I'm in that transition generation; from my childhood perspective
(in the late '60s and early '70s), a single woman over 23 still
seemed an oddity and people still talked of "old maids."
Times have changed, and I am one of legions of single women who are
really enjoying life.
"The Solo Female Consumer Market," a study just
published by Packaged Facts, available through MarketResearch.com,
examines never-married, childless women ages 25 to 44. The report
cites Census Bureau data that
indicates over 17 million U.S. women are living alone in 2001, more
than double the number of women living alone 20 years ago.
Times, they are a-changin'.
The single adult women's consumer market goes beyond the
never-married/no-children segment. This complex group of
"unmarried women" (with or without children) is broken
down by 2000 census data into the following subgroups: never married
(25.1 percent), separated (2.4 percent), divorced (10.2), and
widowed (10 percent).
Here's the deal: Women now spend multiple periods of their lives
living alone due to a variety of contemporary social trends,
including greater career opportunities for women, higher divorce
rates, longer life expectancy, and cohabitation.
The Draw of Self-Development
One of the most powerful ways to appeal to single women is to
focus on self-development. Perhaps because we allow ourselves to be
selfish more regularly than our coupled counterparts, single women
enjoy working on mental and physical self-development. (Just take a
look at the articles in the latest SELF, ELLE, or Shape magazines).
Companies in the business of books/audio, music, movies, fitness,
over-the-counter supplements, continuing education, single-portion
packaged foods, organic food, and financial services/investing
represent just a small sample of organizations that have leveraged
or should leverage their marketing around the self-development
theme. Can your product be positioned from that angle?
In a single woman's empowered, self-development-focused life, we
find purchases of new homes by single women are on the rise, with 57
percent of single women currently owning their homes (U.S. Census
data). Furthermore, solo women seem to prefer the premium compact
vehicle class and smaller television sets (self-development is
better achieved through reading?). And in their "why wait for
marriage?" ways, solo females are more likely to have made
jewelry purchases for themselves in previous years than women and
adults overall (Simmons data as reported by Packaged Facts).
What of Brand Affiliation and Advertising Strategies?
Single women are not shy about shopping for "like to
have" items. They're not waiting for weddings or showers to
acquire fine linens or crystal. The power mindset of single women
means advertisers need to figure out how to appeal to women who are
buying their own homes, having babies solo, taking adventure trips
with girlfriends, and not waiting for a better time to make
significant purchases.
According to "Targeting the Single Female Consumer," an
article that appeared August 1, 2000, in "Reuters Business
Insight," the characteristics of the "new single
woman" are:
- She is prepared to find out what she needs to know in order to
make the right purchasing decisions
- She is a relationship-seeker who remains loyal to trusted
brands
- She lets confidantes influence her purchasing decisions
Zappos.com Case Study
Zappos.com is a site that incorporates all of the above characteristics
to leverage the sale to and frequent return of women (as well as
male) consumers.
The "world" knows women are shoe fanatics, right? If
each of you, fair readers, came up with just one single-woman
friend, colleague, or relative from the age of 25 to 44 and asked
her, we could come up with our own proof in the pudding -- single
women purchase lots of shoes. They can and do indulge because they
don't necessarily have to buy shoes for their kids every season,
they don't have to justify their purchases to anyone, and if they
want to they can easily skip dinner for two weeks to fund their
habit.
Let's examine my anecdotal experience (remember, I belong to the
demographic this article discusses). I learned about Zappos.com
through a quiz I took on Emode (I've raved about its quizzes in
articles before). I told (word of mouth and word of Web) about 10
other friends about Zappos (point 3 above) since I found the site.
It has exactly the brands I know and love (point 2), and there are
several ways to search (point 1) for what I desire (usually clogs).
Have No Pity
Single women wield more purchasing power these days. Moreover,
this segment of the women's market is not expected to decrease in
number anytime soon. If your product or service even remotely
strikes the fancy of these women, you can woo them and win them.
Just remember: Don't throw a pity party for us! Join the forward
momentum as we embrace our consumer power and proceed to change the
world -- in a good way!
