Does anyone pay the full retail price anymore?

We are all in search of bargains and shop around to get them. That’s the central finding of the latest quarterly Consumer View report from the National Retail Federation.

The survey of more than 3,000 American adults found that 89 percent shop at various discount retailers and 63 percent buy more items on sale today than they did five years ago.

Forty-three percent shop at discount grocers such as Aldi, Lidl and others on a weekly basis. Sixty-six percent visit dollar stores at least twice a month and 58 percent go to an outlet store once a month or more.

Clothing and groceries top the list of categories in which consumers shop for deals. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed shop at discounters to buy apparel and 71 percent do the same for groceries.

Age and income are not significant factors when it comes to identifying discount shoppers.

Ninety-three percent of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1994) and Gen Z consumers (1995 and later) that are at least 18 years of age shop for bargains.

Americans across all income levels shop at a wide variety of discounters, according to NRF’s research. Eighty-nine percent of those who make below $50,000 a year buy from discount retailers as do 88 percent of those making up to $100,000 and 90 percent of those making more than that.

“Regardless of income or generation, virtually everyone wants a bargain, whether it’s for everyday necessities or big-ticket splurges” said Mark Mathews, vice president for research and development and industry analysis at NRF, in a statement. “Even those who can afford to shop elsewhere love finding a ‘steal,’ and it’s a habit that’s here to stay.”

America’s love of a great deal, it could be argued, has been around for as long as the nation has existed. But NRF believes that the percentages in its research can be directly traced back to changes in shopping behavior that began during the Great Recession a decade ago.

There are, however, regional differences when it comes to bargain hunters with the biggest percentage (38 percent) living in America’s southern states. Twenty-three percent of shoppers in the West, 21 percent in the Midwest and 18 percent in the Northeast are identified as value shoppers by NRF.

• NRF Study Says Consumers Shop at Discounters Regardless of Age or Income – National Retail Federation