Black shoppers’ spending habits have changed at retailers no longer upholding DEI.
Amazon, Walmart, and Target have scaled back their DEI commitments, leading some shoppers to take their dollars elsewhere. This also prompted several boycotts, including one on Feb. 28 by The People’s Union USA, which held a 24-hour boycott of major retailers and chains, refraining from both in-person and online purchases, notes PBS.
According to Retail Brew, Black shoppers spent under $1 billion on Feb. 28, leading to a $220 million decline. A drop of this magnitude had not been seen within the past year. The outlet also notes that Black shoppers contributed to an 18.7% decline in sales and a 17.6% decline in trips particularly to Amazon, Walmart, and Target, and they are leading the way in the “economic blackout.”
Furthermore, for Target particularly it has experienced a great blowback, with 10 straight weeks of its foot traffic in decline across all demographics. CBS News reports it has lost over $12.4 billion in revenue since changing its stance on DEI.
@threelittlelee It’s not a boycot, it’s a break up #target #targethaul #boycotttarget
As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Target’s decline has also been attributed to a 40-day boycott led by Rev. Jamal Bryant of Atlanta, GA, which began on March 5, 2025, and saw participation from over 200,000 shoppers nationwide. However, the boycott remains in effect, as the company has only met one of the Target Fast campaign’s four demands, which is to invest $2 billion in Black businesses “through products, services, and black media buys.” The demands left off the table were to invest “$250 million amongst any of our 23 Black banks”; restore “the franchise commitment to DEI”; and “pipeline community centers at 10 HBCUs to teach retail business at every level.”
“If in all of these years we have been loyal customers and clients and then in the moment of ‘dis-ease’ you turn your back. And so, I had to share with Target that we gave you 40 days to answer four, not one. And they only came back with one. So I told them what I’m getting ready to tell you. We ain’t going back in there. And so, the fast shifts to a full out boycott,” Bryant said.
