BUSINESS FEATURE Consumer Review WHATWOMENWANT Australian women have come a long way since 2006, when <strong>Jeweller</strong> explored their growing market power. However, in some ways, their potential is yet to be unlocked. GILLIAN BARTLETT and ARABELLA RODEN report.
BY THE NUMBERS Unlocking Her Buying Power F or most of us, the nature, depth and implications of the differences between men and women are mired in a mystery that adds adventure and excitement to our personal relationships. In the cold, hard reality of the commercial world, however, such mystery is a luxury retailers cannot afford. Significant gains in their financial independence means women no longer need men to do the buying for then. With their own cash to splash, women are choosing to spend it on themselves. And it’s imperative for businesses to understand what makes them tick. According to worldwide statistics, the female consumer makes more than 80 per cent of all purchasing decisions… and that’s across all product categories. Numerous studies reveal the percentage is even higher when it comes to personal and luxury items such as jewellery and cosmetics. In 2006, Amanda Stevens, director Splash Consulting Group, a Sydney-based communications consultancy that specialises in marketing to women, told <strong>Jeweller</strong> that a “seismic shift” occurred in the profile of Australian female consumers in the late ’90s and early 2000s. “The consumer dynamic of the jewellery market has changed dramatically over the last decade,” she said. “The way women purchase jewellery now is very different to 10 or 20 years ago, when most major jewellery purchases were made by a man. “Today, women are walking confidently into jewellery stores, gold card in hand, and making significant jewellery purchases.” Stevens attributed these changes to three major demographic factors: » Based on comparisons, the male to female salary ratio is flattening at an astonishing rate (although not before time!). Women are simply earning more money than they used to by being paid the same wages as their male counterparts. » According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data, women are staying single longer and having children later in life, with some 26 per cent of couples choosing to remain childless. » There was a dramatic increase in female homeownership, further indicating growing female wealth and prosperity. 80%+ purchase decisions controlled by women Australian Centre for Business Growth, University of South Australia $28tn estimated consumer spending controlled by women, 2014 Harvard Business Review 60% of Australian women own their home, compared with 56 per cent of men Australian Bureau of Statistics 4.4% increase in women represented in key management positions, 2014–2018 Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre & WGEA Gender Equality analysis $1,485 average weekly fulltime earnings of an Australian woman, 2019 Australian Bureau of Statistics Facing page: Pink Kimberley Kimberley Diadema Earrings; This page: Tiffany & Co. Key Collection It is these elements, according to Stevens, that combined to make women in the 25–40 year old bracket Australia’s fastest growing wealth demographic. “Understanding how to more effectively market to women is the number one opportunity available to corporate Australia,” she said. Notably, those three trends have held true over the past 15 years. Australia’s female labour force participation rate reached an historic high of 60.5 per cent in January 2018, according to the ABS, and between 2014 and 2019, the gap in average weekly earnings between men and women declined from 18.3 per cent to 14 per cent. In South Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania, the gap is even narrower, hovering at around 10 per cent. The ABS estimates that between 2023–2029, there will be more people in a relationship living without children than families with kids. And in 2019, 60 per cent of Australian women owned their home either with a mortgage or debt-free, compared with 56 per cent of men. Home ownership was higher for women than men in all age groups up to age 65. Mary Lou Quinlan, founder and CEO of US strategic marketing company Just Ask a Woman (JAAW), previously noted: “Women are powerful consumers who can make or break brands,” warning that “industries slow to realise this will suffer loss of trade.” Recognising an increase in female buying power is one thing; understanding the woman behind it is another. Marketing misconceptions In 2004, advertising consultancy Leo Burnett published a study called Miss Understood – She’s Not Buying Your Ads. The seven-country study, based on interviews with women from their teens to their forties, examined why advertising didn’t seem to engage with women consumers as effectively as it did with men. It challenged the industry to raise the creative bar across female-targeted categories historically associated with cliche-ridden, unauthentic and sometimes offensive work. Unfortunately, many of the same issues persist to this day. US research published by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDI) at Mount Saint Mary’s University and <strong>July</strong> <strong>2020</strong> | 31
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