CHAPTER 1
Women Get Malled: I Shop Therefore I Am
Shopping has been a love of women for millennia. Ovid, who lived around thefirst century A.D., once declared, "Women are always buying something."
Why do women love to shop? Anthropologists tell us that it's a leftover habitfrom our huntergatherer days. Since humans first roamed the Earth, women werethe ones close to home, gathering the nuts and berries, and we still like to doit.
Both men and women cite price and quality as reasons for where they shop, butthe similarities stop there. Sixty-seven percent of women say they enjoyshopping, whereas only 37 percent of men do. And stores with a wide selectiontend to be uncomfortable for men; they don't want too many choices. Women, onthe other hand, overwhelmingly love having a wide variety to select from.
Studies also confirm that women are affected by the environment in which theyshop more than men, perhaps because they spend more time there. Women need spaceto move from aisle to aisle without feeling cramped. At makeup counters, forinstance, women tend to gravitate to the corner, where they can wrap themselvesaround the counter and avoid being bumped. We hate stuff we have to bend overfor, not because we aren't willing to bend, but because we are afraid of gettingbumped into from behind.
At the Mall
* When asked whether they would rather have sex or go shopping, 57 percent ofwoman choose the mall.
* Seventy-two percent of women say they shop for recreation. We head for adepartment store about 16 times a year and spend about 4 hours a month at themall (down from 8 hours ten years ago). A typical visit lasts an hour, and wecome home with our wallets about $35 lighter.
* "SHOPPING is the female version of church—it's SPIRITUAL." —Joan Baez
* The United States has more malls than any other country on Earth—42,048 at lastcount.
Our love affair with malls appears to be waning, however. We're going there lessand spending less time when we're there. Online shopping and not enough timehave both been cited as reasons, along with the theory that malls have becometoo similar and lack novelty. To lure us back, mall owners are adding schools,libraries, police substations, museums, and churches. I guess they figure if youhave to be there for some other reason, you might drop a few dollars at a storeat the same time.
Someone asked people the following question: If you were given $500, what amountwould they spend on clothes. Women said $278, compared to $202 for men.
A recent survey of female shoppers found women to be much less brand-consciousthan in previous decades, and researchers chalk up the huge difference towomen's entrance into the workforce and the sense of self-esteem work gives us."For women today," said Laurie Ashcraft, coauthor of the study, "status comesfrom within, rather than without." We are also more interested, Ashcraftdiscovered, in wellness than in how we look.
Inside Our Closets
The International Mass Retailing Association tells us that the average Americanhas in her or his house 23 batteries, 2.9 televisions, 15 sweatshirts, and 12kinds of snack foods.
One-quarter of women admit to switching sizes of two-piece outfits, such asbathing suits, to get a better fit when their tops and bottoms are differentsizes. And one-tenth of us own up to having bought something with the expressedintention of wearing it to an event and then returning it to the store—and fewof us feel guilty about it.
If we pick up a basket at a housewares store, there's a 75 percent chance wewill buy something (as opposed to 34 percent for basketless folks).
About half of us say we search for a bargain when shopping, and 41 percentbelieve the biggest financial mistake they have made is paying too much forsomething.
Buying something new is a happiness booster for almost everyone, but we tend todo it when we are already in a celebratory mood. Sorry retailers, but when womenare feeling bad, they are much more likely to call someone than to go shoppingto cheer up. However, 57 percent of us (as compared to 27 percent of men) say weshop to relieve stress.
Half of us begin Christmas shopping right after Thanksgiving, with only 9percent of women waiting till the last minute (as opposed to about one-quarterof all men).
Surveys tell us we spend more time shopping per week—6 hours—than playing withour kids, reading, or gardening.
Gift Symbology
Looking to give a gift with meaning? According to the fascinating book, TheLanguage of Gifts, virtually anything one could buy is loaded with symbolism.Here, for instance, are ideas specifically for women:
* Baskets: Women's domain; fertility; wholeness and togetherness
* Brooms: Female magic; domesticity; the contributions of wise women
* Shells: The womb; fertility; resurrection
* Camellia: A unique woman; loveliness; excellence
* Vulture: Exemplary motherhood
* Unicorn: Femininity; purity; goodness
* The Number 4: Womanhood; root of all things; security; potential
More than 515 million pairs of jeans are sold in the United States each year,and the average household has 14 pairs.
Men so hate shopping that one survey found that their stress levels whileshopping were "equivalent to emergency situations experienced by fighter pilotsor policemen going into dangerous situations." And virtually all women polledwho took their male partners shopping with them regretted that move.
