Category Deepdive: October 2024

With 2025 nearing, some of our favorite holidays have come and gone, while others are around the bend. Temperatures are dropping and people are gathering inside. As the weather shifts, so are grocery shopping trends.

Aligning with a trend we’ve seen throughout 2024, October saw a year-over-year decline in store trips, dollars spent, and units moved across most categories, suggesting a broader trend of reduced consumer spending. Let’s dive in to get a bigger picture of October 2024.

Overall grocery shopping trends

Taking a deeper look into the categories suggests that discretionary spending is trending downward, as general merchandise experienced the most significant declines (-31.9% store trips and -39.7% dollars spent). Plus, there was a 66% shift toward private label, which further indicates consumers are looking to save cash on non-essential items. One theory is that consumers may have been holding back on discretionary spending due to the upcoming holidays in November and December.

While general merchandise took the biggest hit, essentials held steady. Although still showing a decrease, categories like general food, beverage, and household needs saw less drastic reductions, suggesting consumers prioritized more essential grocery items in October. They all shifted toward branded too, which could indicate greater consumer interest in goods that are generally perceived to be higher quality. It will be interesting to see what happens in the final two months of the year with the holiday season in full force.

October 2024 grocery shopping statistics

General Food

-12.7% store trips vs. 1 year ago
-14.8% dollar spend vs. 1 year ago
-16.3% units moved vs. 1 year ago
+4.6% share of purchases shifted to branded

Beverage

-11.5% store trips vs. 1 year ago
-16.4% dollar spend vs. 1 year ago
-11.8% units moved vs. 1 year ago
+2.3% share of purchases shifted to branded

Household Needs

-12.3% store trips vs. 1 year ago
-12.2% dollar spend vs. 1 year ago
-12.4% units moved vs. 1 year ago
+10.0% share of purchases shifted to branded

Health & Beauty

-15.3% store trips vs. 1 year ago
-14.5% dollar spend vs. 1 year ago
-16.8% units moved vs. 1 year ago
+12.1% share of purchases shifted to branded

General Merchandise

-31.9% store trips vs. 1 year ago
-39.7% dollar spend vs. 1 year ago
-27.7% units moved vs. 1 year ago
+66.8% share of purchases shifted to private label

How can the IPN help?

What do these statistics mean for marketers? With drops in grocery trips and spend overall, marketers need to work even harder to get shoppers in the door. Enter: the Ibotta Performance Network (IPN). 

The IPN allows marketers to stay up to date on category trends for incentivized and organic purchases both in store and online across major U.S. retailers with first-party, SKU-level data. This provides insights into shopper behavior that can be used to inform and power high-performing marketing campaigns.