-driven shopping behavior of some of its rural and semirural customer base. But despite the longer visits, Walmart still receives a larger share of weekday visits than Target—perhaps thanks to its larger share of single shoppers with fewer weekday commitments.”

In January 2025, NACS Daily reported that big retailers’ grasp on consumers is only getting stronger. The three biggest retailers by revenue in the U.S. are Costco, Walmart and Amazon, and they’re gaining customers from small businesses. Amazon and Walmart’s fast-growing online sales—including those from third-party sellers—help them generate high-margin profit streams such as advertising and third-party fulfillment services. This in turn gives these retailers room to cut pricing to attract more customers.