The Women’s Consumer Market: How to Plan for 2023

The Women’s Consumer Market: How to Plan for 2023

I recently asked a woman how her shopping habits have changed since pre-pandemic times. “I’m not the same person I was before COVID,” was her drop-the-mic response. We all know she’s not alone. The question is: are you up to date on how your own customers have changed?

It may be the most important question to answer as we plan for 2023.

The pandemic laid bare the “invisible” care work that women do every day that keeps our families, households, and societies running. It revealed old problems that need new solutions. This has created fertile ground for innovation.

The work-from-home revolution for office workers - which seems here to stay at least on some level – has created new shopping habits. I predict it will continue to change consumer needs for many women in everything from furniture and apparel to automotive and grocery in 2023.

To help you plan for the road ahead, here is a five-step framework to align your organization to meet the needs of the women-dominated, consumer economy:

1. “Fast Forward” Your Insights Work: Ensure that you are continually getting up-to-date, women-specific insights in your market research. If you haven’t conducted research since before the pandemic began, now would be a good time to start. 
2. Conduct a Marketing “Freshness” Test: Our culture moves fast – take time to audit your marketing language and visuals before the new year begins or risk alienating the audience you’re hoping to attract. For example: are your visuals up-to-date and inclusive, or are there some old, dated photos that need to be replaced? Is the language you’re using relevant or does it make your brand seem so five years ago? 
3. Build diverse teams both internally and externally: When it comes to building diverse teams, beware of the “knowing-versus-doing” gap. Everyone knows they should have diverse teams and everyone has seen (or heard) the research that shows diverse teams produce better results. And yet, women are still largely missing from the most senior-level corporate teams making strategic decisions. Commit to building more internal diversity in 2023. And to provide even more benefit to your bottom line, look externally and ask your strategic vendors to field diverse teams to support your business.
4. Re-evaluate the Customer Experience through the Lens of Women: If your customer experience isn’t reinforcing your brand, it’s probably hurting it, as well as decreasing the effectiveness of your marketing budget. When women have less time to shop, their expectations for ease and convenience go up. Do you know how women rate your customer experience? Is it good enough to be talk-worthy? Does it make them want to engage with your business again and again and again? To help you with fresh ideas and inspiration, check out the customer-experience strategies in my books, Winning Her Business and Why She Buys.
5. Pilot, test, repeat. So often, I will hear an executive say, “We tried a women’s initiative once.” But because it was a one-time project with no long-term support, it will have failed to meet expectations. Marketing to women isn’t about creating side projects in a silo – it’s about integrating and “mainstreaming” women’s perspectives into every area of the business, not just for 2023, but for the long term.

A version of this article originally appeared in Forbes. To learn more, check out my books, Winning Her Business and Why She Buys, and follow me here on LinkedIn. Interested in having me speak at your company? Check out my programs at www.bridgetbrennan.com and get in touch at info@bridgetbrennan.com.