Men Buy, Women Shop : The Sexes Have Different Priorities When Walking Down the Aisles
When it comes to shopping, women are
from Nordstrom's and men are from Sears.
Women are happy to meander through
sprawling clothing and accessory collections or detour through the shoe
department. They like to glide up glass escalators past a grand piano, or spray
a perfume sample on themselves on their way to, maybe, making a purchase. For
men, shopping is a mission. They are out to buy a targeted item and flee the
store as quickly as possible, according to new Wharton research.
In a study titled, "Men Buy,
Women Shop," researchers at Wharton's Jay H. Baker Retail Initiative and
the Verde Group, a Toronto consulting firm, found that women react more
strongly than men to personal interaction with sales associates. Men are more
likely to respond to more utilitarian aspects of the experience -- such as the
availability of parking, whether the item they came for is in stock, and the
length of the checkout line.
"Women tend to be more invested
in the shopping experience on many dimensions," says Robert Price, chief
marketing officer at CVS Caremark and a member of the Baker advisory board.
"Men want to go to Sears, buy a specific tool and get out."
As one female shopper between the
ages of 18 and 35 told the researchers: "I love shopping. I love shopping
even when I have a deadline. I just love shopping." Compare that to this
response from a male in the same age group who described how men approach
retailing: "We're going to this store and we buy it and we leave because
we want to do something else."
Price says women's role as caregiver
persists even as women's professional responsibilities mount. He speculates
that this responsibility contributes to women's more acute shopping awareness
and higher expectations.
According to Wharton marketing
professor Stephen J. Hoch,
shopping behavior mirrors gender differences throughout many aspects of life.
"Women think of shopping in an inter-personal, human fashion and men treat
it as more instrumental. It's a job to get done," he says, adding that the
data has implications for retailers interested in developing a more segmented
approach to build and maintain loyalty among male and female customers.
Feeling Important vs. Checking Out Fast
"Men Buy, Women Shop" also
found that women are more likely to experience problems while shopping than men
-- 53% vs. 48%, with women over age 40 reporting more problems than men in the
same age group.
For women, "lack of help when
needed" is the top problem (29%). It is also the likeliest reason that
stores lose the business of women shoppers. Indeed, according to an analysis of
the study's data, about 6% of all female shoppers could be lost to stores due
to lack of sales help. The problem most likely to result in lost business from
men is if the product they came to buy is out of stock; about 5% of all male
shoppers could be lost to stores for this reason.
Male and female shoppers also have
different reactions to sales associates. For men, an associate's interest in
helping them find an item is most important, followed by the sales associate's
effort in getting them through checkout quickly. For women, store loyalty is
related to sales associates' familiarity with the products in the store and an
ability to determine what products best suit the customer. Women shoppers also
value sales associates who make them feel important, according to the survey.
In an interview with researchers,
one woman in the 18 to 35 bracket described the employees in a favorite store.
"The sales associates are always great. They always show me different
styles. They will show me something new that's come in." Meanwhile, a man
in the same age bracket said this: "I haven't had much interaction with
most sales people. I don't really need them -- as long as they're at the
checkout."
Paula Courtney, president of the
Verde Group, suggests that the attitudes expressed toward sales associates
reflect subtle, but important, differences between men and women. When asked
what problem would make respondents so angry they would never return to a
store, women cited employees who "acted like you were intruding on their
time or their own conversations." Men were most miffed by employees who
were "lazy, i.e., would not check for additional stock or take you to the
item you were looking for."
Courtney points out that for women,
it's more personal. For men, problems with associates are still linked directly
to getting the item they need. "Women are more apt to be angered by a lack
of engagement behavior from the sales associates. For men, while engagement is
still important, it's not as important as the product and getting in and out
quickly."
Retailers can use the study findings
to tailor services to build sales, she said. "In a highly competitive
market, where people are price-sensitive and there are tons of choices, if you
can get one more strategy up your sleeve that gives you that edge, then why not?"
she asks. "If we treat men and women differently, then we are going to be
more successful." Erin Armendinger, managing director of the Baker
initiative, puts it this way: "Men and women are simply different,"
she says. "It's important for retailers to remember it's not only what
they're purchasing, but how they're doing it."
Price suggests that retailers who
want to improve their ability to reach shoppers based on gender can take some
concrete steps. First, however, they must be sure that their operations are
running as smoothly as possible in order to avoid irritations, such as
out-of-stock merchandise or a lack of advertising circulars that diminish the
shopping experience for men and women both. He also says that efforts to reach
out to women shoppers cannot be superficial, such as simply putting up signs or
changing the color of uniforms.
Communication is critical to
reaching women shoppers, Price adds. Sales associates need to understand
whether the shopper is looking for a product that will come out of disposable
income, such as cosmetics, or a more essential and difficult to understand
product -- such as an over-the-counter drug or first aid treatment. Helping
shoppers in those two different categories requires different styles of
communication. Sales associates must be trained to recognize and react to
shoppers' cues.
Retailers hoping to appeal to women
shoppers also need to devote attention to editing their assortment of items,
Price says. Managers may be tempted to offer a wide swath of products, but he
cites research showing that women who have to balance many responsibilities
prefer stores with limited selections, such as Coach, Trader Joe's and Sephora.
Finally, he says, hiring women
throughout the ranks will bring retailers more in touch with what women want.
At his company, women make up the majority of sales associates and are heavily
represented in the marketing department. No idea gets floated too far before a
woman can reflect on how it might impact her own life, he notes.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1848
No comments:
Post a Comment