Women as a Customer in Business

By

Meera Uday
Faculty
Department of Management Studies
Global Academy of Technology
Bangalore
 

Tom Peters, in a presentation to the North Mississippi Medical Center makes 10 key points that businesses better pay attention to when planning their customers' experience:

10 UNQUESTIONABLE REASONS WOMEN RULE

Women make [all] the financial decisions.
Women control [all] the wealth.
Women [substantially] outlive men.
Women start most of the new businesses.
Women's work force participation rates have   soared worldwide.
Women are closing in on "same pay for same job."
Women are penetrating senior ranks rapidly [even if the pace is slow for the corner office per se].
Women's leadership strengths are exceptionally well aligned with new organizational effectiveness imperatives.
Women are better salespersons than men.
Women buy [almost] everything—commercial as well as consumer goods.

So what exactly is the point of men ?

To substantiate the above statements, here are two examples:

Santro on discount for women

Hyundai Motor India Ltd offers discount of Rs 14,000 on the automatic transmission model of its Santro model for its women customers in celebration of the International Women's Day on March 8 and women's week starting from March 1. The company plans to tap women customers through reduced finance schemes in collaboration with Axis Bank Ltd by offering a 0.75 per cent discount on interest rate and reduction in loan processing fee by 50 per cent.

Reebok sets store by women

"Befriending our women customers," is how Mr Sajid Shamim, Director-Marketing and Products, Reebok India Company, describes Reebok's renewed focus on women-wear and that sums up the company's current marketing strategy.

Reebok, part of Adidas AG of Germany, has close to 700 retail showrooms across the country. It now intends to focus on 'women only' outlets, where the products on sale convey a thematic appeal.

Keeping in with this strategy, Reebok opened an exclusive showroom selling womenswear of Reebok brand in Chennai — the first such retail outlet in South India.

The shop sells sportswear, casual wear and footwear products, catering mainly to young women.

"We would be aggressively focussing on women's category and create new product lines," Mr Shamim told Business Line , at the inauguration function.

He noted that the event marked "our foray into the burgeoning lifestyle space".

Nestled in a building in that also houses a women's gym, a beauty parlour and a hangout eatery, the Reebok showroom on Khader Nawaz Khan Road expects to recover its Rs 40 lakh investment in two years.

The franchise is owned by a group of four women.

The women-centric strategy has been evident for some time in Reebok's communication — such as in the 'I am More' campaign, which has various women celebrities as its brand ambassador. .

Thus it is evident that fairer sex has gained importance as a valuable customer in the current business scenario.

Reference: Hindu Business Line dated June 1, 2008 and Feb 28, 2008
 

Meera Uday
Faculty
Department of Management Studies
Global Academy of Technology
Bangalore
 

Source: E-mail July 15, 2008

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