On Wednesday, Target released proof of something that should have been obvious: offending the vast majority of customers doesn’t pay off. And, you can’t say they weren’t warned.
The results reported in Target’s latest quarterly report reflect the damaging effects of the company’s scandalous, lewd, child-grooming LGBTQ products and promotions that promoted customer boycotts and backlash:
- Comparable quarterly sales declined 5.4% from year-ago, due to:
- comparable store sales declines of 4.3% and
- comparable digital sales declines of 10.5%.
- Quarterly sales declined for the first time in six years.
- Total revenue of $24.8 billion was 4.9% lower than last year, reflecting:
- total sales decline of 4.9%.
- the sales decline would have been even worse, if not for a 1.3% increase in “other revenue.”
- Target's foot traffic dropped 4.8% last quarter.
- Target shares have fallen 16% so far this year.
As a result, Target now expects full-year sales to fall and profits to decline.
In May, the first month of the quarter, the company offended millions of Americans by flagrantly marketing LGBTQ products – some of which targeted children or came from a brand that sells pro-Satan products. In addition to LGBTQ clothes for kids, Target’s boldly displayed “Pride Month” products included clothes and “tuck-friendly” swim suits designed to hide genitals in an effort to disguise the wearer’s biological sex.
Worse, Target knew exactly what it was doing when it prompted the company’s one-week $9 billion loss of market value in the wake of the scandal’s exposure, National Review reports:
“Target was fully aware of brand Abprallen’s Satanist-inspired merchandise, some of which glorifies violence against alleged “transphobes,” when it approved the collaboration.
“Target lost $9 billion in market value in about a week, with the stock falling from just over $160.00 to about $141.00 a share, amounting to a 12 percent drop. Target stock has decreased 16 percent so far this year.”
Meanwhile, Target’s retail rival TJX (owner of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods), reported Wednesday that it enjoyed a 6% increase in comparable sales in the same quarter, prompting it to raise both its sales and profit projections for the year. TJX also reported strong foot traffic to its stores and healthy demand for apparel and home goods products.
Target had advance warning of what might happen if it repulsed traditional Americans who believe sex is determined by biology and reject LGBTQ ideology – but, it failed to learn the lesson provided a month earlier by Bud Light.
In April, Bud Light teamed with a transgender influence to promote its beer brand. The resulting – and ongoing – outrage and boycotts took a severe toll on parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev’s quarterly profits:
- A 10.5% drop in revenue,
- A decline in core profits of almost thirty percent, and
- Nearly $40 billion of lost market value.