Women still do most of the grocery shopping for the family (70 percent)—althoughincreasingly more men are taking on this task (17 percent; the remaining percentare the couples shoppers)—and we shop on average 3.4 times per week. (Pooradvance planning, I guess.)
Only 31 percent of shoppers have a list (which is probably why they have to gomore than once a week, in this list-writer's opinion). But far more women carrylists than men. Even with a list, we're not particularly disciplined.Statisticians say that two-thirds of what we buy are impulse items. (So the lesswe go to the store, the more money we save.)
Women tend to nosh on food illegally at the grocery more than men, to sneak intothe express line with more items than allowed, and to read the magazines whilewe wait.
FRIDAY is the busiest day at the grocery store, with Saturday and Thursday tiedfor second.
The demand for cold cereal continues to skyrocket (no time to cook), which iswhy there are now more than 125 brands on the average store shelf, up from 65only ten years ago.
Before supermarkets, you had to go to the fish store for fish, the bread storefor bread, and so on. Then someone had the bright idea of putting everythingtogether in one spot. (Just who that was is open to discussion; several chainsmaintain that they were the first.) But supermarket shopping didn't take offuntil one Sylvan Goldman invented the shopping cart. This Oklahoman noticed thatas soon as a woman's little hand-held basket was full, she would check out. Sohe had an employee design a rolling cart to accommodate more stuff. But thecarts just sat there—no one knew what to do with them. So Goldman hired a bunchof his employees' wives to come in and push them around until the otherhousewives got the idea.
Supermarket Sweepstakes, ORThe Science of Conningthe Maximum Dollars Out ofYour Purse
* The average time spent in the grocery store is 40 minutes. And those clevermarketers have discovered that for every minute you stay in the store past that,you spend an additional $2.
* To encourage you to spend more time and therefore more money, the music playedin supermarkets tends to have only 60 beats per minute, which makes you movemuch more slowly than music with a faster beat. It can make the average cartdollar figure rise by almost 40 percent.
* The practice of charging very little for something—say 49 cents a pound forchicken—is called a loss leader. The store is willing to lose money on that itembecause it figures it will more than make up for it by luring you in. It's basedon the fact that most people will not drive from store to store to pick up onlythe bargains but will buy whatever they need and want from one store. So theloss leader ensures you come to that particular store.
* You know all those folks cooking items for you to sample at the end of theaisles? Such giveaways really work—the vast majority of people who try an itemthen purchase it.
* There is a science to the placement of items on the grocery store shelves.Clever supermarket owners have figured out that for the average "eye height" ofwomen, the best placement of items is between 51 and 53 inches from the ground.That's where they'll put the high-ticket items. The bargains will be above andbelow that so you have to hunt to find them.
* Staples are scattered throughout the store so that you have to walk through allthe aisles to find them.
* What's the largest piece of real estate on grocery store shelves? PET FOOD.
* Stores encourage a certain flow—you come in a particular door and move throughthe store in a particular pattern up and down the aisles. The stores do this, atleast in part, because it's been discovered that as you turn into a particularaisle, your eyes will naturally go to the items on the opposite side of theaisle from your turn. That's where they will put items that they really want youto buy, often in attractive displays that tempt you to pick up somethingspecial. The same is true for those shelves on the ends. Because they are sovisible, more expensive items are also placed here.
* Have you ever wondered why the canned soup is not shelved in alphabetical order,which would make it so much simpler to find? That's because researchers havefigured out that in the search for the kind you want, you end up buying severalcans of other varieties and therefore buy more—6 percent more, to be precise.
* You know when you come across those sale items that say "limit 4"? Is the storereally worried about running out? Of course not; it's a technique to get you tobuy a bunch of something that perhaps you wouldn't have bought at all. Studieshave shown that we are more likely to purchase something if it says it has alimit, and even more likely when it says "limit 4" than only "limit 2."
* It's true—candy and other kid items are placed at kid eye level, which is aboutknee level on an adult.
* According to a study by the Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 1 in every10 grocery store purchases is for an item that we never use.
* The mark-up on food is, in general, really low per item. The store makes itsprofit on volume; hence all their tricks to increase the amount we buy.
We hate to go grocery shopping. In a 1991 study by the University of Maryland,folks were asked to rank 22 ordinary activities. Grocery shopping ranked 21,just above cleaning the house.
