Marketing to Women Online

How Women Shop Online Part 2

Ok – I know I’ve been somewhat of a cranky-pants lately – so today I’m going to be effusive and gushing and showering in praise. 

Yeah right.

But I do have some good things to say about an interesting article on how men and women shop online…what’s the same and what’s different. 

Resource Interactive conducted a study with comScore Networks about how men and women shop differently online.   They wanted to come up with the answer to the question: Given the different online shopping styles of men and women, how can online merchants set up their sites to maximize sales from both genders?

Here are some of the key findings of the research:

Stick to Their Mission vs. Expand Their Mission

Paco Underhill, the famed "shopping scientist" who advises the retail industry on shoppers behaviors stated in 2000 that women seek online objectives single-mindedly, while men stay oneline and surf.  But Resource Interactive's research contradicted this theory. To sum up one of the research's findings, "Men stick to their mission, women expand their mission," says Edd Johns, Resource Interactive's executive director of strategy.

"If men are out to research the best digital camera or the best shirt, they're not doing much else," he says.

"Women, however, might come in and say, 'I'm interested in a digital camera,' and the next thing you know, they're looking at clothes for their kids, they're thinking about what they're doing that weekend, and if they need to pick something up for their husbands."

But Johns stresses a critical point: Although women expand their mission, they don't abandon it. "Their list of 'things to do' grows. So what you need to know as a retailer is that they're going to be diverting from their primary mission, but they're adding to it, not abandoning it."

There is a really fine distinction here. 

Dodge - Gay Bashing??

I’ve talked a lot about the importance of authenticity.  Companies today must walk the walk.  Consumers – both advocates and protagonists – are watching what you do as well as what you say.  You want to create a brand?  Everything you say and do must reinforce that brand image.

So – along comes Dodge’s new commercial for their Caliber model now known as "silly little fairy" though officially known as "Too Tough".   Many are crying out that the commercial is homophobic at best and pure gay bashing at worst.   Bob Garfield lends his thoughts on the matter in this AD Age article.

Faggot. Queer. Fairy. These are synonyms, epithets one and all disparaging gays -- or, more often, heterosexual men deemed insufficiently masculine. Let's call that Fact No. 1.

Macho brand
Fact No. 2: Dodge is marketing its new Caliber subcompact as a tough little car, as opposed to sissy little Civics, Corollas and the like. This comports with Dodge's long-cultivated macho image, as exemplified by the grunting, Aerosmith heavy-metal music tag punctuating every spot.

Fact No. 3 is that one of the introductory commercials from BBDO, Detroit, features the juxtaposition of a burly tough guy and his Doberman with a sweater-draped girlie man who is walking four little lap dogs. Fact No. 4 is that the only line of dialogue in the commercial is the burly dude exclaiming, "Silly little fairy!"

And Fact No. 5 -- the genuinely astonishing fact -- is that Daimler Chrysler asserts that none of the above is meant to invoke a sexual insult.

Now – do I like the commercial?  No.  I don’t find it funny or even remotely amusing.   But does it convey the message Dodge wants to convey?   I think it does.   If you’re a manly man, full of testosterone, wanting to drive something ugly and solid as opposed to cute and effeminate, if you want to feel secure in that manhood and convey to the rest of the world what a manly man you are – this car is for you.   No one will ever mistake you for a sissy or a fairy queer guy. 

You could take it even further - why don’t you add those fake truck balls you see hanging from the back of trucks just to prove your point.   “I have balls and everything I do is going to prove to you I have balls even if I have to hang fake ones from the back of my car.”

My problem with Dodge is – they are denying that this is the message. 

Wizards of Web Special Event

I don’t know if you’ve ever met my pals Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg.  (boss sounds so hierarchical – I prefer to think of them as my friends)  Bryan and Jeffrey are the two head honchos behind Future Now. They are also two of the smartest guys I’ve ever met.  And that’s saying something, cause I think smart is seriously sexy and surround myself with the biggest brains I can find. 

Bryan and Jeffrey teach a famous course at Wizard Academy called Wizards of Web.  If you’ve ever thought about attending – this is the time.  Keep reading. 

Very shortly, you’re going to be hearing some serious buzz about their new book, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark.  And in this case, the buzz is going to be deserved.  It truly is a remarkable manuscript.   Lest you think it’s only for pet lovers, the book talks about a fundamental change in marketing that will alter the way in which you view your customers and how to market to them.

The book gives away the farm on Persuasion Architecture, the process Future Now uses to create exponential increases in conversion in online as well as offline marketing.  To be honest, after reading it, I thought they’d lost their minds.   All the secrets, all the proprietary processes – it’s all in there.   

So –what does this have to do with you?   

Why Women Shop Online

Do women shop the same way online as they shop offline?  Do they have the same needs, questions, buying process?  Is what’s most important to them offline also what’s most important to them online?

Not all women love to shop.   But there are certainly quite a few who do.   There is something unique about actually being in a store, feeling, touching, trying on, getting new ideas.   There’s something about that environment that women truly enjoy.   

So – for the women who truly love the shopping experience – if they shop online instead of offline, there is usually a reason for it.   There is something that the online experience offers that the offline does not.   There is a reason why she is on the Internet and not in a store.   Understanding what that reason is is absolutely key for making your site successful.

So what are the main reasons women shop online?

-         To save time

-         To get a better selection

-         To research a product

-         To get a better value

-         Anonymity

-         Logistics – i.e.  there isn’t a branch of the store near her, she’s buying a gift and it’s easier to buy and send online than buy offline and have to wrap it and go to the post office. 

Here’s an example:  Heather wants to buy a bikini.