Nearly all grocery shoppers report higher prices, and many are cutting visits to favorite stores while chasing better deals, as poor in-store experiences add fresh frustration under the squeeze.
A new Axonify survey of more than 1,200 U.S. and Canadian grocery shoppers found widespread concern over costs and a clear willingness to walk when shelves, lines, or service fall short. Chain Store Age summarized the findings from the company’s “Eye on the Aisles: Higher Prices, Higher Stakes for Customer Experience” report.
Ninety-two percent of those surveyed said grocery prices have risen over the past year. Sixty-seven percent said they are extremely or very concerned about the cost of groceries. That pressure is changing how people shop and what they will tolerate once they walk through the doors.
Eighty-eight percent of shoppers reported they already use more than one grocery store in a typical month. Of that multi-store group, 69 percent said they do it to find better prices.
Forty-two percent said they have cut back on visits to the store they use most. The reasons tracked with the same pinch: rising prices, long checkout lines, out-of-stocks, and a better experience somewhere else.
Families are not locked into one banner out of habit. When the cart costs more and the trip feels worse, they split their spending and skip trips. That is rational behavior under higher bills, not a branding puzzle.
Forty-two percent of consumers said they notice in-store problems more than they used to. Fifty-eight percent said a poor in-store experience feels frustrating in the current higher-price environment.
Empty shelves, slow checkouts, and sloppy execution used to be annoyances. With grocery bills elevated, the same failures feel like a second hit on household budgets. Shoppers are paying more and still dealing with friction that stores control.
Axonify, an AI-powered frontline workforce platform, fielded the survey in August 2026. The company framed the results around what operators can still manage when they cannot set inflation.
Melissa Burghardt, CEO at Axonify, tied the numbers to staffing and experience rather than wishful thinking about prices alone.
"Grocery and retail operators can't control inflation, but they can control how their frontline workers and managers deliver the best in-store experience. While some operators may consider cutting labor to protect margins, this new data shows the risk of allowing the customer experience to erode when shoppers are already feeling squeezed. Protecting frontline capacity is an investment in the experience that keeps shoppers coming back."
Her point is straightforward. Margins matter. So does the aisle reality that keeps a customer from driving to the next lot. Cutting labor may paper over a quarter; it also risks the repeat traffic that multi-store shoppers can move in a single trip.
The survey does not claim every store is failing. It shows a large share of customers who feel price pressure, notice more problems, and act on both. They split trips for deals. They reduce visits to their main store. They name long lines and out-of-stocks alongside price as reasons to go elsewhere.
That mix leaves little cover for operators who treat frontline capacity as the easiest dial to turn. When 92 percent say prices are up and two-thirds are highly concerned about grocery costs, the store that also delivers slow checkouts and missing items hands customers a reason to leave.
Everyday shoppers are carrying higher food bills and still meeting basic expectations when they shop. Stores that meet them keep the visit. Stores that do not watch the cart roll to a competitor that will.
When grocery prices climb, families notice every empty shelf and every long line, and they are already taking their business where the trip feels worth the bill.