Editor's note: Amy Yoffie is president of Research Connections, Inc., an on-line marketing research firm in Westfield, N.J.
One of the most obvious reasons for on-line vendors to target women is that they are more likely to shop. This is not a sexist statement, but rather the reality of the retail world. Research has shown that women purchase 90 percent of home products, clothing, health care and perishable products.
Marketers, then, have a choice - they can try to convert men into shoppers, or they can reach out to women already on-line and also work to attract more women to this medium.
To learn more about why women go on-line and how they view Internet commerce, we E-mailed 10,000 questionnaires to randomly selected women who had registered at one or more Web sites. Normally, surveys like this achieve about a 1 percent response rate. This time we received a 4 percent response rate. Some may believe that women are invisible on the Internet, but they certainly want to be heard. In fact, 45 percent of those who answered said they would be willing to participate in future surveys.
The women who answered were active on-line users, with 52 percent telling us that they spend 10 or more hours a week on-line.
Number of Hours Spent On-line Per Week (n=392)
| Hours | % of Total |
| Less than 6 | 21 |
| 6-9 | 27 |
| 10-20 | 28 |
| More than 20 | 24 |
Age (n=392)
| % of Total | |
| 18-24 | 5 |
| 25-34 | 19 |
| 35-44 | 31 |
| 45-54 | 32 |
| 55-64 | 8 |
| 65+ | 3 |
Reasons For Going On-line (n=392)
| % of Total (multiple responses accepted) | |
| Send/receive E-mail | 97 |
| Education/research | 81 |
| Browsing/surfing | 74 |
| Community/chat groups | 48 |
| Shop products/services | 38 |
| Other | 23 |
Easy and fun
Many of the women in our survey, even those who have not yet bought anything on-line, expressed an interest in doing so in the future. They see the enormous potential. They want it to be fun, they want it to be easy, and they seek the variety that on-line has the potential to give them. In other words, they want more, not less. "Include products that appeal to a wide audience," one respondent wrote. "If you're selling clothing, make sure to have all sizes available, including kids and large-size adults." And she added this advice: "Don't make the shipping charges so high that you discourage people from using the service. Remember to use sales and buying in bulk to save on charges; this would motivate more to use the service."
Making the buying experience positive was a major theme among our respondents. They gave several pointers on how to keep them coming back. One woman wrote: "1. Make it fun and attractive. 2. Make it easy, not a lot of 'junk' pages that take up my time. Get right to the point. 3. Make sure finding your site is easy - easily searchable on all search engines with several different key words. Offer free tech support/talk for the first-time user."
Women in our study confirmed our belief that they shop on-line because it saves time. "I shop on-line particularly around holidays and birthdays, due to time management considerations, not because I find great deals," one told us.
Primary Reasons to Shop On-line (n=239)
| % of Total (multiple responses accepted) | |
| Convenience | 59 |
| Speed | 26 |
| Information available on-line | 26 |
| Ease compared with in-person | 20 |
| Lack of crowds | 17 |
| Product/choice diversity | 14 |
| Cost savings | 10 |
| Ease compared with catalog | 8 |
| Other | 7 |
While computer hardware and software are considered to be male products, software also tops the list of purchases made by women, with books, travel arrangements and gift items following.
Fear of fraud
Another reason that marketers should be appealing to women is that women are heavy users of credit cards. Right now that is the payment method of choice on the Internet. In fact, 74 percent of women purchasers in our study paid for on-line products and services with a credit card.
But, 57 percent of non-buying women in our study cited the threat of credit card fraud as the primary barrier to purchasing on-line. The concern over credit card security came from buyers and non-buyers. "Please provide a secured environment for charge card purchases," one woman offered. "Nothing is perfect but knowing that there is a secured connection when entering my charge card helps. If I feel safe giving that much information, it is much nicer than catalogue shopping and very convenient."
Method of Payment (n=239)
| % of Total (multiple responses accepted) | |
| Entered credit card # on-line | 74 |
| Called/faxed credit card # | 19 |
| Mailed in check | 19 |
| C.O.D. | 6 |
| Other | 13 |
Other key reasons for not buying on-line were: the need to touch, feel or try on a product; not seeing any products that would motivate a purchase, and a desire to speak to a "live" person before buying.
