Where Do WIC Participants Redeem Their Food Benefits? An Analysis of WIC Food Dollar Redemption Patterns by Store Type

In FY2012, over three-fourths of WIC retail food benefits were redeemed at large (supercenter, supermarket, large grocery) stores. Although WIC may not encourage participants to be price sensitive, the many redemptions at large stores may be due to the 63-percent share of WIC vendors that are large stores and participants' tendency to shop for WIC foods at the same stores where they shop anyway.