Consumers Are Protesting Retailers’ DEI Policies, but the Boycotts Aren’t Working

A nationwide boycott aimed at major retailers like Walmart and Amazon over their diversity, equity, and inclusion policies was meant to send a financial message. However, data from three separate sources shows that the impact was negligible. On Feb. 28, a grassroots group organized by John Schwarz, a self-described "mindfulness and meditation facilitator" with more than 380,000 Instagram followers, boycotted Amazon for 24 hours. Amazon quietly scaled back on its DEI efforts in December. According to Bloomberg Second Measure’s U.S. Consumer Spend Index, consumer spending on Feb. 28 dipped by 3% year-over-year, but the decline was within normal daily fluctuations. Spending also rebounded in the following two days, rising 4% on March 1 and 2% on March 2, compared to the previous year, again showing typical daily variation. The observed sales increases were largely due to Amazon Prime subscriptions, which often bill at the end of the month, according to Bloomberg Second Measure. Overall, Amazon's sales grew all three days, growing 9% on Feb. 28, 17% on March 1, and 11% on March 2. The data suggests that boycotts have limited impact on consumer behavior based on the current macroeconomic conditions and overall consumer attitudes. “Boycotts, generally, don't work,” said Zak Stambor, senior analyst of retail and ecommerce at Emarketer. “It's hard to mobilize consumers around a common cause. For most things, most people frankly don't care that much.” The grassroots boycott has seen more movement since the Amazon blackout, especially targeting Target with a 40-day boycott initiated on March 6. The boycott is in response to Target’s January announcement to phase out half of its DEI initiatives and halt hiring and promotion goals for women, racial minorities, and underrepresented groups, according to the Associated Press. Walmart has also scaled back its DEI policies. The Bloomberg Second Measure report showed that Walmart and Target saw year-over-year sales declines of 8% and 10%, respectively, on Feb. 28. However, both retailers bounced back over the next two days, aligning with typical consumer spending patterns. These fluctuations are consistent with broader trends observed throughout 2025, the report said. Indeed, consumers’ wallets stayed open Additional data from ecommerce analytics firm MikMak shows that Amazon’s share of online traffic increased from 23% to 32% between February 28 and March 2, showing no significant impact from the boycott, according to MikMak CEO Rachel Tipograph. Walmart saw a slight decline, with its share of traffic slipping from 29% to 27% during the same period, largely due to Amazon’s gains. Instacart, which was not targeted by the boycott, experienced the steepest drop in online traffic, falling from 23% to 15%, according to MikMak. By March 2, Instacart's share of online traffic dipped to 11% Ad agency Wpromote tracked sales for more than 50 retail advertisers during the boycott. Total sales on February 28 had less than a 1% change compared to other Fridays in February, according to Wpromote's data. “We saw that consumer wallets stayed open,” said Natalie McCaffrey, VP of audience strategy and insights at Wpromote. McCaffrey added that the boycotts did not affect ad spend. WPromote did see a 27% drop in ad conversions on Feb. 28, but McCaffrey noted that this decrease in ad performance isn’t necessarily tied to the boycott. Instead, it aligned with typical fluctuations seen on Fridays throughout the month. She added that other economic factors, such as tariffs and broader economic uncertainty, likely played a role in the observed dip. Wpromote also tracked social media posts related to the boycott, finding that hashtags about the boycott barely gained traction. The agency’s benchmark for virality is a hashtag that accelerates from zero to 100,000 mentions within a few hours. However, the boycott's main hashtags—#economicblackout and #economicboycott—only reached 60,000 mentions, according to McCaffrey.

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Consumers Are Protesting Retailers’ DEI Policies, but the Boycotts Aren’t Working

Sales, ad spend, and web traffic haven’t moved much

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