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From Warby Parker to Walmart, Retailers Are Joining the Time to Vote Initiative

Retailers don't want their employees choosing between casting a ballot and earning a paycheck.
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Francis Scialabba

3 min read

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.

Retailers once limited their acknowledgment of an election cycle to “Vote” merch—if they addressed it at all. Now, a growing number of businesses are entering the conversation by encouraging higher voter turnout among their workers.

Walmart, Nike, J.Crew, and Warby Parker are a sample of retail brands that joined the Time to Vote coalition this year. It’s a nonpartisan pledge to do exactly what it says: Give employees time off to cast their ballots.

  • Time to Vote launched ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, with Patagonia, Levi Strauss, and PayPal as its founding members. 400+ businesses joined that year.
  • Patagonia CMO Corley Kenna told Retail Brew that 700 businesses are now Time to Vote members.

End goals: First, a business culture that prioritizes civic duty. Second, 1,000 member companies by Election Day, said Marc Rosen, Levi Strauss executive vice president and president of Levi Strauss Americas.

Making retail count

Only 56% of Americans who were eligible to vote cast a ballot in the 2016 election per the Pew Research Center, which is lower than in most developed countries.

So retailers are a significant addition to Time to Vote: retail employs roughly 29 million Americans in stores, fulfillment centers, and corporate offices, making it the biggest private sector employer in the U.S.

For companies that join the campaign, there’s no prescriptive voting plan. “We realized early on that what works for Patagonia is not going to work for Walmart, what works for Walmart is not going to work for Lyft, and so on,” said Sarah Bonk, founder and CEO of Business for America, a corporate civic responsibility organization affiliated with Time to Vote.

So retailers have varied their approaches.

  • In stores: Some brands are closing stores entirely (Patagonia) while others are shortening operating hours (Best Buy) or offering three paid hours to vote (Walmart).
  • At corporate: Brands are considering meeting-free days (Nike) or full days off (J.Crew).

Bonk and Kenna noted that the pandemic has raised concerns about crowding at the polls—so brands are also teaching employees about absentee and mail-in voting.

Extra significance

Supporting voters is yet another way brands are addressing recent calls to do business with more than profits in mind.

From inside: “Your CEO or your company reminding you to vote [...] is going to hit your inbox in a different way than an email from a campaign or an advocacy group,” Kenna said. Those efforts could build trust with employees, Bonk added.

From outside: “Consumers are increasingly loyal to brands that take a strong stance around the issues that resonate with them, including voting,” said Rosen. When brands balance profits with advocacy, “That’s how they drive growth, strengthen their brand, and keep their people inspired and engaged.”

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.