It is said that women shop while men only buy. The marketing professor at Wharton, Stephen J. Hoch says, that the shopping behavior of men differ widely from that of women. To women, shopping is like the experience of interpersonal communication following the latest trends of fashion while, men consider shopping to be a process of picking up something from the shop that they had planned to buy before going to the market. To men, buying clothes is nothing but an assignment to get completed as early as possible. The process is quite instrumental for men. That is why even retailers need to take segmented approach in maintaining loyalty among men and women.
More women (53%) compared to the number of men (48%) complain about problems regarding shopping. For women, the biggest problem related to shopping is not getting enough help while that is needed. That is the main reason why certain stores lose women customers (6%). Men on the other hand complain more about finding space near the store entrance to park their vehicles. The buying process directly bothers a male visitor only when the product that he had come to buy is out of stock. That is the only reason the store might lose some of its male customers (5%).
Male and female buyers react differently to the sales associates. Men are usually happy if the associate offers help to find out what he had come to buy. Female buyers are mostly impressed with the store associates who have more information about different products available in the store and can make necessary suggestions about what suits the customer most. Women expect hundred percent engagement of the sales associate, while for men, the first and foremost concern still remains getting the product quickly.
The president of Verde Group, Paula Courtney suggested that retailers can exploit the different shopping behavior of men and women in favor of bringing in effective growth in sales. Different strategies applied to the consumers of two different sexes can help to retain more customers and make the business successful. It is not only about what they are purchasing, but about how they are purchasing. That is the point that creates a huge difference between the shopping behavior of the two groups.
Shoppers planning to reach out to the consumers based on genders must make sure that all the operational processes run smoothly and customers do not need to be irritated. It is not quite easy to impress the women customers. Only putting up necessary signs at the store, changing colors of the dress they try to find cannot win the task. The sales associates should be efficient enough to recognize shoppers’ cues and react accordingly. That can make the customers more patient in listening to what the sales people say.
Gender is one of the attributes that demands careful handling when the shop is concerned about impressing and retaining customers. Strategic procedures to address the requirements and demands of customers of these two genders can help the marketers win the battle.