Reasons For Not Buying On-line (n=153)
| % of Total (multiple responses accepted) | |
| Threat of credit card fraud | 57 |
| Need to touch/feel/try on what I buy | 48 |
| Have not seen anything I wanted to buy | 35 |
| Prefer to talk to someone when I buy | 31 |
| Not familiar with companies offering merchandise | 16 |
| Other | 27 |
Favor well-known firms
The desire for ease of payment and refunds, reliability, customer service, and ability to cancel orders all are a concern. This points to a boon for traditional vendors who already have an off-line reputation. Indeed, women seem to favor firms that are well-known off-line. One wrote: "I think some people are leery about buying on-line because of the rumors of quacks out there. Buyers want to be sure they are dealing with a company that will honor their product and reputation."
This is a double-edged sword, however, as women complained about the fact that on-line shopping areas do not carry as much merchandise as their physical locations. In other words, once they started shopping on-line, they wanted to accomplish as much as possible there. They see no obvious advantage to buying on-line if they have to go to the store anyway. One woman wrote: "I've been to three areas for purchasing goods, Office Max, JC Penney's and a cook book service. What I found dissatisfying was being unable to purchase anything that the store sold. I could only purchase what was made available through the on-line service."
Of course, unknown on-line vendors who make it easy to shop and buy can gain a significant edge, as demonstrated by Amazon.com, an on-line book seller. As one respondent suggested: "Have a reasonable return policy and credit my account promptly for properly returned merchandise. Sell good stuff at value prices. I don't want junk, and I won't pay inflated prices just for the 'prestige' (ha) of shopping on the Net. Go buy something from Amazon.com. They do it right."
Provide information
One way to reach women may be to provide them with information. In our survey, 81 percent said they go on-line for education and research. Yet research has shown that more women than men (40 percent to 31 percent) said they had trouble finding information on-line.
Women in our survey were eager to gather as much information on what they were buying as possible. One woman offered: "Give me plenty of information about content, sizing, colors, requirements for using the product, etc. Don't skimp on the copy."
Interestingly, despite conventional wisdom on the need to keep sites simple and graphics to a minimum, there was an overwhelming desire for photographs of merchandise. And not just one photograph; these women urged marketers to take advantage of the medium to show multiple photos of the same items "from several angles."
One told us: "What impresses me most about on-line shopping is a company's ability to present a product so effectively. Not only do you see the product, but it is described in much detail, leaving little doubt about what the product has to offer. Comparison shopping is easier . . . As long as product presentation is attractive, detailed and easy to order, I will continue to shop on-line."
Respondents said that companies need to develop easier tools for navigating their sites, robust search engines, and quick, efficient and painless on-line ordering mechanisms. One wrote: "Make it easy to find (companies) and their products - getting to some sites isn't intuitive and lots of people don't spend time thinking (how to get there). I think of it as a challenge and like the searching process, but I know others who have given up."
But these women offered warnings about having too much information on a Web site. Their advice was that sites should begin with basic information and leave it to the shopper to determine the amount of information she needs. To quote one: "Get to the point. Offer the product and have a buy option up top, with other options to learn more about the product, guarantee, etc., below that, and then frequent buy options scattered in between. I HATE having to go through a lot of copy when I know what I want."
The women were nearly unanimous in their appeal to marketers to advertise anywhere but in their E-mail box. They said how much they hate junk E-mail and its negative effect on their decision making. When asked what advice they would give companies that market products on-line, one woman said: "First and foremost, I would tell these people to stop filling my mailbox with their stuff. If I want it, I will go out on the WWW and look for it. It is annoying, and in most cases does the exact opposite of what it intends. If I am looking for a product or service, and I see that I get unsolicited E-mail, I will go out of my way to avoid the company that does not respect my privacy."
Reap rewards
While on-line commerce may seem to present myriad challenges to marketers, evidence shows that women shop on-line the way they always have: using credit cards, looking for quality and bargains, and returning to businesses that provide a positive, comfortable and enjoyable buying environment. Companies that deliver these service attributes will be ideally positioned to reap the rewards of this fast-growing marketing opportunity.