Press Release

What’s Inside…

WOMEN WANT MORE: HOW TO CAPTURE YOUR SHARE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST, FASTEST GROWING MARKET

By Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Sayre

Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Sayre, partners at The Boston Consulting Group, make the case that success for consumer-facing companies hinges more and more on how well they understand and respond to the needs and desires of women. Not only are they increasingly the key breadwinners in the family, women also control the majority of household spending. On top of that, they generally run the household – doing the bulk of the work there – as well as managing their work lives. They’re over-subscribed, overworked and under-served by many consumer categories. Companies that can make the leap and understand the emotional needs of women – and develop products and services that begin to meet those needs, as well as provide technical and functional benefits that women want but aren’t finding – have the chance to tap into new growth and profitability, all over the world.

Meeting this challenge involves internalizing the notion that the weight of the world really is on women’s shoulders. It also means coming to terms with the fact that while women are loyal to products and services that truly deliver, they’re not loyal to brands per se – women, more than men, focus on what a product does for them.

In writing and developing Women Want More: How to Capture Your Share of the World’s Largest, Fastest-Growing Market (Harper Business, September 2009), Mr. Silverstein and Ms. Sayre surveyed 12,000 women in 22 countries and delved into a continuum of companies, categories and countries.

The book, a definitive portrait of the new female economy, makes the case that…

Consumer Companies Should be Laser-Focused on Women: They Control, and Increasingly Make, the Money

• Globally, women control nearly $12 trillion of the overall $18.4 trillion in consumer discretionary spending. By 2013, women will control $15 trillion.
• In the top 20 markets, women control $10 trillion of $15.3 trillion in consumer discretionary spending.
• By 2028, women will control nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of consumer discretionary spending worldwide.
• Between 2002 and 2007, women’s income (globally) increased by nearly $3 trillion to $9.8 trillion. By 2013, women’s income will jump by $5 trillion to $15.6 trillion.
• The wage gap between men and women is closing, albeit slowly.
• In the U.S. and E.U., most college students (57 percent and 55 percent, respectively) are women. Worldwide, half (49 percent) of college students are women.
• Women own or co-own 40 percent of U.S. businesses. Solely women-owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of all U.S. firms (and faster than male-owned businesses).

In Fact, Women Assume Responsibility for Most Key Facets of Life: The Demands and Responsibilities are Formidable

• As of 2006, 70.9 percent of mothers in the U.S. were in the labor force, and most (56 percent) had children under one year of age.
• At the same time, women do most of the work at home.
  • 88 percent say they have responsibility for grocery shopping, according to the BCG survey.
  • 85 percent have responsibility for meal prep.
  • 84 percent have responsibility for laundry.
  • 84 percent have responsibility for cleaning.
  • And 77 percent have responsibility for household administration.

The Result: High Stress Levels Among Women Worldwide

• Nearly half of all women (47 percent) said the big stress in their life is demands on their time.
• 48 percent of women say they feel pressure related to managing household finances – and that it’s the major point of stress in their lives.
  • 81 percent don’t think they’re saving enough for retirement.
  • 73 percent are concerned that they don’t consistently save.
  • 41 percent save less than they’d like.
• 45 percent said they don’t have “enough time for me.”
• 38 percent say “conflicting priorities” cause stress.

And Women Expect a Lot of Themselves – and Frequently Feel Frustrated

• Only 25 percent say they believe they are extremely or very attractive.
  • 25 percent say they rarely or never feel beautiful.
  • 44 percent say they rarely or never feel powerful.
• 68 percent say they believe they’re higher than their ideal body weight.

The Values that Women Hold High, and the Drivers of their Happiness, are Lofty and Conceptual: They Don’t Relate Directly to Material Goods or Concrete Achievement

• The values most important to women are: love (77 percent); health (58 percent); honesty (51 percent), and emotional well-being (48 percent).
• The things that make women extremely happy are: pets (42 percent); sex (27 percent) and food (19 percent). Only 5 percent cited shopping, and only 2 percent cited the economy.

