Target saw foot traffic fall for the eighth consecutive week, extending a losing streak that began just a few days after the company announced it would end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program in late January.
For the week that began March 17, foot traffic fell 5.7% YoY for Target, according to data from Placer.ai. That’s compared to the 7.1% it fell last week, and an average weekly decline over the last eight weeks of 6.2%.
In a March 4 earnings call, when it reported a 3.1% Q4 loss and a non-specified sales decline in February, Target executives were bullish about its Easter assortment boosting business. But if it has so far, it’s not reflected in the foot-traffic data. What may have taken the spring out of the Easter Bunny’s hop for Target is a 40-plus day boycott coinciding with Lent (so ending on Easter) spearheaded by Black clergy for which more than 150,000 have signed up, exceeding organizers’ stated goal of 100,000.
I concerned that the declining traffic is attributed to their anti-DEI move, when overall consumer spending is likely down. I’m Not saying it boycotts haven’t had an effect, but that may be hard to measure.
Inasmuch as polling would be a useless gauge, that’s true. But it’s rather simple do to a YoY or QoQ compared with peer retailers. Given that both Walmart and Amazon have also abandoned DEI initiatives, that adds noise, but there will definitely be parseable data.
I somehow doubt shareholders will be thrilled with the final numbers.