Nowadays, as consumers increasingly link their purchasing behaviour to their personal ethics, a different kind of value is coming into play in payment decisions.
According to Numerator’s‘2026 Visions Report’, reported by Progressive Grocer, 38 per cent of US consumers have participated in at least one boycott of products, brands or shops in the past year, while 48 per cent said they would stop buying from a company with incompatible social or political positions.
The latter percentage has increased by two percentage points since 2025.
Minneapolis-basedTarget is a clear example of this phenomenon in action. Afterthe retailer announced the reduction of its diversity, equity and inclusion programmes in early 2025, the flow of customers into its shops plummeted dramatically, especially among African-American shoppers(As of February 2025 , the drop in customers boycotting Target ranged from -4% to -9%, depending on the week)
But this boycott resulted in 10.9 million visits, a 16% drop, and accounted for nearly 40% of the chain’s total sales decline in the third quarter of FY2025.
Numerator’s most recent figures show no sign of recovery for the chain, suggesting that a change introduced in protest can turn into practice even after media attention has died down.
“The retail sector is becoming less and less influenced by convenience alone and increasingly by digital values, identity and behaviour,” the report notes.
“Political and social positions now have measurable commercial consequences.”
Probably the customers of Target, whose headquarters is located in a Democratic bastion, have punished this chain more than Walmart, whose ownership – relative, I refer to the Walton family – is notoriously Republican and therefore deemed more consistent.
In 2025, Target suffered a drop in sales of – 1.68% compared to the previous year.
Net sales were $104.8 billion, down from $106.6 billion in 2024 and $107.4 billion in 2023.
