In an increasingly mobile world, it is key to recognize the ever-growing differences in the shopping habits of men and women. For mobile retailers, it now is less important to simply “have a presence” in a market, but to meet the needs of the specific groups of consumers shopping for your products. “Given today’s always-on, multi-device consumer, retailers are looking to grow business in part by driving greater awareness of their mobile sites and apps,” said Eric Feinberg, senior director for mobile, media and entertainment at Foresee, Ann Arbor, MI. “In addition to heightening awareness, a key contributor to retailers’ mobile commerce success is, of course, providing an intuitive and highly functional experience that meets user needs,” he said.
Men are a very plain demographic to satisfy. Typically, men aren’t frequent shoppers. This key fact is imperative to recognize. In order to eliminate endless unnecessary shopping trips, men are much more likely to make compulsive buys. If men are committed to a shopping session then they tend to purchase more things on the fly, or more of something like clothing or food, because they don’t want to go shopping again anytime soon.
Men are also a quite goal-oriented group. We look for concrete directions and straight-forward means of transaction. We want complete guidance from the beginning of our shopping journey to the very end with as little effort required as possible.
Another factor to take in is the amount of pride men have deeply wired into their brains. A recent study conducted by uSamp has found that men are much more likely to use their mobile devices to search for a product while in a store, rather than ask a worker for direction.
The nearly perfect template for an online shopping app is the hardware superstore Home Depot. The retailer’s mobile app includes in-store mapping that shows consumers which aisles products are in to help consumers find what they are looking for in as little time as possible. Also, the homepage of the app features a search bar that stretches the entire length of the screen. The app additionally has a voice activated search feature and the in-store mapping feature also allows customers to search for the nearest store to them.
By keeping these few, simple facts in mind, it can make the difference between making an imprint in a key demographic, or falling to the way-side in the retail world.