Dollar General shoppers are pulling back on everything except the essentials

The insight: Dollar General expects its core customer to be under significant pressure in 2025 as worsening economic conditions and inflation make it difficult for those shoppers to afford necessities.

• “Many of our customers report they only have enough money for basic essentials, with some noting that they have had to sacrifice even on the necessities,” CEO Todd Vasos said.
• Those pressures led customer traffic to decline 1.1% YoY in Q4, although a 2.3% increase in average transaction size pushed same-store sales growth into positive territory.

Consumer pessimism is spreading: Dollar General’s view of the strain on lower-income consumers echoes similar observations from Walmart, McDonald’s, and Kohl’s, to name but a few.