Discount retailing is an American tradition. Our cultural ties to bargain hunting, often tied to some combination of treasure hunt, necessity and a focus on thrift and savings, are deep and historic. Food and beverage has always played a starring role as a traffic driver, and whether luncheonettes, soda counters or packaged foods and beverages, since the introduction of five-and-dimes and variety stores in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the evolution to today's broad landscape of discounters has been steady.

In today's shopping climate — where consumers shop all retailers ranging from discount to upscale and everything in between — we see that virtually all of today's leading discount retailers have taken the food-laden history lessons of iconic discount merchandisers and embraced them in their own operations, specifically to drive shoppers to their stores.

At its roots, discount retailers provide shoppers with the fun and thrill of finding unexpected and often inexpensive “treasures.” While some retailers are authentically delivering on these attributes within food and beverage (Trader Joe’s, Costco, WinCo Foods, Ocean State Job Lot), other discounters have attempted to fabricate it. Products and experiences (both physical and digital) that cue authentic fun, unexpected finds, fresh, less processed and/or higher-quality products and experiences will continue to separate best-in-class food discounters from the status quo in the days ahead.

The infographic depicts the history of discount retailing, which is a story about the channel’s evolution from the five-and-dime stores of yesteryear to the rise of e-commerce-based retailers.