Report: DEI Changes Affect Traffic at Retail Stores

By: M. Scott Morris
Published: March 17th, 2025

After Target rolled back its DEI programs, the retailer experienced a drop in store traffic, according to Numerator's report, The Impact of DEI Cuts on Retail. Here are the details, which reflect information gathered from Jan. 12 to Feb. 9:

• Target's projected traffic vs. actual traffic is down across all ethnicities for total consumer packaged goods: There was a -2.8% decline for White consumers, -4.2% decline for Asian consumers, -6.1% decline for Hispanic consumers, and -6.2% decline for Black consumers.
• Target traffic declines translate to 2 million fewer shopping trips from White consumers, 1.5 million fewer shopping trips from Hispanic consumers, 1 million fewer shopping trips from Black consumers, and 400,000 fewer shopping trips from Asian consumers.
• Black and Hispanic households over-index in Target's traffic decline, contributing 59% and 53% more than expected based on demographic size.
• For the same time period, Target consumers were likely shifting their spending to Costco as the retailer saw increased traffic. Traffic from White consumers grew 5 %, traffic from Asian consumers grew 6.8%, traffic from Black consumers grew 11.4%, and traffic from Hispanic consumers grew 16.2%.
• Costco traffic increases translate to 2.74 million more trips from White consumers, 2.84 million more trips from Hispanic consumers, 900,000 more trips from Black consumers, and 1.2 million more trips from Asian consumers visiting the retailer.
• Hispanic consumers account for 37% of Costco's traffic growth, nearly twice the rate as expected based on their demographic size.
• For the same time period, Walmart traffic has held fairly steady, only seeing declines (-2.6%) from Asian consumers while White (+0.8%) and Hispanic (+1.0%) consumer traffic grew slightly, and Black consumer traffic saw the most gains (+3.8%).

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