Marketing to women

Women are a crucial market segment, more so than many retailers realize. "Women buy most of almost everything, including many categories that people think of as being primarily male, such as computers, home improvement products and cars. For example, when Best Buy surveyed shoppers in its stores, it found that the majority were men, but when Best Buy surveyed buyers, it found the majority were women," said Martha Barletta, president at Winnetka, Ill.-based The TrendSight Group, in an interview with DDI. "Men tend to be more interested in the gadgetry of digital cameras, but women are the ones who take more pictures with digital cameras."

In her debut book, Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach and Increase Your Share of the World's Largest Market Segment, published by Dearborn Trade Publishing, Barletta expounds more on why women are a critical market segment and how retailers can appeal to this market. The first edition, published in December 2003, included 11 easy-to-read chapters on how and why to market to women, and the second edition, which will be released this month, includes about 12 new case studies and a chapter on "Prime Time" women—Barletta's term for women between the ages of 50 and 70.

Many retailers fear that by marketing to women, they will alienate their male customers. But, Barletta argues, the opposite is true. "When you meet the higher expectations of women, you're exceeding the expectations of men," Barletta said. Several times throughout her book, Barletta says that women want everything men want—and then some. Barletta coined the term "the perfect answer" to describe this syndrome and women's drive for a complete, integrated solution. "I was trying to distinguish between what men are looking for—'the good solution'—which is the first option that meets a man's criteria, versus women, who look for more than that. Women look not for something that's just 'good enough,' but something that meets all their criteria. It struck me that a good way to encapsulate this idea was the phrase 'the perfect answer,'" Barletta said.

In her book, Barletta cites several retailers who are successful in marketing to women. Jiffy Lube, for example, has redesigned its waiting rooms to include new furniture and color schemes, CD listening stations and general interest women's magazines. Barletta also notes that online wish lists, such as that set up by Amazon.com, are a savvy way to market to women.