This month's issue presents a variety of worthwhile concepts to ponder (if I do say so myself). From Robert Spector’s new book on providing seamless customer service cross channels to how Bluefly.com is beefing up features to better serve their off-price apparel customers, things seem to be progressing in a "marketing with women" way.  Companies are simply getting better at providing their wares using tactics that resonate with women. I raise a glass to toast!

Additional tidbits in this "Talk" relate to high learning curve industry marketing tactics and whether or not it's significant that women don't use the remote to skip channels as much as men.

The tulips are bursting forth and the lawn-mowing has begun out here. I hope you are all enjoying the longer, lighter days of spring as much as I am.

1. We can all learn a few things from REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.)

A recent Seattle Times interview with retail expert and author, Robert Spector, gave some great insights about providing incredible cross-channel customer service. You'll probably want to read the whole book: “Anytime, Anywhere.” (Yes, this guy is from the Northwest, but this goes beyond my Northwest bias, really!) Some highlights:

The book’s premise is that today’s shoppers demand and expect the same level of attentive customer service across all channels. Spector has found that while companies understand that one channel may be taking a bit from another channel, they still see that, overall, the business is being exposed to more people. (It’s all good.)

Seattle-based REI is one of Spector’s 13 profiles. Just one of the wise moves they made: “Because the Web was going to be an essential part of REI’s business, the decision was made to develop everything in-house – at a time when most companies were outsourcing their Web sites.” They figured the Web should be a core competency, just like service.

Full article from the Seattle Times (it's a long URL, so cut & paste):

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgibin/texis.cgi/ web/vortex/display?slug=webspectorqa14&date=20020414&query=Jake+Batsell

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Going to unusual lengths to create a consistent experience for customers is a “marketing with women” ideal. I’m planning to study Spector’s book to learn more about how Nordstrom, Lands End and REI worked their magic.

2. Leaking faucets are not gender-specific. (No surprise there)

According to a recent Associated Press weekly feature story, day-to-day maintenance is no longer a “man’s job.” Of course, this is especially true among the fast-growing segment of homeownership: single women.

The article's short list of tools for women included, among others: tape measure, cordless screwdriver, extension cord and work light, hammer etc. (Hmmm. I think those would be on a man’s short list too, don't you?)

As Beth Boyd, Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse marketing manager points out, “The learning curve for how-to skills is shorter than you might think.”

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So, this is one more industry with a perceived “high learning curve” that really has a much lower entry point for women, if you just look for it. Our mission as marketing experts is to figure out how to deliver from a lower entry point to help speed women customers through our product or service's curve.

3. Bluefly.com: Raising off-price apparel shopping to a new level

As announced earlier this month in Internetretailer.com, Bluefly Inc.’s investments in advanced technologies represent the next phase in the development of a long-term strategy to change the way consumers buy designer fashions at discount prices.

Ken Seiff, Bluefly CEO describes the reasoning behind these improvements: “Customarily, when you buy designer brands at discount, you have to go digging through bins or go through thousands of items on racks. We have spent three years building a web site that eliminates that need. We are raising the shopping experience for off-price apparel to a new level.”

The new technology: Bluefly bought a Blue Martini Software product that will allow Bluefly to analyze customer data better so as to improve site features and make more relevant offerings to shoppers.

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Interesting to note: Bluefly didn’t do a major redesign. Rather, they added new features. Nothing new to explain to customers, just a little extra “vroom.” According to Seif, “You don’t have to explain to the driver what the car was and why it’s better now. Drivers will still be able to drive it, but they’ll know it’s a better car. We want customers to have that same comfortable feeling when they get into the driver’s seat.”

4/3/02 article from Internetretailer.com:

http://www.internetretailer.com/dailynews.asp?id=6544

4. Battle of sexes over remote control reaches new heights ;-)

As reported in the April 2002 issue of “Gender Wars,” an American Demographics article by Melanie Shortman, new research has found that twice as many men as women say that when they watch primetime TV, they do nothing else (12 percent versus 5 percent). Further findings of E-Poll the firm that conducted the research, as described by Shortman:

“And then there’s the battle of the sexes over the remote control: 40 percent of men admit they flip between channels at least 50 percent of the time, compared with just 21 percent of women who channel surf as often. Most women (42 percent), however, say they watch by appointment 90 percent of the time.”

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We already knew this without the study, right? How might we use the knowledge that women "watch by appointment" to better reach them? Does it apply in some way to online marketing as well? I'd love to hear your thoughts: andrea@reachwomen.com

5. ReachWomen News:

I'm in LA at Internet World this Friday morning (April 26) on the "Tapping into the Lucrative, Influential Online Women's Market" panel. I'd love to shake your hand if any of you are there.

An upcoming Reaching Women Online newsletter will explore how greater insight for marketing to women might be found in examining HOW women want products and services presented to them, rather than WHAT they want.

My next ecommerce-guide.com article (in May) will likely be on web design, color and layout that resonates with women. Who's doing it right these days, and why a quick re-furb of your site might be worth the time and expense.