We’ve acquired Video Game Insights (VGI)!
Sensor Tower · Kara Lee · February 2025
MMM: Target's DEI Rollback Could Be Impacting Consumer Mobile App Adoption
Target’s recent announcement that the company would be pulling back on its DEI policies surprised consumers, as the retailer has previously been a staunch advocate for diversity and inclusion initiatives. ST data shows that Target’s retreat from emphasizing DEI policies has impacted the retailer’s download growth, as US downloads have dropped 8% over the past 10 days vs the previous 10 days (1/24-2/2 vs 1/14-1/23). Target’s decline in US downloads is further amplified by Costco’s rise, as US downloads jumped 36% during the same period, potentially due to the big box retailer standing up against cultural headwinds as it continues to pledge support towards its DEI program.
Key Takeaways:
ST data shows that US downloads for Target have slowed since its announcement that it would be scaling back DEI policies, down 8% vs the previous 10 days (1/24-2/2 vs 1/13-1/23). Amazon and Walmart, two additional retailers that have ceased their DEI programs have not seen the same impact for their respective apps, as US downloads increased 2% for Amazon, while Walmart saw US downloads decrease 1% during the same period
Target’s precipitous drop in US downloads is further highlighted by its average daily download rate over the past 10 days (1/24-2/2) vs its daily download rate in Dec’24, down 40%, while Costco’s download rate has actually grown by 43%
While holiday seasonality likely impacted Target’s significant decrease in daily downloads, Amazon and Walmart only saw their daily downloads fall by 19% and 17%, respectively, less than half of Target’s dropoff
Target averaged a rank of 8 under the category of Top Free Shopping Apps across the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store in the US. However, Target’s app has fallen an average of 8 spots across both stores over the past 10 days, residing at an average rank of 16 across both app stores
Costco, in contrast, has climbed up the charts an average of 8 spots in the same period, moving from an average app ranking of 17 for Top Free Shopping Apps in Dec’24, to a rank of 9 over the past 10 days across both app stores
For more information, request the full report from reports@sensortower.com.
Written by: Kara Lee, Brand & Digital Advertising Analyst
Date: February 2025