So, Given the Responsibilities, Pressure and Frustrations, it’s Important for Consumer-Facing Companies to Understand What Women Really Want More of…

• According to the BCG research, women want more…
  • Love and connection – lasting, romantic relationships; happy, healthy families; connections with friends, colleagues and neighbors.
  • Fulfillment – freedom to pursue happiness and satisfaction.
  • Time and work-life balance – the ability to “make it all happen” and make the right trade-offs and tough decisions.
  • Money as a marker, not for its own sake, but better control of inflow and outflow, and guidance on spending and saving wisely.

Since Consumer Companies Can’t Deliver Love, Fulfillment and Time Per Se, They Must…

• Provide products and agents of leverage and savings that mitigate challenges and respond to women’s desires and stresses on emotional, technical and functional levels.
  • According to the book, women are unfailingly loyal to their responsibilities, their families and, if they can, themselves. No brand can expect to take precedence over those loyalties.
  • But any brand that enables a woman to better meet her obligations, enhance relationships and give her back a bit of time for herself can get female customers’ full attention, dollars and a good word to family and friends.

Some Companies Get it Right When it Comes to Serving Women in a Robust Way

• Other players can learn from how these companies connect with women by…
  • Recognizing their needs, aspirations and frustrations
  • Researching how to deliver what women want
  • Responding to women
  • Refining offerings

Key Categories for Women

• Food: Answering the Daily Question, “What’s for Dinner?” Food is both a pleasure and a challenge for women. Worldwide, they do most of the food preparation for their families. They want suppliers to combine healthy choices, convenience and affordability. Women see food as adventure and education.
• Fitness: Still Looking for a Holistic Solution. Women want to be thin, but healthy; fit, but not necessarily buff. Twice as many think they are over weight as actually are. Women constantly struggle with their health, weight and fitness and are eager for a better way. They represent an untapped opportunity.
• Beauty: The Next Product Needs to Do it! Women seek beauty that combines physical appearance, fitness, health and wellness. They always hope that the next thing will bring a better answer. Markets are elastic. Companies compete for scarce disposable income across categories. Every day, a woman makes painful trade-offs between herself and her family members. She wants companies to reach out to her.
• Apparel: Always Hunting, Never Satisfied. Most woman are not size six and don’t like to be reminded of the fact. Suppliers that provide a “fit” guide will earn loyalty and save time. The growth is in fashion that is affordable. A woman is always looking for the “next” thing. Companies that sit still will get swallowed up.

Smart Players in Food

• Whole Foods: Of the Whole Foods shoppers who spend $200 per month or more, 76 percent are women. The store resonates with apostles of healthy eating and adventurous shopping. Most are affluent, but some who aren’t are willing to make tradeoffs to shop there.
• Tesco, a UK-based chain, understands that every minute counts for its time-pressed customers, most of whom are women and have individual predilections about how they like to shop – in person, online, a bit of both… Not only does Tesco offer an extensive range of grocery items, it also carries foods for people with food allergies; books, CDs and DVDs; electrical supplies; jewelry; wine and even banking and financial services.
• Amy’s Kitchen has devoted women customers because it offers healthy, affordable, fast food with enough variety to appeal to women’s interest in food and enough taste to be sensual. It provides a healthier, greener alternative to takeout pizza, frozen dinners and salt- and fat-laden prepared meals. That’s an important differentiation for time-pressed women, most of whom still feel a responsibility to feed healthy food to their families.

In the Fitness Arena, Women are Generally Neglected – Except by a Few Stand-Outs

• Curves has made a breakthrough in fitness by offering cheap, fast exercise routines in convenient locations. Best of all, it’s just for women, so there isn’t the pressure from leering men. Most women don’t care about six-pack abs. They want to slim down a bit and/or just be healthy. Curves, which is no-frills, appeals to middle-age women of average build who are interested in being healthy and toned.
• Weight Watchers, the most successful weight loss formula in history, has stood the test of time – mainly with women – by introducing community into the weight loss effort; by being affordable ($10 per week); and by adhering to a simplicity principal of assigning “points” to every food and thus allowing members to eat what they want within their allotted number of points.

