Organizers of several consumer boycotts that have been underway since early February say they are having an impact as shoppers avoid certain retailers.
Leaders of the current consumer boycotts, which are protesting what some organizers call corporate greed, a retreat from diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and President Donald Trump's efforts to eliminate federal DEI programs, say they believe they are seeing success. They point to Target's stock plummeting since earlier this year and data showing online and in-person activity at Target and several other retailers being down.
But data from several firms show a mix of results, with sales at some retailers increasing or remaining flat for the first quarter.
Placer.ai, a firm that uses location analytics to estimate in-person store traffic, has seen large decreases in foot traffic at Target, Walmart, Best Buy and Starbucks while Cardlytics, which analyzes spending data, saw "no major shifts that suggest widespread pullback or sustained impact from boycotts."
More boycotts are on their way
Two boycotts specifically aimed at Target – one which began on Feb. 1 to coincide with Black History month and another that started March 5 to coincide with Lent –are continuing and indefinite, their organizers say.
The People's Union, which organized a Feb. 28 one-day economic blackout of all consumer spending, has since held several weekly boycotts of other retailers and businesses and has a three-day economic blackout planned from April 18 to April 20.
Do consumer boycotts work?
Boycotts can have mixed results. They have worked for the political right.
Conservative activists havesuccessfully ralliedin recent years to force retailers and companies to rein in their DEI efforts by staging boycotts to hurt sales.
In campaigns using hashtags and slogans like “go woke go broke,” boycotts waged by conservative activists have taken aim at some of the nation’s largest consumer names, including retail chain Target.Some have succeeded in slashing sales and forcing policy changes.
Now Target and other companies find themselves under attack from the other side, facing calls for boycotts from DEI supporters angry over the rollbacks.
Brayden King, a professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, previously told USA TODAY that boycotts can be effective, but not in the way consumers think. That's because they create attention for the cause, including from the media, which "puts a negative spotlight on the companies they're boycotting, and that could in the long run have reputational consequences."
But often, they don't have much impact on consumer behavior and over a long period of time, boycotts don't have an impact on sales because some shoppers can have a hard time continuing the boycott actions, he said.
While organizers of the current actions say they're succeeding, King said multiple grass-roots efforts and messages can be confusing to consumers who may not know which action to take.
Also, boycotts not to spend money for a certain number of days often aren't going to have the same economic impact as a sustained boycott since shoppers will buy before or after the blackout, he said. It can also be difficult during longer boycotts "to convince enough consumers to make those purchasing changes to make a dent at all in the bottom line," King said, though the specific Target boycotts seem to be working.
What is the three-day economic blackout from April 18 to April 20?
A three-day consumer economic blackout set for April 18 through April 20 is similar to the one-day event on Feb. 28 organized by John Schwarz of The People's Union. Since then, Schwarz and his group have had several week-long boycotts of other retailers and businesses, such as Amazon, Nestle and Walmart and have more scheduled through July 4, when another one-day boycott will occur on the holiday. Some of those other upcoming boycotts are aimed at Target, General Mills, McDonalds and include second rounds of boycotts of Amazon and Walmart.
Shoppers are encouraged not to spend any money during the three-day economic blackout or to go to a local business if something needs to be purchased.
The boycotts have been successful, Schwarz said, citing the support he and The People's Union are receiving via social media and reports from shoppers who have been participating. .
"I still believe economic resistance – us withholding our money – targeting specific corporations, is our greatest weapon. And now with things that are going on financially and economically, families should be partaking in economic resistance just to save a little money for themselves right now for what's coming," Schwarz told USA TODAY.
An April 15 survey of more than 2,000 consumers by Numerator, a consumer insights and data company, found that 12% of U.S. consumers said they planned to participate in the April 18 economic blackout, with 63% planning to avoid spending any money at all. The top sellers those surveyed said they planned to avoid were Target (70%, up 2 points from the same survey done in February), Walmart (66%, down 8 points), Amazon (64%, down 4 points), McDonald's (46%, down 11 points), Starbucks (45%, down 7 points) and Sam's Club (41%, down 9 points).
Nearly half (47%) of participants said they plan to shift purchases to local businesses for anything they would have bought during the blackout period.
The percentages of shoppers who planned to participate in the April economic blackout or avoid spending money are roughly the same as a survey done by Numerator in advance of the Feb. 28 one-day economic blackout.
Schwarz said his group will continue to put pressure on companies and will plan longer boycotts after July 4.
A one-week Walmart boycott recently ended
A one-week boycott of Walmart just ended on April 14.
Walmart, in a statement provided to USA TODAY during the boycott, said "As one of the largest corporate taxpayers in the country, not only do we pay our fair share, we are an economic force multiplier strengthening communities nationwide through job creation, supplier growth, and over $1.7 billion in cash and in-kind donations last year. We remain dedicated to earning the business of all Americans and giving our time and resources to causes that uplift and unite communities who rely on us every day."
Amazon has not responded to several queries from USA TODAY about the consumer boycotts.
