Smart Grocery Layouts Help Retailers Capture Gen Z Loyalty Through Faster In-Store Decisions

Gen Z shoppers are treating grocery trips like a live price audit, moving across multiple stores each week, splitting categories intentionally, and deciding within moments of entering whether a store is worth their time. Rising costs and long-term financial pressure, including the goal of eventual home ownership, have sharpened expectations and made entrances, sightlines, signage, and ease of navigation critical signals of value, turning the first few steps inside the door into a decisive test of whether a retailer earns a repeat visit.

Rick Miller is a Partner at Big Chalk Analytics, where he advises CPG brands and retailers on pricing, consumer behavior, and brand strategy, translating complex budgeting and purchase data into clear, executive-level insights. With decades of experience across marketing analytics, consumer research, and retail strategy, including senior roles at IRI and Networked Insights, Miller has become a go-to voice on how economic pressure reshapes shopping behavior. That perspective sets the context for Big Chalk’s latest data, which shows Gen Z actively price-comparing across more stores each week, a pattern that helps explain why the first moments inside a store now carry outsized weight.

"Most of your impression of a store is based on what you see when you first walk in the door. If the things you’re looking for are easy to find and the value proposition is very clearly marked, that’s what sticks," says Miller. One of the most unexpected trends in Big Chalk’s data shows Gen Z embracing bulk purchasing. Younger shoppers are increasingly buying large-pack items and making more frequent trips to warehouse clubs such as Costco and Sam’s Club, behavior traditionally associated with older generations. "We would normally associate stocking up with millennials or Gen X," Miller notes. "But right now, it’s the younger cohort driving this behavior."

• Creatures of habit: While warehouse clubs are designed for high-volume shopping, traditional grocers are now judged on how quickly shoppers can confirm value and complete a targeted mission. "It’s important that the value proposition is clearly marked as soon as you enter," says Miller. "If you go into Publix and it’s always the right price for ground beef, it becomes ingrained that Publix has good prices on meat," he explains. "You may skip that department at Costco entirely. Retailers have to think about that experience."

These shopping behaviors carry operational consequences that facilities teams must absorb. "Any major change to your product assortment inevitably requires changes to store layout and other physical elements," Miller says. Facilities teams must design spaces that communicate value immediately, reduce friction, and allow stores to operate efficiently.

• Dollars and sense: With lower car ownership and rising costs for essentials such as health insurance, utilities, and transportation, convenience and proximity are increasingly important for Gen Z. Smaller-format stores, including dollar chains, are capturing trips that once belonged to traditional grocers. "Most dollar store chains have a greater number of physical locations than even Walmart, which makes them a convenient option for younger shoppers," Miller observes, noting that Big Chalk continues to see dollar store activity trending upward.

• Know your niche: Before making any physical changes, Miller stresses that retailers must use data and technology to understand their core customer base. "Only then can you build a strategy that will be effective," he notes. With that foundation in place, retailers can execute store redesigns tailored to specific customer profiles, supported by modern facilities management tools that translate customer data into effective, adaptable physical environments.

Miller sees 2026 shaping up to bring heightened competition for grocery and CPG retailers. Facilities teams are expected to act as strategic partners, bringing technology and collaborative planning to the table. Entrances, layouts, and operational execution should be aligned to reinforce value, reduce friction, and support the shopper experience from the moment Gen Z walks through the door. Those that help Gen Z shoppers quickly see value, navigate efficiently, and complete their shopping missions are more likely to earn repeat visits, habit formation, and long-term loyalty.

But the lesson extends beyond any single generation. "No matter which cohort you think you’re targeting, understanding your consumer is super important," Miller concludes. "It’s only going to get more important."