CHICAGO — In a Wednesday afternoon session at the 2009 In-Store Marketing Expo, retail consultant Elizabeth Harris of consultancy Rivet laid out a wealth of statistics on how the recession has changed the spending habits of the typical modern family, along with a practical list of seven questions to ask when planning a marketing initiative.
"People are really questioning the essentials of the American dream," she said. "We're seeing a loss of confidence."
That may seem self-evident, but the numbers she went on to share from a new survey reveal the depth of the situation — and the differences between how men and women perceive what the recession is doing to them. Fifty-three percent of women surveyed said their situation is worse than a year before — while only 38 of men agreed. And 73 percent of women say the recession has fundamentally changed the way they think about money, a change that will likely endure once the good times return.
For retailers and marketers, getting women to feel good about their spending is especially crucial, since 80 percent of family purchasing decisions are made by women, a role Harris calls the "Chief Purchasing Officer" of the home.
Harris said we have moved from a "consumption economy" to a "considered economy," and that women are getting creative for all purchasing decisions above and beyond the essentials (health care, food, shelter). That means clothing and magazine swaps with friends, buying in bulk, and putting off buying non-essentials longer than before. More than two-thirds reported that they were eating out less, and half were buying fewer prepared/convenience foods.
"When the economy is bad, women don't stop shopping," she said. "They shop differently."
What's different? A drastic uptick in private label brand usage, more coupon clipping, and more online research of purchases before getting in the car to head to the store.
Harris wrapped up her presentation with a wonderfully practical list of "Seven things to ask yourself when planning a new marketing campaign." The language assumes that you are marketing to women, but the ideas are universal:
- How can you help her have fun with her family and mind her budget?
- Can your product or service allow her to do more with less?
- How can you take advantage of rituals they are having to forego?
- How can you take the risk out of the purchase decision?
- How does this new landscape change your competitive frame? (i.e. has the recession given you new competitive opportunities — bundles of low-cost personal care products, merchandised and marketed as an alternative to going to a spa, for instance.)
- How can you turn a "want" into a "need"?
- How can you merchandise around solutions? (Hasbro's "Family Game Night" initiative is a good example of this.)
