If you want some #Ivanka Trump product you better move fast. Nordstrom only have three pairs of shoes for sale – and they're heavily marked down.
Earlier last week Nordstrom announced that they were dropping #Ivanka Trump's fashion line – and digital activists on Twitter sang out in joy.
"We've said all along we make buying decisions based on performance," a Nordstrom spokeswoman announced to Fortune on Feb 2. "In this case, based on the brand’s performance, we’ve decided not to buy it for this season."
To add fuel to the fire, just yesterday Neiman Marcus announced they were pulling #Ivanka Trump's jewelry line.
They claimed it was due to productivity measures, telling Footwear News "based on productivity we continuously assess whether our brands are carried in stores, on our website, or both.”
Productivity or Politics?
These days, separating politics from commerce is becoming increasingly difficult. And that's exactly what a new wave of digital #consumer protestors want.
Digital strategist Shannon Coulter created the #GrabYourWallet boycott when Trump made derogatory remarks about women during the election. Over the next few months the boycott gathered momentum as some lesser-known brands stopped selling trump related wares. First it was shoes.com and Bellacor, but Coulter had her eye on the big retailers Macy's and Nordstrom.
Second phase of the #GrabYourWallet boycott
It was Nordstrom's recent decision to part ways with the Ivanka Trump brand that moved the boycott into a more successful second phase and the big league of American consumerism. There is now pressure on Macy's to do the same. Twitter is awash with #GrabYourWallet boycott supporters hoping to see Ivanka Trump's line disappear from the well known department store, one of the biggest retailers in the United States.
Why is this a big deal? Because the boycott over #Trump products and services is growing in momentum, and changing the rules of consumer engagement. Companies and corporations are increasingly being analyzed and questioned about their #political messaging, which is giving consumers a newfound power. Most of this is happening over social media, allowing protesters to respond immediately such as was the case with the recent #Uber boycott.
Refinery 29 reported that a source close to #Ivanka Trump claimed that Nordstrom’s decision was politically motivated, and not merely financially driven: “They couldn't handle the political pressure, someone new came in, and there was a change in the attitude toward the brand."
Now Macy's are being asked to follow in the very steps of Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. Business Insider reported a few days ago that pressure is mounting from inside the company too, with many employees feeling quite uncomfortable about marketing, promoting and selling #Trump-related products."They can't lose any more money than they already are," an employee wrote in an internal company memo, proving once and again that #politics and commerce most definitely go hand in hand.
