Target Foot Traffic Down for the 10th Consecutive Week Amidst DEI Fallout. Here Are the Details

Target is feeling the effects of its customers’ ongoing economic boycott, as a new report suggests that foot traffic is down for the 10th consecutive week. Meanwhile, foot traffic at stores like Costco, which have embraced DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies, continues to rise. Let’s take a look at what we know about this latest development.

Target DEI Fallout: Foot Traffic Decrease

According to The Minnesota Star Tribune, both Target and Walmart saw an over 5% decrease in their foot traffic in February and another decline in March. These declines correlate with a sharp drop in consumer confidence in February.

However, Target, which saw larger declines, fell when it backtracked on diversity objectives in late January, prompting demands for boycotts from both local activists and Black church leaders nationwide.

Black Christian leaders originally encouraged their congregations to boycott Target in February.

Religious leaders from the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historic Black church in Washington, D.C., initiated the boycott. It began on March 3, Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, 40 days of prayer and penance leading up to Easter.

“We’ve got to tell corporate America that there’s a consequence for turning their back on diversity,” said Bishop Reginald T. Jackson. “So let us send the message that if corporate America can’t stand with us, we’re not going to stand with corporate America.”

Recently, too, Latino shoppers have joined the Black community in their Target boycott, initiating what it’s calling the “Latino Freeze” against the retailer. According to NBC Bay Area, Michael Galvez, founder of the Latino Freeze movement, called upon consumers of Latino descent to spend their hard-earned dollars elsewhere now that Target has rolled back its DEI policies.

“It’s actually very easy for us to stick with the Latino Freeze because we know that this is for the long term,” he said.

Retail consultant and RetailWire BrainTrust member Liza Amlani stated that retailers and customers are both experiencing a “perfect storm” of contributing variables, making it difficult to pinpoint a single cause for the recent downturn. “You can’t pinpoint just one thing,” Amlani said to the Star Tribune. “It’s almost like everything could come crashing down, depending on how you look at it.”

Target’s foot traffic fell 9% year over year in February and 6.5% in March, according to Placer.ai analysis. It even experienced traffic drops during Target Circle Week. This is larger than Walmart’s traffic loss of 5.7% in February and 3.8% in March.

In contrast, Costco increased traffic by 2.2% in February and 7.5% in March.

The Retailer Rolled Back Its Policies

Foot traffic data does not always indicate a single problem, according to Loop Capital Markets’ managing director, Anthony Chukumba. Boycotts may have played a modest influence in Target and Walmart’s recent performance, Chukumba acknowledged, but the drop in foot traffic is more likely due to the broader economic uncertainty since Trump took office.

“The feeling was that worst-case scenario there are going to be 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada and an additional 10 percent on China,” Chukumba said. “What we saw [was] far beyond anyone’s expectations. There are tariffs on almost every country we import from and even some we don’t.”

Despite allegedly not being able to place blame on one factor or another, Target’s financial fallout is now hitting its employees. The beleaguered company will reduce its annual bonuses for salaried employees, with Quartz stating that these employees will only be eligible for 87% of their awards, down from 100% last year.

Target’s financial troubles are exacerbated by growing worry about Trump’s on-and-off tariffs. Target’s March earnings report provided a cautious forecast, citing “ongoing consumer uncertainty” and concerns about tariff effects.

CEO Brian Cornell warned that fresh product imports from Mexico, particularly bananas, avocados, and strawberries, will be directly affected by the tariffs, resulting in price rises. To help manage volatility, leaders announced a move from quarterly to annual forecasts.