Shoppers in 2026 Stay Close to Home, Keep Trips Short

The typical retail shopper of 2026 makes short trips and stays close to home. That’s among the key insights in Placer.ai’s new white paper, The 2026 Retail Consumer in Five Charts.

The white paper states that the vast majority of visits to the Placer 100 Retail Index last less than 30 minutes and visits under 15 minutes represent the largest dwell-time bucket. “The distribution suggests that many brick-and-mortar trips are relatively focused – making convenience and the ability to complete a shopping mission efficiently important considerations for retailers and shopping centers,” according to the white paper.

Along with illustrating a tight time frame for shopping trips, other takeaways from the report include the following:

• Retail is highly local, with nearly 60% of visits originating within five miles – making the consumers who live near a store central to site selection, marketing, and tenant fit.

• Despite the attention on Gen Z’s embrace of physical retail, older shoppers remain a core brick-and-mortar audience that retailers, advertisers, and property professionals shouldn’t overlook.

• Brick-and-mortar attracts a distinct income mix, giving brands an opportunity to tailor their in-store strategies to existing shoppers while finding new ways to reach affluent consumers who currently underindex.

• Value is a powerful traffic driver, but consumers are also showing up for discovery and experience – suggesting that the strongest reasons to shop in person can be practical, experiential, or both.