Target stock is down; some data shows store, web visits down
Target announced on Jan. 24 that it was ending its DEI programs this year, joining several other major retailers such as Walmart and Amazon who had similar announcements amid Trump's actions toeliminate federal DEI programssince taking office.
Target stock has plummeted since earlier this year, before the first boycott against the retailer. On Jan. 31, shares closed at $137.91. On April 16, they were at $90.46, down 34.4%.
Placer.ai's analytics show Target is the retailer who has had the biggest hit to its in-person traffic, down as much as 8.10% one week in February.
Boycott organizers credit their actions, though they acknowledge that shoppers have also pulled back in general at all stores because of the threat of tariffs and overall tight economic times.
An indefinite Target boycott was launched Feb. 1 by Minnesota activists to coincide with Black History month. Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and founder of the Racial Justice Network, who joined with several other organizations for the boycott, said the DEI retreat of Target after the retailer stepped up initiatives in the wake of George Floyd's death, was a slap in the face to many Black shoppers who supported Target.
Activists want to hold Target accountable for the DEI retreat, she said, "to say 'this is not going to happen in our backyard from a corporation that has built this brand off of DEI to engender customer loyalty and lure many of us to spend our dollars there thinking our values were aligned.'"
A separate 40-day Target Fast started by some leaders of the Black faith community began on March 5 to coincide with Lent, though organizer Pastor Jamal-Harrison Bryant confirmed this week that the fast will continue beyond Easter Sunday, April 18 since Target has not reinstated its DEI efforts. Bryant is senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, an activist and author.
Neither Levy Armstrong nor Bryant have heard from Target since their boycott efforts began. Levy Armstrong's groups held a rally in front of Target's Minneapolis headquarters when it started the boycott and held another protest later in February, which included protestors entering the Target headquarters.
"There has been radio silence on their end," Levy Armstrong said. "I'm interpreting their silence as a form of arrogance where they don't feel that they need to answer to our local community."
Levy Armstrong believes Target thinks the effects on their sales will subside after Easter or with time.
"I think they've miscalculated the seriousness and the long-term significance of this situation," she said. While the goal of the boycott is to get Target to restore its DEI initiatives, "plenty of folks... are saying regardless of what Target does, they're not returning as customers and I don't think Target realizes that."
Target has not replied to multiple messages since the boycotts began from USA TODAY seeking comment.
Rev. Al Sharpton meets with Target CEO
The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN) met on April 17 with Target CEO Brian Cornell in his organization's New York City offices.
“This morning, I had a very constructive and candid meeting with Brian Cornell that included NAN National Board Chair Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson and NAN Senior Advisor Carra Wallace. I am going to inform our allies, including Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant, of our discussion, what my feelings are, and we will go from there," Sharpton said in a statement posted on NAN's Facebook page.
The meeting with Target followed a discussion Sharpton had earlier in the week with the head of North America for PepsiCo "to get clarity on its stance on DEI, whether they were shutting down their commitments due to pressure from President Trump and right-wing activists, and the path moving forward," the statement said. "Rev. Sharpton will consult with members of the NAN Board of Directors over the Easter Holiday to determine any next steps with Target, PepsiCo, and other companies that have scaled back their DEI programs or pledges."
NAN has not announced any boycotts, but in January had two "buy-cotts" in New York City and in Union, New Jersey, to bring supporters to Costco to spend money in support of the company board of director's actions tovote down an effort to drop DEI initiatives.
The organization had said earlier this year that it would lead "a strategic boycott in the next 90 days of two companies that have dropped their DEI commitments amid public pressure." No details have been released.
Is the Target 40-day Fast ending on April 20, Easter Sunday?
The fast will be indefinite since organizers have not heard from Target or seen action to re-instate DEI initiatives and a total of four demands having to do with the retailer's DEI efforts, Bryant said.
The fast has been "overwhelmingly successful," Bryant told USA TODAY. Nearly 200,000 people have signed the commitment on the Targetfast.org website, which offers a digital business directory from the Black Chamber of Commerce with 300,000 Black-owned businesses.
There is a major groundswell, Bryant said, pointing to the "significant" drop in Target stock.
"The beauty of this model is that no one person or one group takes the credit, but this is what happens when a community comes together," he said.
Bryant said the name of the boycott will remain the Target Fast though organizers may look to expand the efforts to boycott other retailers.
Have the consumer boycotts had an impact?
Data from several firms that follow retail sales, including online and in-person visits, show a mix of results within the last few months to provide an indication if the boycotts have been working.
Here's some data:
- Numerator, the consumer insights and data company, said its analysis of data from earlier this year after companies announced DEI initiative rollbacks and data from the Feb. 28 blackout show that certain consumer groups, especially Black and Hispanic shoppers "mobilized in measurable and meaningful ways." "Target has experienced notable traffic declines from these groups, while Costco, which has upheld its DEI commitments, is attracting the same consumers at a disproportionate rate," Shawn Paustian, Numerator analyst told USA TODAY. Although Walmart has also scaled back DEI initiatives, "its traffic has remained more stable – likely because its core shopper base is less influenced by corporate values such as DEI and CSR (corporate social responsibility), unlike Target’s customer base," he said.
