With U.S. inflation running at a 40-year high, it is getting tougher for consumers to stretch their dollars. That might seem like a bonanza for a retailer like Dollar General , but the picture is actually a bit more complicated.
Dollar General reported on Thursday that same-store sales declined 1.4% in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 28 from a year earlier, which was slightly worse than analyst expectations of a 0.8% decline. Customer traffic dropped, though the average basket size grew. That is partly due to inflation, but shoppers also were buying one more item on average compared with pre-pandemic levels. By the end of 2021, it had grown to an average of six items worth $16, up from five items worth $13 at the end of 2019.
