Want to attract more male shoppers to your business? Start by tossing out old stereotypes about men hating to shop. And forget most of what you assume about male shopping behavior.
A recent consumer survey by First Insight reveals men are actually shopping more than women across most online and traditional retail channels. And they’re embracing technology for shopping and researching prices more than women.
Male vs. Female Spending
The survey found male shoppers are:
- More likely than women to be frequent online shoppers. This includes on Amazon.com. And more men than women expect their shopping on Amazon will increase.
- More likely than women to shop six or more times a month across most traditional retail channels including mass department stores, specialty stores, luxury stores, off-price stores, and Walmart.
- Embracing technology for shopping and research more than women (including owning and using smart speakers.)
In addition, men are making mobile purchases now nearly as frequently as women. If you’re not targeting male shoppers now, perhaps it’s a good time to start. Here is what your business can learn about what male customers want, male shopping behavior, what drives them to make purchases and the incentives that keeps them loyal.
What Male Customers Want
Money Matters
Studies show to make male shoppers look twice, you need to show them value for their money, more than lure them in with fancy brands. daVinci Payments conducted two national studies to find out how men shop and found (not surprisingly) that it’s the younger males who’ve had the biggest gain in income and therefore shopping power. Males ages 18-29 had a 63 percent gain in income, compared to 56 percent for men ages 30-44 and 46 percent for men ages 45-60. While male shoppers have more income and buying power this year, price is still the most important factor they consider when making purchases. Next in importance is quality, then availability and brand. In fact, when asked about name brands, over two-thirds of male respondents believe brands are 16+ percent more expensive than private label brands.
Shopping Online
When it comes to male vs. female spending online, daVinci Payments found both sexes equally welcome the convenience and prices of e-commerce. That means examine your website for easy navigation, bad links, slow load times, and poor content/image quality. And, because 40 percent of male shoppers make more than half of their online purchases through their smartphones, make sure your website is mobile friendly and has great local SEO. Remember, mobile shoppers use their smartphones to research prices, check inventory and read reviews so keep an eye on your online reputation.
Once they walk into your store doesn’t mean the sale is yours. According to a 2019 RetailMeNot study, their research continues even when they’re in the store. Most internet users looking for more information in-store often avoid approaching retail staff and go directly to their mobile devices. In this study, 69 percent of respondents say they search for reviews on their phone first, and 53 percent look for deals before speaking with an employee.
Value-minded
According to the study, male shopping behavior indicates men consider deals and long-term loyalty rather than go for the instant discount. For example, when asked whether they’d rather have a $100 rebate or $50 instant savings on a $500 purchase, two-thirds of respondents went for the rebate. In addition, three-quarters of respondents say they’d shop with the retailer again if they are rewarded for their purchases. Loyalty programs are easy to set up today, and you can bring your male shoppers back time and time again by offering great offers and more rebate deals.
Now that you’ve got a peek into the minds of male shoppers, tell us what changes you can make in your business to market to this value-loving, research-minded, price conscious customer.
Image: Depositphotos.com