TikTok Turns the Grocery Store Into a Vacation Destination ...

By PYMNTS  |  September 7, 2024

As consumers increasingly turn to TikTok for travel inspiration, a viral trend, grocery store tourism, has many seeing the supermarket as a cultural destination.

Many social media users attribute the start of the trend to TikTok user @marissainchina, who posted a video in late spring asserting, “This may be controversial, but I think the best thing to do while traveling is go to the grocery store. … Going to a grocery store could technically be counted as sightseeing, right? Because not only is it a cultural experience, but you can also find lots of stuff to bring back as souvenirs.”

The video has over 422,000 views, and the trend has taken off. A TikTok posted in June from user @caroluzitus celebrating “traveling with people who view grocery stores abroad as a cultural experience” has surpassed 3 million views. Similarly, a video from around the same time captioned “POV: You travel with someone whose international trip is not complete without the cultural experience of going to a grocery store” has garnered nearly 2 million.

Additional viral videos posted in recent months have celebrated grocery stores in Greece, Thailand, Iceland, Turkey and even Cincinnati, among others, as tourism destinations.

As grocery stores around the world increasingly become cultural hubs, the rise of grocery store tourism reflects a larger shift in how travelers seek meaningful experiences. No longer confined to sightseeing at historical landmarks or iconic attractions, many are embracing the everyday aspects of life in a new destination.

The growth of grocery store tourism comes as consumers tap social media to get inspiration about what products and experiences to splurge on. The 2023 PYMNTS Intelligence report “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Monetizing Social Media” found that 43% of consumers browse social media to find goods and services. Plus, that share rose to roughly two-thirds for Generation Z and millennial consumers.

Moreover, influencers — such as viral TikTokers — are playing a growing role in guiding how people spend their money. The PYMNTS Intelligence special report “Generation Zillennial: How They Shop” found that Gen Z consumers are 117% likelier than the population overall to say they have made a purchase in the previous month at least partially because of a social media influencer or celebrity.

When people travel, they are more willing to splurge on food than they are in their day-to-day lives. The “Tracking the Impact of Digital Tools on Food Tourism and Travel Preferences” edition of the PYMNTS Intelligence Connected Dining series of reports revealed that food quality is the factor consumers prioritize most when deciding where to eat on vacation, while only a small share consider deals and affordability.

Many grocery stores, for their part, are trying to position themselves as destinations. Take, for instance, Augusta, Georgia’s 42,000-square-foot FreshTake supermarket, set to include a five-hole golf green as well as an on-site café, bar, barbecue smokehouse and firepit. Originally slated to open over the summer, WRDW reported Monday (Sept. 2) that the timeline has been delayed. Then there is Eataly, a multinational chain of Italian-inspired food and wine marketplaces, as well as New York’s Brooklyn Fare supermarket, which includes three-Michelin-star restaurant Chef’s Table, to name a few.