Although women control spending in most categories of consumer goods, too many businesses behave as if they had no say over purchasing decisions. It’s still tough for women to find a pair of pants, buy a healthful meal, get financial advice without feeling patronized, or make the time to stay in shape. Few companies have responded to their need for time-saving solutions or for products and services designed specifically for them. They have too many demands on their time and constantly juggle conflicting priorities-work, home, and family. Despite the remarkable strides in market power and social position that they have made in the past century, they still appear to be undervalued in the marketplace and underestimated in the workplace. Here’s what we found, in brief: Women feel vastly underserved. (You can learn more about the survey and take an abridged version of it at We also conducted hundreds of interviews and studied women working in 50 organizations in 13 fields of endeavor. They answered-often with disarming candor-120 questions about their education and finances, homes and possessions, jobs and careers, activities and interests, relationships, and hopes and fears, along with their shopping behavior and spending patterns in some three dozen categories of goods and services. More than 12,000 women, from more than 40 geographies and a variety of income levels and walks of life, responded to our survey. It turned out there was lots of room for improvement. In 2008 the Boston Consulting Group fielded a comprehensive study of how women felt about their work and their lives, and how they were being served by businesses. Most companies have much to learn about selling to women. Kudos to Dell for correcting course promptly, but why didn’t its marketers catch the potentially awkward positioning before the launch? “You spoke, we listened,” Dell told users. (Nine out of ten Victorian-age doctors agree.)” The New York Times said that Dell had to go to the “school of marketing hard knocks.” Within weeks of the launch, the company altered the site’s name and focus. It created an uproar among women, who described it as “slick but disconcerting” and “condescending.” The blogosphere reacted quickly to the company’s “very special site for women.” Austin Modine of the online tech publication The Register responded acidly, “If you thought computer shopping was a gender-neutral affair, then you’ve obviously been struck down by an acute case of female hysteria. The site emphasized colors, computer accessories, and tips for counting calories and finding recipes. The company fell into the classic “make it pink” mind-set with the May 2009 launch of its Della website. And yet many companies do just that, even ones that are confident they have a winning strategy when it comes to women.Ĭonsider Dell’s short-lived effort to market laptops specifically to women. Given those numbers, it would be foolish to ignore or underestimate the female consumer.
In aggregate, women represent a growth market bigger than China and India combined-more than twice as big, in fact.
Their $13 trillion in total yearly earnings could reach $18 trillion in the same period. Globally, they control about $20 trillion in annual consumer spending, and that figure could climb as high as $28 trillion in the next five years. Companies that likewise successfully tailor their offerings to women will be positioned to win when the economy begins to recover.
Curves, however, understood that time-pressed women needed quick, affordable workouts, and came up with the concept of simple, 30-minute exercise routines geared to women and offered in no-frills spaces. Most health clubs are expensive and designed for men, with lots of complicated body-building equipment. While any business would be wise to target female consumers, they say, the greatest potential lies in six industries: food, fitness, beauty, apparel, health care, and financial services.Īddress women’s concerns effectively, and your company could see the kind of rapid growth that fitness chain Curves enjoyed. In this article, Silverstein and Sayre, two of the firm’s partners, review highlights of the findings and explain the biggest opportunities. Yet most companies do a remarkably poor job of serving them, a new study by the Boston Consulting Group reveals.īCG surveyed more than 12,000 women from a variety of geographies, income levels, and walks of life about their education, finances, homes, jobs, activities, interests, relationships, hopes, and fears, as well as their shopping behaviors and spending patterns. They control $20 trillion in consumer spending, and that figure could reach $28 trillion in the next five years. As a market, women represent an opportunity bigger than China and India combined.
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