How Do You Treat Your Women?
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.
Yankelovich 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.
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 ofwomens 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