The Beauty Industry – the Potential to Make Women Feel Good and Less Stressed

• According to the BCG research, women who spend as much as they can on beauty report feeling more satisfied (54 percent), successful (46 percent) and powerful (31 percent). Women who spend the bare minimum on beauty feel less satisfied (38 percent), successful (26 percent) and powerful (12 percent). In fact, women who list beauty as a priority report lower levels of stress, even though they work longer hours.
• Success in the beauty industry requires empathy. For instance, Olay understands how women feel about skin and skin care. As a result, it has morphed from being a low-end product that 2 percent of the population used to a high-end product with a range of applications. It now has a 40 percent household penetration. One reason for the growth is that Olay constantly improves and refines its product.

Apparel Industry: Failure to Deliver, Only a Few Exceptions

• One reason women focus on beauty products and accessories is that the apparel industry is out of synch with its potentially huge market.
• According to Les Wexner, CEO of Limited Brands, Inc., apparel has lost its emotional appeal as the world has shifted to a more casual lifestyle. As a result, women have come to view clothing as an optional category. They find the process of shopping for clothes to be frustrating, even threatening. Finding something that fits and looks good is unpredictable, so hours in stores can yield nothing.
• The exceptions: Banana Republic understood the importance of pants for women – and that finding pants that look and fit well was nearly impossible. It developed a strategy that made it one of the world’s leading retailers of women’s pants, especially for women in their mid-20s.
• Low-price fashion houses with varied, fast-changing and exciting styles resonate and do well. Key examples are H&M and Zara.

The Real Disappointment for Women – and Market Opportunity for a Player that Gets it Right: Financial Services

• According to the survey, women value money as a way to care for their families and themselves, improve their lives and assure long-term security. So, they do not need or want products and services that offer access to complex money manipulation methods.
• What women say they want are advisors and services that recognize women’s need for short-term simplicity and long-term stability. They want solutions that help them with their most frustrating task: Managing household finances from day to day and month to month.
• Women aren’t getting these solutions: In fact, they were scathing in their comments about dealings with financial services and institutions. They experience a lack of respect, poor advice, contradictory policies and an obstacle course of red tape and forms.
• The greatest opportunity lies in financial advice: Institutions and individuals that can provide better information sources and education materials may appeal to women, as may those that offer more engagement with advisors. Women are willing to “trade up” to an advisor whom they can rely on to help with important investment decisions.

Other Categories that Aren’t Serving Women Well and Offer Opportunities for Players that Can Break the Chain of Disappointment

• Healthcare
• Cars
• Consumer electronics
• Insurance

A Note to Businesses, Employers and Consumer Companies: Women Want to “Give Back”

• Women are increasingly seeking out employers, companies, activities and organizations that enable them to help others in a meaningful way.
• When asked about their “dream day,” nearly half the respondents included some kind of charity or philanthropy in their ideal life.
• Many women business leaders urge other women to “bring your organization to nonprofit leadership. Think of philanthropic activity not as a perk but as a passion.” This is especially important as women assume even more defining roles in business and the economy.
• According to the book, women will increasingly assess companies and brands in terms of values and of commitment to a community they care about.

Seize the Opportunity…

According to the book, the rise of women as possessors of wealth, purchasers, family members and influencers is one of the largest commercial opportunities we have ever seen or will ever see in our lifetime. Leaders of major companies have a chance to decide to prioritize the female economy, systematically seize the near and medium term emerging market, deeply and fully understand current dissatisfaction, and change holistically, not incrementally.

About the Authors

Michael J. Silverstein is a senior partner and member of the Executive Committee at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). He ran BCG’s global consumer practice for eight years and actively serves clients in retail and consumer packaged goods. He is an expert in understanding and responding to consumer needs and dissatisfactions and helping large consumer companies grow. He is coauthor of the 2003 bestseller titled Trading Up: The New American Luxury, as well as Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer.

Kate Sayre is a partner at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and leads the consumer goods and retail practice in the New York Office. She heads the firm’s global efforts on marketing effectiveness.

About The Boston Consulting Group

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world’s leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients in all sectors and regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their businesses. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with 66 offices in 38 countries. For more information, please visit www.bcg.com.

About The Boston Consulting Group

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world's leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients in all sectors and regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their businesses. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with 69 offices in 40 countries.