Global retail trends see supermarkets become tourist attractions

A new consumer trend known as ‘Grocery Store Tourism’ is emerging, where supermarkets and convenience stores become travel destinations. Driven by viral social media content on platforms like TikTok, travelers seek out unique international food offerings, such as the ramen counters and fresh smoothies found in Thailand’s 7-Eleven stores.

In terms of global market scale, Walmart remains the world’s largest supermarket corporation by revenue, reporting approximately 692 billion US dollars in 2025 with over 11,500 locations. However, Japan’s Seven & I Holdings, the parent company of 7-Eleven, operates the highest number of locations globally with more than 40,000 stores.

Other major global players with significant store counts include France’s Carrefour, with roughly 14,474 locations, and German discounters Lidl (Schwarz Gruppe) and Aldi, which maintain approximately 13,759 and 13,325 locations respectively. German discounters are currently ranked among the top five global chains by store count.