Marketing wisdom tells us that 80% of all household
purchases are made by women, and no business owner can ignore them. Marketers
of kids’ gear, food, cosmetics and clothes are good at reaching women, but
women buy gender-neutral stuff too, like cars, auto services, technology and
just about everything except Viagra.
One marketing consulting firm reports that 60% of women 16
and older are working. They comprise over half of all college students and
about 38% of small business owners according to the 2002 figures of the Bureau
of Labor Statistics. A February 2002 study by Prudential Financial found that
of 400 American women surveyed, 37% live in households with incomes of $50,000
- $100,000, and 12% were in the $100,000 annual income range.
No business owner can afford to ignore this market, but not ignoring them is not the same as attracting them. Attracting them is not the same as winning their loyalty, either. There is definitely a difference in dealing with women because they notice the small stuff. While men tend to make judgments based on first impressions and key interactions, women never stop gathering information.
No business owner can afford to ignore this market, but not ignoring them is not the same as attracting them. Attracting them is not the same as winning their loyalty, either. There is definitely a difference in dealing with women because they notice the small stuff. While men tend to make judgments based on first impressions and key interactions, women never stop gathering information.
Women develop a collage of impressions about a business from
a hundred small factors; everything from its cleanliness to the design of the
shopping bag. Smart business owners turn this to their advantage by investing
in small amenities women can appreciate. Many young women today are much wiser
than the boomers were at the same age. They have traveled widely and are
accomplished and picky consumers.
The key to winning the loyalty of women shoppers and your
share of this market is to offer carefully selected choices rather than a
plethora of everything from A-to-Z that overwhelms them Eileen Fisher, designer
of
women’s clothes, adopted this strategy and offers simple
clothes in a limited palette. Furniture
stores such as Storehouse Furniture in Atlanta
have pared their selections to an “everything goes with everything else”
array. Even house paint companies are
adhering to this strategy of paring down and offering carefully selected
choices.
Look! Women have so
many work and family responsibilities they don’t have time to research and
ponder every buying decision. They also
aren’t trying to impress their friends by having the most toys. While a man may want 16 different size
screwdrivers in his toolbox, you show a woman a tool with 16 interchangeable
heads and she’ll buy it. Now she has one
instrument which takes up less room but accomplishes the same thing, costs less
in the end, and does the same job.
Whether buying for themselves of for the business they own
or manage, women make final purchasing decisions based on the relationship with
the seller, not on statistics and voluminous data. Given a choice on two nearly identical
products, women will choose based on customer service and relationship with the
vendor.
Men want to buy the product and leave, while women want to
know how it works. Prescott True Value
in Arizona
has a loyal following of women running households on their own due to divorce
or widowhood. By having enough staff to
guide the customer and answer questions they have good to unequaled repeat
business from women. Andy Andre, the owner of Prescott Arizona True Value store
has learned that customer service is respect.
“It’s taking the time to explain things to a customer and not talk down
to them” he says.
Entrepreneurs assume that marketing to women is all about
discounts and giveaways, but care and creativity is what really attracts
women. If a man is ignored by a sales
clerk he thinks, “What a jerk.” A woman will think, “I hate this company.” It’s
the small things, good and bad, that make the impact on women customers. Learn this, and you’ve got a handle on your
share of a growing niche.
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