What women want

Special Feature: The Female market

It's not so much a case of what women want but what they don't want when it comes to shopping for tech items.

Author and marketing expert Marti Barletta in her book, Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach, and Increase Your Share of the World's Largest Market, wrote:

- Men like the bells and whistles of a new product. Women prefer a warranty or service guarantee.

- Men shop in terms of technology specs. Women shop in terms of how the product meets their lifestyle needs.

- Men are happy with a good solution; women seek the perfect answer.

Some manufacturers that have released products with design elements believed to be more in tune to female sensibilities have received mixed results.

Women don't like to be 'marketed down to' and the idea of using 'female' colours' particularly the customary pink - to attract women is counter-productive and not always welcome.

Style and design are important, but not at the expense of good taste, according to a survey by marketing consultancy eBrain.

Only 4% of eBrain respondents said design was important, while 71% ranked it the least important factor in product choice.

Marie Claire readers said rather than hearing about whether a product is pretty or easy to use, they wanted reports on the technology itself.

But perhaps the most critical piece in this equation of better serving the fairer demographic is at the retail level.

Times are changing but CE retailers in the past have done a poor job of creating an environment where women feel confident and at ease.

One recent survey 78% of women said they often felt 'confused, stupid or intimidated' while shopping for electronics, compared with 71% of men who said they felt comfortable and confident.

Women are so put off by the retail experience that nearly three-quarters of those surveyed said they receive better service when they shop with a man and 40% typically only shop for electronics with a male companion.