Forty One Madison has made a tradition of hosting food-for-thought breakfast seminars as part of the Fall New York Tabletop Market. This year, Dannielle Kyrillos, editor-at-large of Daily Candy, was the keynote discussing 'Womenomics' and the impact of the empowered female consumer.
"More women than men are graduating college. Twice as many entrepreneurs are females. And, 85% of all purchasing decisions are made by women, who are about to overtake the American workforce as the majority among all wage earners,' said Kyrillos. "Moreover," she noted, "on an average, women spend about 8.5 years of their lives shopping!"
Armed with these startling statistics, Kyrillos shed light on this important "spender gender" for the audience of approximately 100 retail buyers and manufacturers in attendance at Forty One. She provided suggestions, as well, on how to reach out and win over this population segment, something dailycandy has succeeded in achieving over the past 10 years since its founding, with more than 3.3 million subscribers, predominantly women.
"These are consumers who are looking for what's smart and new, and they are not necessarily trend-chasing," she said. "They look to a 'friend' to find out what that great buy might be, though they like to be the one people come to for that tip. But, the friend they seek out often is a trusted brand. So, you need to make her feel like the 'insider' or 'Alpha leader' who's made the discovery."
Kyrillos made a compelling case for the need to speak to women through use of the internet and social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.
"Women are heavy mobile Web users and account for 60% of online shopping. 57% of Twitter users are women," she said. And, from her dailycandy experience she reported that, of those women who read about a recommended product, 77% will seek it out in a store.
Among some of the other top-line suggestions she offered for engaging the empowered female consumer, whether via the internet or through other communications: Be smart, stylish. Be a better version of the ordinary. Delight with the unexpected. If there's a great "story" behind the product (i.e., artisanal, vintage, etc.) tell it. Keep your messages brief, succinct, impactful. Include a call to action. Be authentic. Giver her the reason or opportunity to "share" your message with others and spark a conversation. Save her time, money and make her smile/laugh.