- Placer.ai, which uses a panel of tens of millions of devices and utilizes machine learning to make estimations for in-store visits to locations across the country, showed traffic down 7.9% at Target the week of March 31, the latest data available, from the same period a year ago. Target has seen the largest drop of the retailers, with negative numbers since late January, dropping as much as 8.10% the week of Feb. 17. Traffic at Costco was up 0.3% (and has been up as much as 7% for several weeks) and McDonalds was up 5.8%. Other retailers saw a decrease, including Walmart (down 1.6%), Best Buy (down 6.4%) and Starbucks (down 0.4%). Monthly year over year numbers were also down, with Target experiencing a 6.5% dip in traffic, Walmart (down 3.8%), McDonalds (down1%) and Starbucks (down 2%). Costco was up 7.5% and Best Buy was up 1.4% for the month of March as compared to a year ago.
- Similarweb, a digital marketing intelligence company, has watched e-commerce traffic on several major retailers' sites, including Amazon, Walmart, Target, Costco, Kroger and Home Depot, since the Feb. 28 one-day blackout. Principal Analyst Aria Ertefaie said" "recent consumer boycotts, starting with February’s 'economic blackout'—don’t appear to have significantly impacted U.S. retail activity. In fact, retail data shows a steady improvement in e-commerce trends since December 2024."Ertefaie said retail web traffic for major players like Amazon, Walmart and Target remained stable throughout February and saw a notable spike in March. "Monthly traffic data confirms this trend, with overall retail web visits increasing sharply in March 2025, bouncing back from a dip in February. This suggests consumer momentum has continued regardless of boycott efforts. While social campaigns drew attention, the numbers currently show little evidence of meaningful disruption to retail performance," he said.
- Cardlytics, a company that analyzes transaction spending data, evaluated numbers for the Feb. 28 one-day economic impact and beyond. Owen Braun, head of client analytics, said data from the Feb. 28 blackout "actually showed an uptick in consumer activity: total spend rose 12%, transactions increased 16%, and the number of shoppers were up nearly 12% compared to the same day in 2024."Consumer spend during the first quarter of the year has held steady, Braun said. "We've seen typical fluctuations week to week, but no major shifts that suggest widespread pullback or sustained impact from boycotts. In fact, since the February boycott, we saw transaction and spend growth across most sectors.” Braun added: "it's possible that this weekend's boycott, coupled with ongoing economic uncertainty, could have a more substantial impact on how consumers spend their money."
- Momentum Commerce, a digital retail consultancy company which analyzes Amazon sales, said sales for the Feb. 28 blackout and since have been up. In the first quarter, Amazon U.S. retail sales analyzed by Momentum were up 10.3% versus the same period a year before. March seemed to be the strongest month of the quarter, which may have been due to the retailer's Big Spring Sale, the company said.
Latino community also boycotting with #LatinoFreeze
The Latino community has also been active on social media using the hashtag #LatinoFreeze, encouraging supporters to "hold your money'' amid freezes on DEI initiatives, reduced funding for the National Institutes of Health and actions on immigration.
The websitelatinofreeze.comhas a list of companies that have been supportive or critical of DEI efforts.
Organizers of the freeze did not respond to an inquiry from USA TODAY.
Boycotts having some impact
In a follow-up interview with USA TODAY, King said the principles of boycotts having mixed results still stand, but the collective efforts of the consumer boycotts this year do seem to be having an impact on retailers. For instance, Target stock is underperforming the stock market, said King, while Costco stock is overperforming.
King also wondered whether any data collected on declining Target sales and visits was broken out regionally since often urban consumers are more progressive and would be more likely to participate in a consumer boycott about DEI rollbacks. A Placer.ai representative said their in-person visit data was not broken out by geographic area.
The reason Target's sales seem to have taken a bigger hit than other retailers in the boycotts is Target has been a particularly easy target for activists, King said. There seems to be some hypocrisy in that the retailer was put on a pedestal when it made such big DEI efforts only to now back down from them, he said.
"It's easier to shame a company where you can claim they're not doing what they claim," he said.
One or three-day efforts or one-week efforts to boycott a particular retailer or have a consumer blackout may not be as successful, King said, since shoppers will just buy from those stores before or after the boycott.
When asked whether the boycott against Target or other retailers would only be considered successful if the retailer reinstates DEI initiatives, King said there are two ideals for any boycott.
"One is you're trying to get a particular company to change its policy, but the other is that you're using that company as a platform to make your cause known," King said. "I think that the boycott has been quite successful in the latter in keeping the discussion of DEI alive. If that's the only thing they get out of it, I think the activists will feel good about what they're done.
"Once people stop talking about it, then it's easier for other powerful entities to control the agenda," he said.
This story has been updated with new information.
Jessica Guynn contributed to this article. Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher and @blinfisher.bsky.social on Bluesky. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays, here.
