Americans are reeling from a cost-of-living crisis that is putting pressure on even the nation’s highest earners. Walmart CEO John Furner says wealthier consumers are also turning to the low-cost grocery chain as high prices push family finances to the limit.
“We continue to see higher-income customers coming to Walmart,” Furner told reporters during the retailer’s annual shareholder meeting week in Bentonville, Arkansas. “We’re finding more of them, they’re buying more and they’re coming more often.”
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Walmart’s lower-income shoppers have shown “more signs of pressure” in the current economy, Furner highlighted. And they’re not the only ones taking a more strategic approach to budgeting; More and more people with six-figure annual incomes are turning to discount supermarket chains as food costs come under pressure from rising oil prices, tariffs and uncertainty in global trade.
“This is really the main pressure point: the price of fuel”, continued the CEO. “We hope there will be some relief in energy prices.”
Walmart seized the moment, using its size and influence as the largest grocery retailer in the United States to absorb rising fuel costs and keep prices more competitive, company executives said.
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However, this could change in the coming months if fuel prices remain at current levels.
Crisis drives rich people to discount supermarkets
Consumers are frightened by the ever-increasing value of their purchases as food prices continue to rise.
The median price of a cold brew coffee has increased 3.7% since May 2025, while burgers have become 2.4% more expensive over the same period, according to Toast.
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And grocery shopping staples have soared, too: The average price of a pound of ground beef hit a record $6.90 last month, up about 19% from a year ago. Orange juice prices jumped 21% between January 2025 and February this year, and sliced bread became 4.3% more expensive.
Now, Americans are cutting back on entertainment and travel to put food on the table. Around 75% say they have cut expenses in other areas to be able to pay for grocery purchases, according to a 2025 survey conducted by Swiftly.
Earlier this month, Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos revealed that the company’s customers are reducing their purchases of food and other household products.
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This appears to represent an intensification of warnings already made by companies in the food sector, which said that consumers were looking for promotions, but continued to buy the same amount of food. Now, even discount store customers are cutting back on the volume of products they purchase.
“Our core customer continues to face financial constraints,” Vasos told analysts. “This pressure has been more intense for customers in rural communities, who are looking to reduce the distance they travel and make concessions in search of affordable prices and better value for money in their daily lives.”
Even those considered rich because they earn more than $100,000 a year are adopting extreme saving habits.
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More than seven in ten people with six-figure incomes now shop at discount supermarkets to save money, according to a 2025 report from Clarify Capital.
Financial difficulties are affecting several areas of their lives: around 74% said they are reducing spending on restaurants, 54% are cutting entertainment expenses, 51% are saving on clothing purchases, 49% are reducing subscriptions and 49% are spending less on travel.
“In the current economy, income alone does not guarantee financial peace of mind,” stated the Clarify Capital report. “People with high incomes are feeling the effects of inflation, suffering social pressure and reflecting more on what it really means to have a good financial condition.”
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