Mary Lou Quinlan thinks she has the answer to increasing sales for retailers this holiday shopping season: Treat the female customer better.
Quinlan, CEO of Just Ask a Woman, a female consumers marketing company, says that women buy about 85 percent of everything that is sold.
“[Retailers are] trying to outdo themselves at the holidays, and yet they sometimes fall into the pattern of just doing the same thing every year,” Quinlan says.
But women can flex their unhappy muscles if they feel they’re being mistreated.
“A lot of women told me that when they’re mad with customer service,” Quinlan says, “they just drop the merchandise and leave.”
Retailers can avoid that by trying some of the following tips.
– Mention the deal up front and often.
– Use the P.A. system to promote feelings of cheer and joy. Broadcast soothing holiday music (not loud Christmas carols) and keep jarring loudspeaker announcements to a minimum.
– Make it easy for her to edit selections. For instance: Help her by providing the top 10 gifts for 13-year-olds so she can buy her niece this year’s got-to-have instead of last year’s cargo pants.
– Because women are doing the shopping with their kids in tow, offer services that will help her sneak Santa’s gifts into the trunk of the car.
– Find a simple way to make her laugh at all of the holiday mania, so that she can blow off some steam and reprioritize.
– Reward sales and customer service staff for efforts that surprise and delight customers.
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– Make gift receipts a standard part of the checkout process (online and off) so that the people she loves don’t have to jump through hoops to return gifts.
– Give her something special: a coupon for a free latte as she does her shopping, or an indulgence certificate–for every purchase she makes for others, she can get points toward a purchase for herself.
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