Another protest spearheaded by the organizing group behind a recent Walmart boycott is coming; this time, the group is taking aim at the Amazon corporation.
The Walmart boycott, which took place April 7-14, called on shoppers to avoid shopping at the Walmart corporation’s stores, online platforms and Walmart’s membership-only warehouse, Sam’s Club.
The People’s Union USA isn’t the only organization encouraging boycotts on major corporations – the Walmart boycott’s dates coincided with the dates of a 40-day “Target fast” organized by Atlanta Pastor Jamal Bryant and other faith leaders, which ended April 17.
Still more boycotts are planned for the coming months. Here’s what North Carolina shoppers should know about the Amazon boycott and beyond.
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Why are people boycotting Amazon?
John Schwarz, leader of the organizing group The People’s Union USA, clarified in a recent Instagram post that boycotts are not intended to “tank the economy,” but to “hold corrupt corporations accountable.”
The reasons cited on the People’s Union website for boycotting Amazon, in particular, included:
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Destroying small businesses
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Union busting and worker abuse
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Paying almost nothing in taxes
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Surveillance and privacy violations
How long is the Amazon boycott? Amazon boycott dates
The Amazon boycott is planned for Tuesday, May 6 through Monday, May 12.
What is included in the Amazon boycott?
During the dates of the boycott, consumers are urged not to shop or use any Amazon-owned or operated services of platforms, stores or companies, or major business services including:
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Amazon.com and any services including Prime, Audible, Prime Video, Kindle, Fresh and Pharmacy.
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Whole Foods Market, Amazon GO and Amazon Fresh stores.
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Ring (security brand owned by Amazon).
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Twitch (owned by Amazon).
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Amazon MGM Studios-branded movies.
A comprehensive list was also posted on the People’s Union website.
Are Amazon sales down due to past boycotts?
USA TODAY spoke to business analysts on the effects of a previous Amazon boycott. Analysts found that, while social campaigns did draw attention to the weeklong boycott, data showed little evidence that it made any “meaningful disruption to retail performance.”
Amazon.com had 2.6 billion total visitors in March 2025, the month of the first boycott, which was up 9.82% from February, according to SimilarWeb. And visitor traffic was actually up from the same time period last year: In March 2024, the massive online retailer had 2.2 billion visitors.
Momentum Commerce, a digital retail company, reported Amazon sales were up 10.3% in the first quarter of 2025.
The data contrasts that of a survey published by Numerator before Amazon’s boycott, which found 9% of Amazon shoppers intended to participate in the weeklong spending freeze.
USA TODAY reporting also showed, however, that not all large corporations faced with boycotts have remained unaffected, reporting an 11-week decline in foot traffic at Target stores that began the week after the chain announced rollbacks on its DEI programs.
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Lori Comstock, USA TODAY NETWORK, contributed to this report.
Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Amazon boycott: What NC shoppers should know
