People shop differently, based on what they do for work.
Surprised?
Take a look…
Here’s 7-Eleven + Dollar General.
What do 7-Eleven + Dollar General have in common?
Well, for starters, they have a massive fan base in the working class.
Dollar General is a huge favorite as the #4 most-visited location for the working class. Yet, interestingly enough, Persona Views shows that they are actually trending down 11% month over month with this segment of consumers. It may be seasonal. So, it’d be interesting to see if things change when school starts, as Dollar General has a lot of school-age products.
Meanwhile, 7-Eleven is holding strong at #5 with less than a 3% fluctuation in monthly foot traffic. Keep in mind it was recently July 11th, during which the brand famously offers its Slurpees for free to celebrate “7/11”. Likely, that has a lot to do with the spike in foot traffic.
So, while the top 2 are still McDonald’s and Walmart, there are distinct differences in the top 10 most visited places based on income. Looks like, Slurpees and fun kids products have a good following.
Here’s what the IRS has going on.
IRS.gov is the #7 most-visited website for the working class, although it’s tapering off at 14% MoM. This would make more sense in March, but seeing this stat in July is a bit surprising. Could it be related to the child tax credit?
Meanwhile, many discount shopping alternatives are trending up, including the infamous Craigslist.org (which is up 3%) which is the #10 most-visited site for this segment. So, while buyers may have some questions on taxes, they’re still interested in getting good deals.
All about Target, Home Depot, Chick-Fil-A, and CVS.
The middle class loves Target, Home Depot, Chick-Fil-A, and CVS.
While I’m not surprised Target is a middle-class favorite, I was shocked Target’s not a top 10 store for the working class. Are they missing a huge market segment? It’d be interesting to compare their efforts with Walmart in the working class segment and see what data rises to the top.
Also, we’re seeing Home Depot rank at the top for the middle class, but not the working class.
This actually makes sense given all the home renovations happening in this pandemic. Yet, I am curious about whether we’re seeing a rise in people doing their own hands-on labor, which would account for all the trips to and from Home Depot locations.
Shopper Paths can shed more light here.
The other middle-class favs make a lot of sense, Chick-Fil-A is loved by 92% of fast foodies. But, they have a higher price. So, the working class may be being more careful to spend when it comes to fast food. Favoring places like McDonald’s instead, which offers similar types of food, but does so at a lower price point.
Likewise, Walmart offers much of what CVS has – also at a lower price. This may be contributing to Walmart having such a great share of business from the working class; selling similar products at a better price point.
Looks like the middle class is on the move.
With traveling at least.
On the visitation front, La Quinta Inns saw 54% more middle-class visits from May to June (nearly paralleled by Hilton and Best Western), possibly indicating that business travel is on the rise again.
At the same time, the Hotels.com app saw 154% more active users from May to June, and AA.com (American Airlines) saw 120% more website visits.
TikTok + Craigslist vs. Twitter + Reddit.
Everyone is scrolling these days…
Laborers seem to like TikTok because it’s more entertainment-oriented and lightly peppered with news. Office managers prefer Twitter for snippets of straightforward news (or dry humor) in 140 characters or less.
That said, Twitter did drop 10% in active white-collar users last month. Is there a way for Twitter to patch the hole, or did TikTok just siphon their users?
At the same time, while the working class browses deals on Craigslist, the middle class is reading articles on Reddit. Both of these apps and sites offer advertising on their platforms, so depending on your target audience, one of these may be worth looking into.
So, do app, in-store + website behaviors vary by income?
Undoubtedly, yes…
And you can find more data on your consumers on MFour Studio.
