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We had a chance to attend a special seminar at CES called "Shopping
for Consumer Electronics - Understanding the Female Perspective."
The session discussed a wide range of issues, but perhaps the
most important take away was the vast untapped potential that
women shoppers bring to the consumer electronics segment - and
how far the industry is from tapping this potential.
For example, women actually spent more on technology last year
than men, according to the CEA, which said women accounted for
$55B of the $96B spent on electronics gear. But retailers and
manufacturers have been slow to understand this dynamic.
The CES panel was moderated by Laura Heller, a senior editor at
DSN Retailing Today. Panelists included:
· Katherine Rizzuto, publisher, Marie Claire Magazine
· Susan Stoev, worldwide business research director, Eastman
Kodak Company, Digital & Film Imaging Systems
· Denise Yohn, VP, Corporate Strategic Marketing, Sony
Electronics, Inc.
· Dave Williams, vice president, Enterprise Research &
Analysis, Best Buy, Inc.
The discussion was spearheaded with statistics from CEA market
research affiliate eBrain and highlighted with video clips of
women discussing the CE shopping experience in focus groups.
For example, when asked what irritated women when shopping for
CE products, 74% said unhelpful sales people, 70% didn't like
pushy salespeople, and 66% responded unfavorably to out-of-stock
items. What they want is a big selection (51%) and helpful salespeople
(46%).
In a video clip, one women shopper said when she shops for a CE
product, she is "on a mission." Best Buy's Williams
agreed with this, noting that most men, on the other hand, relish
the "thrill of the hunt" when buying CE products. He
acknowledged that the shopping environment is "male oriented
and has been this way for too long. Women feel a lack of respect
in CE stores; they are either ignored, or assaulted by pushy sales
people. We will be taking steps to change all of this, but it
will take time since this behavior is in the DNA."
Rizzuto said that CE manufacturers and retailers need to reach
out better to women if they want to sell to them. She suggested
advertising in women's magazines (like hers). "We ran a special
promotion that gave away a notebook in our magazine and we got
250,000 responses, so there is high awareness and interest in
technology among women," said Rizzuto. "Women want to
be educated about CE products, but they want to be talked to in
terms they understand."
Kodak's Stoev agreed, noting that Kodak trains its staff in how
to talk to women. "If the retailers can be mentors to women
and help educate them, they are doing a good job," said Stoev.
"But usually it is a blender experience, with the woman leaving
even more confused."
"Our salespeople just don't talk the same language that women
need to hear," commented Williams. "We need to engage
them on their own terms."
eBrain also developed some statistics on how women shop. It found,
for example, that 41% of women say they prefer to shop with a
male friend if looking for CE products. And, 40% of women feel
they are treated better if accompanied by a man.
When men and women were asked about their confidence levels in
buying a series of CE products, men scored consistently higher
than women. Women are the most confident about buying cell phones
(44%), followed by video equipment (37%), printers (34%) and computers
(31%). They also experience a range of emotions when doing their
CE shopping, like confidence (60%), confused/stupid (41%), sensory
overload (39%) and even boredom (23%).
Best Buy's Williams noted some other shopping differences between
women and men. "Women tend to shop for the whole package
or system at once, whereas men will buy it piecemeal."
Sony's Yohn noted that women tend to seek more information about
products before making a purchasing decision.
The panelists all agreed that women are more attuned to the "look"
of the products and how they will fit into their lifestyles and/or
living rooms. They want to understand the products' benefits for
them and if they will simply their lives.
Rizzuto said CE retailers should take a page from the shopping
experience women have in stores like Nordstrom or Lord and Taylor.
One woman from the focus groups said she felt very comfortable
in stores like Target and wished the CE shopping experience could
be as nice.
Williams was asked why Best Buy couldn't just set up living rooms
in its stores to show how fashionable and stylish big-screen TVs
are to help sell them to women. "We are looking at that,
but trying to understand if that is the best way to communicate
this message. However, we know that women are very attracted to
the flat-panel TVs because they are not the big boxy types that
dominate a room."
"Best Buy needs to work with manufacturers to improve the
in-store buying experience. We have to learn to make it more fun
and show the benefits of the technology and not just specs."
But should retailers and manufacturers make a better attempt to
sell female colors and styles? The answer was mixed, with
32% thinking this a bad idea while 30% said do more.
Other retail suggestions for ways to appeal to women included
doing a women's night, inviting a Glamour editor to talk in a
store, and running children's movies for the kids.
Sony plans to do more advertorials, target women's publications
and media, do more on the Web to educate women, and do more research
in general. Yohn noted that sales of Sony's new camcorder have
gone well because it is fun to use. "We need to make more
products like that," commented Yohn.
Most women feel that CE products are not designed for them. In
fact, 54% think they are designed for no one, 25% think they are
designed for men, but only 1% think they are designed for women.
This last statistic is very telling. Clearly, manufacturers need
to get women involved in the design process at all levels if they
plan to market to women. Men designing products with features
they think will appeal to women is probably not going to work
very well. There is a huge opportunity out there for manufacturers
and retailers, so it will be exciting to see which ones will go
after this and reap the rewards.
While there was much attention paid to ways to market to women
and how women are treated in the CE retail environment, all agreed
that women are also interested in product specs and are good judges
of TV image quality.
Annmarie Gabisch, 203-831-8464
annmarie@insightmedia.info
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