Us Consumer Boycott: What Retailers Need To Know About The Buying Blackout

Last week, consumer-activist group The People’s Union USA called for a 24-hour buying blackout of all non-essential goods on February 28, particularly from big-box retailers like Walmart, Target and Amazon. 

The protest follows months of rising prices on goods and services and more recently, many companies’ rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. 

In 2022 alone, the price of food shot up by nearly 10 per cent year-over-year, faster than any year since 1979, as reported by the US Department of Agriculture. 

While inflation has since slowed, consumers are still being affected by supply chain issues, other inflationary pressures, and even the looming threat of tariffs against countries such as China, Mexico, and Canada, which could potentially raise prices for consumers. 

As stated on the organiser’s website, “February 28 is a symbolic start to economic resistance, a day where we show corporations and politicians that we control the economy.

In an Instagram post, the group’s founder John Schwartz added, “This is not just another protest. This is not just another moment that fades into the background.

“They [corporations] have lined their pockets while we work harder, we struggle more, and we fight for the bare minimum.

“But on February 28, we make it clear we do not have to play by their rules anymore. For one day, we stop [shopping] everywhere, no Amazon, no Walmart, no fast food, no gas, no major corporations, nothing.

“For one day, we remind them who actually runs this economy and when they don’t listen, because they’re going to pretend they don’t hear us, we will go harder, because this is just our warning shot.” 

The People’s Union is also planning several week-long protests against specific retailers in the coming weeks, including Amazon from March 7-14, Nestlé from March 21-28 and Walmart from April 7-13.

This is not the first time consumers have used boycotts as a means of protest in the US. 

As Nikki Porcher, the founder of Buy From A Black Woman, a non-profit that provides resources and support to Black women business owners, pointed out, the Black community in particular has used economic activism to call for change.

“From the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the recent push [on companies like Target] for corporate accountability, Black people have always understood the power of collective financial action. But one day alone won’t shift an entire system,” Porcher cautioned.

The inadvertent effects of a corporate buying blackout 

In addition to asking people to avoid making purchases, including fast food and gas, from large corporations, The People’s Union suggested consumers buy essential items only from small and local businesses on February 28.

However, retail experts like Global Data’s managing director Neil Saunders and Momentum Commerce’s founder and CEO John T Shea question the financial significance of a protest of this nature. 

Both retail analysts noted that the true impact of the event largely depends on whether consumers plan to cancel purchases with these larger corporations entirely or simply delay them for a few days.

Shea explained that smart brands are already planning promotions at the beginning of March to capture missed sales from February 28 and pull forward demand from the week of March 7. 

This isn’t to say that the effects of the February 28 buying blackout will have zero repercussions on these corporations. 

As Alison Taylor, a clinical associate professor at the NYU Stern School of Business and author of Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World, pointed out, “I think this is the beginning of a consumer backlash that no one should underestimate. Companies have prioritised legal risk over environmental, social, and governance and diversity, equity and inclusion, and they’ve also prioritised social media exposure, including responding to campaigners like Robby Starbuck.”

“They have paid less attention to other, equally important, long-term and seismic factors such as employee and consumer trust,” she added.

“The recent [consumer] rollbacks have demonstrated that values are optional and companies shift in the breeze and won’t protect their employees. I think this is a huge error over the long-term, and we are just starting to see it play out,” Taylor concluded.

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