Retail Week
November 10, 2006
Woman's touch

BYLINE: By James Thompson

LENGTH: 1533 words

HIGHLIGHT: DIY and electricals retailers have done little to target women in the past, but now several are changing tactics to woo these prime spenders

Given that women make up half the population, some retail sectors have done a poor job of targeting them so far. In particular, some DIY and electricals groups have, until recently, clung to the comfort blanket that is their core customer base, notably male technology geeks and tradesmen.

All that is now changing and fast. DSGi-owned PC World unveiled its remodelled store in Colchester last week (Retail Week, November 3), designed to extend its reach beyond its traditional male customer base.

In the home and DIY sector, following in the footsteps of rival Homebase, B&Q has made a big effort over the past few years to extend its offer to include more aspirational home improvement products and soften store layouts.

But what is driving such shifts in strategy and what are the crucial ingredients for making stores a magnet for women and families?

For myriad reasons, women have made massive strides towards financial and social independence over the past 30 years. Verdict chairman Richard Hyman says: "More women are living by themselves, more marriages end in separation, women are more confident than they used to be and they have some financial independence."

For instance, women hold 40 per cent of professional jobs now, compared with 10 per cent in the 1970s, according to Equal Opportunities Commission's 2006 data.

In fact, Hyman is surprised that more retailers have not tied their colours to the female mast sooner. "Women are much more important in the retail market than men. So what has taken these retailers so long? The fact is that retailing is really about women. They are the prime movers, they spend more and make the major decisions," says Hyman. The fact that many women go shopping with their children and influence their partners' purchases is another important reason why they are the champions of retail expenditure.

When targeting the female purse, retailers in traditionally male sectors need to refine their entire strategy, including product offer, point-of-sale merchandising, store layout - for example, by providing space for prams around tills - and installation services. "They have to understand what drives female demand, as opposed to male demand. Women are less interested in gadgets per se - they are interested in what they do for them," Hyman points out.

Tim Greenhalgh, managing creative director at design consultancy Fitch, agrees that women place a great deal of value on product explanation. Retailers, therefore, have to shift their focus from "killer product categories towards killer explanations", he says. "The first thing a woman says is, 'What can it do for me?'. The first thing a bloke says is, 'How many megahertz does it have'?" argues Greenhalgh.

Alongside explanations, providing female customers with a vision of how products fit into the home is equally important. This is all about capturing the home-improvement zeitgeist, where people increasingly see their home as presenting an image of themselves to the outside world.

Arguably, this is far easier for DIY merchants to achieve than electricals retailers, because all-singing, all-dancing showrooms give customers an instant snapshot of the possibilities. For instance, B&Q is revamping its 114 Warehouse stores over the next few years.

B&Q marketing and customer proposition director Jo Kenrick says: "These revamps include more shop-within-a-shop sections in areas such as lighting, flooring, paint, kitchens and bathrooms. Within kitchen and bathrooms, we are also increasing the number of styled room settings. The decorative areas of the stores have less industrial racking, so the merchandise can be displayed in a softer setting."

In the electricals sector, the same showroom principles are being adopted by retailers. "A lot of men want as many wires as possible, so it all looks as high-tech as possible. But women want to know, 'Does it look good in my lounge?'," says Hyman.

For instance, PC World has tapped into this opportunity by opening its Room of the Future in a few bigger stores, including Colchester and London's Tottenham Court Road. The room showcases the latest gadgets and gizmos in situ, emphasising their uses and benefits, rather than technical features.

In addition, PC World provides a service where experts visit a customer's home and give them a quote for installation. PC World commercial director Bryan Magrath says: "We can demonstrate the opportunities, visit you and come back with a proposal for your home, including cutting holes in the wall for TV recesses or cable channelling and things like that."

Behind such initiatives is the convergence of technology towards integrated home entertainment systems. With mature technology at their fingertips, PC World's customers can use a single console to control an integrated home-entertainment system, which might include a PC, stereo, TV and DVD player.

PC World has not neglected its Colchester store's layout either. It has created an experience area in the centre where customers can test a variety of products, such as computer games that can be sampled sitting in large game pods. This central area is "more experiential than sales driven", says Magrath.

Rival electricals retailer Comet has also introduced a format in three stores this year that is less "clinical and functional", according to Comet category manager for portable technology Ewan Pinder. "We have the new destination format, which is a dramatic change in the way we lay out technology. It is much less clinical, functional and warehouse-like," he says. The Comet stores feature more yellow and purple colours.

On a more basic level, Visual Thinking brand director Karl McKeever claims all traditionally male-oriented retailers could learn a thing or two from the clothing sector. "Look and feel is incredibly important and to try to imitate some of the successful strategies from the fashion sector, such as more space around the point of sale and flagging up promotions clearly, not just to communicate price," he says. Other simple refinements include decluttering stores and lowering fixtures.

US electricals giant Best Buy is seen as a textbook example of how a retailer can plug into the needs of female shoppers and families. Speaking at the Marketing Society's Retail Forum last month, Best Buy executive vice-president John Walden said: "Customers want time back and respect. We introduced personal shopping assistants, largely women, who walk through the store and talk in a language people understand. We also created children's areas."

While changing store layouts has been a gradual evolution, a revolution is under way in services provided by DIY and electricals retailers. This summer, B&Q started a low-key trial of home installation services, for products including bathrooms and kitchens, from two stores in London in an effort to tap into the growing Do It For Me market. The retailer also runs DIY tutorials in its largest stores, including some dedicated classes for women. They comprise hour-long tutorials on subjects such as how to change a tap or do basic plumbing.

On a much grander scale, DSGi launched its Tech Guys service in September, designed to replicate the success of Best Buy's Geek Squad service, which is itself due to launch in the UK in January, in partnership with Carphone Warehouse.

The Tech Guys provides remote and in-store advice and repair services for customers, irrespective of where they bought the equipment. Significantly, PC World has made a big play of locating its sizeable Tech Guys advice desk and Collect@Store service at the entrance of its larger stores.

Changing female customers' perception can also be a longer-term project for retailers. To try to achieve this goal, Comet introduced Gadget Angels in June - an all-female team of experts who will spearhead a campaign to break down female techno-fear. The project, named after the hit 1970s series and movie Charlie's Angels, launched following a study of 1,000 customers. Pinder says: "It is about communicating technology to women who like technology and yet who are a bit frightened of technology." The Gadget Angels' material is also used in stores to educate staff and associated ads and features will run in newspapers and magazines, including Heat and Metro, ahead of Christmas.

It is fair to say that most DIY and electricals retailers have been slow out of the blocks in targeting women, but all the signs suggest that times are changing. Kenrick is fully aware of the female goldmine. She says: "The UK home improvement market is becoming more female influenced. We estimate that 70 per cent to 80 per cent of home improvement projects are initiated by the female partner. Furthermore, the rise in numbers of women living on their own has acted as a catalyst for many to take on DIY jobs that were often seen as jobs for the boys."

Pinder adds: "I think it is a huge opportunity. Women want technology and they like technology. We believe we have to adapt the way we sell technology to the female market."

However, to really woo women into their stores, retailers may have to look at themselves. "The fact that most of the management at the so-called macho retailers is male places them at a disadvantage," warns Hyman.