Coordinated boycotts are casting a long shadow over this year’s Black Friday, threatening to chip away at what is normally the biggest shopping day of the year.
In the last 24 hours, retailers and analysts have been warning that consumer “economic blackouts” and targeted boycotts could pull billions of dollars out of the Black Friday pipeline. A recent analysis cited by Digital Journal found that 31% of consumers say they “hate” Black Friday and 27% say they’re willing to join a boycott of major retailers this season.Digital Journal Even if only a fraction follow through, that’s enough to dent traffic and sales at chains that rely heavily on deep-discount doorbusters to hit their annual numbers.
Multiple campaigns are urging shoppers to sit out the holiday weekend altogether or avoid specific companies. A coalition of grassroots groups highlighted by Forbes is calling for people to skip Black Friday through Cyber Monday in protest of the Trump administration and its corporate allies, pushing them instead toward small, local businesses.Forbes Other efforts, like “economic blackout” and “We Ain’t Buying It,” similarly target giants such as Amazon, Target and Home Depot, amplifying the pressure at the exact moment retailers count on a surge in volume.Montgomery Advertiser+1
At the same time, Black Friday is being disrupted from inside the system. Amazon is facing its sixth annual “Make Amazon Pay” strike wave, with workers in more than 30 countries walking off the job or staging protests over wages, safety, climate impact and AI.Business Insider Labor disruptions threaten fulfillment capacity and delivery times, further eroding the appeal of headline Black Friday deals.
While final sales figures are still being tallied, these overlapping boycotts and worker actions are already forcing retailers to slash forecasts and brace for a Black Friday haul that may fall short of the record volumes they once took for granted.
