They Are Women Hear Them Roar
By Sue Coons

Home Furnishings Executive - August 2000

You know that women are your primary customers, but how are you treating them? Are you "dumbing" your message down or addressing women as informed, busy consumers? Retailers should think of female consumers as savvy shoppers who influence up to 80 percent of all purchase decisions, says Marcia Silverman, president of the Americas for Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. She spoke at the International Sleep Products Association's [ISPA] Expo 2000 in Charlotte, N.C. in March on the topic of marketing to women consumers.

"Forget the traditional homemaker [image] - even traditional homemakers don't like her anymore," she says, as reported by the ISPA. Women now outnumber men; they are becoming more educated, and may have started their own businesses, she says.

Women will turn from businesses that down to them in their marketing, says consumer trend forecaster Faith Popcorn. Popcorn decided that many companies do not know how to successfully market to women, so she wrote the book EVEolution: The Eight Truths of Marketing to Women (Hyperion, 2000).

"Women want a brand to extend into their lives in as many ways as possible. They want a brand to speak to their heads and their hearts," Popcorn writes in her book's introduction.

"And what women don't want is just as important as what they do. They don't want to do business with an organization, a company, or a brand that condescends to them. That inconveniences them. That makes them wait, argue, or defend themselves. They don't want one that establishes the wrong role models or exploits the wrong kind of imagery."

The Industry Knows
Women aren't just the primary consumers for furniture; they are the primary customers for just about everything, says Judy George, chairman and CEO of Boston-based Bomain Home Fashions. "Even men's stores are being designed for women." She says.

"The home in particular is the one domain where women feel in control. Whether they work or not is secondary to how whey feel about it. I think that's why it makes a lot of sense to understand your audience," she says.

More and more husbands join their wives in furniture shopping today, but the woman will decide which store to visit, says Susan Fox Lipschutz, president of DynaMail Marketing in Stuart, Fla.

In her experience, Lipschutz says furniture advertising has always catered to women, primarily through the media choices that it makes. This is because husbands seldom pay attention to furniture ads, she explains.

"I don't necessarily think that the creative approach you take would be more geared to a woman of a man. Men just don't pay attention to it. Women do, so you might as well market to them.

"Retailers are not the only ones to realize the importance of the female consumers. "Over the last five years, there has been a dramatic change in the way that manufacturers have regarded the importance of women as home furnishings product consumers," says Jackie Hirschaut, vice president of public relations for American Furniture Manufacturers Association (AFMA), High Point, N.C.

Some manufacturers have integrated involvement of women in their product development and marketing plans, such as conducting focus groups made up of women. "[Manufacturers] are trying to involve actual consumers before the product is presented to buyers at market," Hirschaut says. "They want to see if they are on track and to make adjustments based on the consumers' recommendations.

"To be effective, marketing to women has to be an understanding of women and how they shop, and how they feel about their homes, George says. Here are some tips about how to market to women - provided by women in the industry.

* Approach them intuitively.
Most women today work, so they have dual incomes, George says. "They want to walk home to something that makes them feel good. That's a big difference in the logical, 'I need a sofa because I need to set in it.' Or 'I need a wall system because I need to put books in it.' It's more about how it looks and feels."

* Focus on the relationship.
This is one recommendation on how men should sell to women, made by co-authors Judith Tingley and Lee Robert in the book GenderSell: How to Sell to the Opposite Sex (Simon & Schuster, 1999). Women will usually pay more to buy from someone they like and trust, the authors say.

* Put sex appeal first and price second.
"That is the best combination of advertising - for women of for men," says Lipschutz. "Give them a reason to come into the store before you tell them it's 50 percent off. Tell them you have a beautiful furniture or great interior service. Show it visually. And then say, 'By the way, we have the best prices and guarantee it.' Or 'come into the store and get a free gift.'"

"Allowing women to see your beautiful furniture in their house is critical," she adds. "They want to see something so beautiful that they can envision it in their house. That's going to give them the impetus to buy."

"Women are looking for something that is going to be very comfortable in their homes, something that is going to represent good quality, and will fit their lifestyle and be a value to them," adds Robin Campbell, manager of advertising and marketing services for Stanely Furniture, Stanleytown, Va.

Women look for products that provide comfort, convenience, practicality, and timesavings, Silverman says. "A beautiful woman lounging on a sofa bed may get a [male] viewer's attention, but the sofa bed ad that also lets the viewers know about quality, durability, comfort…and where she can buy it is far more likely to get her shopping dollars."

* Be more visual.
Women resond better to richer and fuller visuals, Silverman says.

* Don't be negative.
Do not use threats of violence, even as satire, nudity, or subservient portrayals of women, Silverman says. You can use humor, but it can backfire if it is interpreted as ridicule.

* Don't just talk about a product's features.
Allow women to identify with your furniture, as opposed to using an "eight-way hand-tied" kind of advertising that just tells the quality of the structure. "It's much more important to be able to present something that an individual woman can relate to," says Carolyn McLaughlin-Smith, vice president of sales and marketing for Comfort Designs, Kingston, Pa.

* Know who your real clients are.
The customers may be women, but often retailers have no idea in terms of the age or the socioeconomic background, Lipschutz says. "Even when they [retailers] think they know their customers, they often can be wrong."

Lipschutz had one upscale furniture client who thought his customers were 25 to 54. Once his customer list was profiled, he discovered that most of his customers were older, primarily over 50.

Don't Forget about the Men
But can the furniture industry throw all its marketing eggs in the women's basket? Not according to Elizabeth J. Goodgold, chief executive officer of The Nuancing Group, a San Diego-based company that helps businesses develop identities. She advises retailers not to forget about the "significant other's" input into the purchase of decisions.

"I don't know many women who feel good buying major furniture without their husbands' or partners' approval. It's going to be in a community house," she says. "I believe that the smart [retailer] will figure out how to get the buy from the other partner, shich is the key to completing the sale."

Men usually want the facts and are financially driven. When a female consumer is interested in a sofa, for example, she should be able to take home a photo, spec sheet, price, and swatch choices. "It is inexcusable for a furniture retailer not to allow you to check out swatches," Goodgold says. "How can you make a decision?"

The best way to complete the sale in one stop is to have the significan other join the woman at the store. "If you have an open house and only have the woman's name, you need to extend your mailing list to add the guest" she advises. "If you don't put the 'and guest,' you don't have the opportunity to get the person's husband, partner, or even roommate involved. They are all so critical to the decision-making process. If you can't get that person on premise, what can you do to help facilitate that decision?"

Furniture retailers could also learn some lessons from some high-class clothing retailers, Goodgold says. Since many men dread shopping for clothes, some clothing manufacturers have worked to make the experience more positive. For example, they have set up seating islands for the men and have placed male-oriented magazines on coffee tables.

"You are never encouraged to linger in many furniture stores," Goodgold says. "Wouldn't it make sense to get some of your best-selling comfortable furniture and set it up with a grouping and maybe have [a sporting event] playing on a television."

"You cannot purchase unless you are comfortable," she continues. "The retailer has to foster the idea of comfort because if a potential customer is comfortable, the potentioal customer can turn into a live customer."

"We should design a lot of things with a comfort level for men so they can walk into a store and feel that it is more than just about women," George says.

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