Dollar stores continue to benefit from consumers’ love of treasure hunt shopping as well as their willingness to make trade-offs on brand names and selection in order to get the lowest possible prices on some everyday, low-involvement products. Consumers have an affinity for dollar stores because of these aspects, but they aren’t loyal and their expectations are increasing, both of which are challenges that dollar stores must tackle to secure their future. While leading retailers are focused on opening new stores and expanding/improving product selection, immediate opportunities for improvement exist around in-store experiential retailing, ecommerce, grocery and overall quality perceptions.

For the purposes of this Report, dollar stores are defined as retailers selling deeply discounted merchandise including name brand and private label products such as food, household supplies, health and beauty care and more, typically ranging in price from $1-20. Some dollar stores are known as single-price stores, offering one price for all merchandise in stores. Dollar stores include but are not limited to:

• Family Dollar

• Dollar General

• Dollar Tree

• 99 Cents Only

• Fred’s

• Five Below

This Report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Dollar Stores – US, December 2016.