This month's issue takes a look at the miscellany that caught my eye these past few weeks. From the difference in stress levels between American working women and European women to some tidbits from an interview I recently conducted with Lisa Kent, President & CEO of Netgrocer.com, and word from Jupiter Media Metrix of the aging of web shoppers, it all gives us something more to think about in terms of trying to reach women consumers in this day and age. (Phew... that was a long sentence... sorry.)

Hope you are all witnessing a hint of spring like I am in the the gorgeous Pacific Northwest.

In 2001, The Henley Centre surveyed consumers in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and the United States on a wide range of issues, including stress and time pressure. One of the more compelling results of this survey: Americans are less likely to feel pushed for time and out of control of their lives than Europeans.

Digging deeper, The Henley Centre discovered two factors that may contribute to this difference: First, Americans' attitude to the increasing demands of work seem to mitigate against feelings of stress and time pressure. Second, Americans seem more willing to compromise in order to relieve the stress that they do feel.

For working women in particular, the study showed that while that group is the most pressured in both the United States and Europe, their stress stems from different sources. European working women, especially Italians who showed the highest level of time pressure across all consumer groups studied, feel stressed mainly because of their work. For American working women, the main driver behind time pressure seems to be having children.

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Let's all strive to serve up products/services that better respond to a woman’s need for time-savers and help assure her that her children are safe and healthy in the world.

Link to full article: http://www.henleycentre.com//20020211095835-14521.html

2. Live chat can do more than customer service--it can sell (From Internetretailer.com)

“While live chat functions are just starting to be adopted by online retailers today, some industry participants say that if retailers use them mostly for customer service, they are being dramatically underutilized. "Most companies try to justify the utilization of live chat in terms of ROI.”

Immediate contact with customers builds relationships and provides positive experiences, bringing them into the cycle of loyal customers. K-Swiss, for example, uses live chat to answer customer questions about sizes and style of K-Swiss shoes, and a whopping 75% of chat conversations are directly related to product knowledge.

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Once customers have their questions answered they will often make a purchase, so what are you waiting for?

Link to article: http://www.internetretailer.com/dailynews.asp?id=6249

3. Investing in “Nesting” is Big Business (From an article by Carrie Kirby and Pia Sarkar of the San Francisco Chronicle, 2/27/02)

“A reluctance to travel in the wake of Sept. 11, a slower economy, attractive mortgage refinancing terms and an increase in free time have combined to boost consumers' nesting instincts, driving the home improvement and furnishing industry to lofty heights in the process.”

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World events, natural disasters and economic swings or not, “trend-watchers say that Americans are likely to continue focusing on the home.” Faith Popcorn saw it coming early on, and included a chapter on “cocooning” in her book “Clicking” (1996, HarperCollins). Those of us who can position our products or services with “nesting” in mind can tap into the big pay-off.

Link to full article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/02/27/MN67979.DTL

4. Netgrocer.com Success Secrets

Customer-centric Netgrocer.com does an awful lot right in reaching their mainly female consumers, even though their products aren't always the cheapest and they don't carry produce. How can that be?

-They focus on serving the right customers, not all possible customers everywhere.

-They let customers develop and grow the product selection, rather than letting shelf space limit it.

-They have always had a live voice 800# for customer service.

-They guarantee 100% satisfaction throughout the experience (web site shopping to shipping/delivery).

-They respond to every customer comment promptly (within 24 hours in most cases).

(Part 1 of my article on Netgrocer.com and President & CEO, Lisa Kent: http://ecommerce.internet.com/news/insights/trends/article/0,,10417_993641,00.html )

5. Aging market is up and coming web shopping force

According to a March 4, 2002, Jupiter Media Metrix press release, "Tomorrow's Online Shopper Will Be Older And Less Affluent." More snippets from that release:

"The next generation of online shoppers will be quite a bit different from the consumers who defined the Internet channel in its early years," said Ken Cassar, Jupiter senior analyst.

The next generation of online shoppers will:

-Skew Older,
-Be Less Affluent, and (of most interest to us);
-Clothes, Prescriptions and Home Products Will Be Hot

"Jupiter analysts have found that apparel, prescription drugs and home products will be hot online sellers in the years ahead. As the average woman - who spends more money on apparel than the average man does - shifts more of her budget to the Web, apparel will grow as a category online. Similarly, as the population of online users ages 55 and up grows (who are nearly twice as likely to have purchased prescription drugs online as average Internet users are), so will the online prescription market. Jupiter analysts are also expecting kitchen products, small appliances and large appliances - which typically perform well among women and older consumers - to experience strong growth over the next five years."

Link to Jupiter Media Metrix press release:

http://www.jupitermediametrix.com/xp/jmm/press/2002/pr_030402.xml

6. ReachWomen News:  

That darned book: Upon recent review of the editorial process, and taking into account the further knowledge (astounding amounts) we've gained since we began compiling our Marketing to Women Online book, Lisa and I have decided to go the more traditional publishing route - and deliver a bound "tome."

Because this further delays what many of you have already been waiting months for (arghhhh), we will likely package smaller bits of "marketing to women online" information into downloadable PDF documents to tide you over. I'll keep you posted.

April's LA Internet World: If any of you find yourself in LA on April 26, why don't you come visit me in an "a la carte" session of Internet World? Aliza Sherman, Internet Pioneer and Author will moderate the panel of marketing to women online experts that will include Jodi Turek, President of womensforum.com, Jennifer Openshaw, Founder of Women's Financial Network, Corliss Hale, CEO of NMI Advantage/NetMommies.com, Fran Maier, Executive Director of TRUSTe, and me.