Women Spending More, Yet Taking "Savage" and Fragmented Approach to Holiday Shopping this Season

While some media outlets are reporting that men took the lead in spending at the start of the holiday shopping season, the leading expert in selling to women advises retailers to remember that women remain the primary consumer making and influences purchases.

“Whether she’s using her credit card or not, the woman is influencing the decision 94% of the time,” said Delia Passi, author of Winning the Toughest Customer: The Essential Guide to Selling to Women (Kaplan 2006). “Women are also extremely brand loyal and refer new business at twice the rate of men. It’s never too late for retailers – both in-store and online – to realign their sales strategy to cater to the female buyer.”

Passi emphasizes that retailers that did not do well during the first few days of the 2006 season were victims of an industry-driven savage and fragmented shopper syndrome. Women are being bombarded with bargains and running from store to store rather than staying in a single retail space and spending incremental dollars.

“Retailers should want a woman to have a cohesive shopping strategy and an in-store plan to tackle several items on their gift lists,” said Passi. “Right now, stores should stock up on niceties such as plenty of inventory, staff, gift suggestion displays and gift wrapping service. Something as simple as greeting a woman and directing her to a hot sale or answering a question may keep her in your store and convince her to open her wallet.”

MedeliaMonitor® Shopping survey results found that most women plan to spend more during the 2006 holiday season than they did the previous year and that they continue to demand more from the in-store experience. Thirty percent of female shoppers plan to increase their holiday spending by 10% or more over their 2005 spending levels.

Retailers who create positive in-store and online experiences will reap the benefits. When shopping for consumer electronics or home improvement products for example, women shoppers most want honest product advice and to pay a fair price, noted by 69%. They also want product knowledgeable salespeople (60%), the lowest possible price (59%), to avoid being sold unnecessary extended warranties/service contracts (57%) and when purchasing large items, available delivery service (50%).