What do we particularly hate? Expiration dates that we can't see, followed bymeat that looks old, long lines, bad produce, and impolite employees.
You know all those new products that you see for a while on grocery storeshelves only to disappear as soon as you develop a hankering for them? That'sbecause not enough people wanted them to warrant the store real estate. Foodmanufacturers lose about $20 billion annually to items that don't catch on.
Here's a little secret supermarket owners don't like to talk about—not only dothey charge us for food, but they also charge food manufacturers for shelfspace. That's right—companies have to pay for the real estate they take up,which makes launching a new product that much more expensive.
No matter the occasion, a recent poll shows that the gift preferred by mostadults is ... money, regardless of educational status, age, or income. Over 66percent of those surveyed chose money over all items. Young women also likedjewelry quite a lot, but they too preferred money.
Retailers have discovered that today's consumer is highly cost-conscious andgoes through five steps before purchasing something:
1. Evaluate Need: We have less time than ever before, so we want to shop faster andless. We don't want something unless we need it.
2. Search: Depending on the item, we like help, but only 18 percent of women(compared to 25 percent of men) use some kind of electronic device—Internet,infomercial, TV—to help in the search.
3. Check Out Alternatives: For items such as TVs as well as clothing, we want highquality in the price range we expect to pay, rather than necessarily the lowestprice.
4. Purchase: Women prefer stores that feel safe and appear clean; men prefer placesthat are the most convenient.
5. Experience Satisfaction: For both men and women, the key factor in satisfactionis ease—that they can get the goods, price, and information they want and, ifsomething isn't right, a quick replacement or fix.
When women shop for cars, they want safety and reliability first. For men,that's further down on the list of priorities.
The world's largest department store is the Macy's in New York City. It has 2.15million square feet!
Women's love of shopping provides quite a temptation to shoplift—women's stickyfingers outdo men's 5 to 1.Manufacturers of certain background music systems for chain stores admit thatthey put subaudible messages—messages that can't be heard, but worksubconsciously—in the stores' music. They claim that at least 120 stores areusing such systems—not to influence purchases, but to prevent shoplifting.
One manufacturer, Proactive Systems, claims that messages such as, "Don'tsteal," reduce shoplifting by as much as 65 percent. No stores except one, JayJacobs, will own up to using such devices. Jay Jacobs is a chain geared toteenage girls, and a visit to one of their stores revealed rock music with noaudible messages.
Thirty-four percent of shoppers never read labels. However, women read them muchmore than men, and those who read tend to buy. Reading takes time, however—approximately 11–16 seconds for the label of a beauty product that we purchase—andif there is not enough space for us to feel comfortable, we will spend only2 seconds and not buy.
According to Simmons Research, 73 percent of women say that the men in theirlives influence their purchasing decisions, whereas only 9 percent of men saywomen affect their choices. But while women tend to consult men, they don't takemen's opinions too seriously, except in one category—car buying. Here the man'sopinion is weighted very heavily by the woman in his life.
One-quarter of U.S. households are now made up of a single person. Collectivelythis group has a tremendous amount of buying power—they have more to spendbecause they don't have kids—and demographers are finding out some surprisingdifferences among them. For instance, middle-aged single women tend to spendmore on cars than single men, while single men spend more heavily on clothes.Single women spend half as much as single men on restaurant meals. (Presumablythey cook more at home and are dating men who pick up the dinner tab.) Notsurprisingly, they also buy more fruits and vegetables than their malecounterparts, but also consume more sweets, fats, and oils. Single women ingeneral are spending more money than they used to; they now spend just as muchas men, an average of $25,500 per year (the average for all households is$32,277). That's not necessarily good news; these women are spending, onaverage, 93 percent of their income, whereas men, who still get paid more, arespending only 73 percent and saving the rest. Women often spend more becausethey want to live somewhere safe and are less likely to buy a fixer-upper house.
Credit cards didn't come into widespread use until 1958, when the country wenton a spending spree that is yet to end. The price of a pair of Levis at thetime? $3.75.
We tend to think of prices going up, up, up over time, but as new technology isintroduced, items are often very expensive initially but then prices drop.Witness the refrigerator. In 1965, an 8.3 cubic foot model cost $635; in 1985you could get a 17.2 cubic foot model for the same price.
Women Changing the World
Because women are the shoppers in this culture, as our roles in society havechanged, so too have the products and stores we use. For instance:
* Grocery store coupons are virtually a thing of the past—fewer than 3 percent arenow redeemed. We're too busy to clip.
