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The Idea in Brief

• Women represent the largest market opportunity in the world.

• But despite women'southward dominant buying power, many companies continue to market mostly to men and fail to explore how they might meet women'south needs.

• Companies that can offer tailored products and services—going beyond "make information technology pinkish"—will be positioned to win when the economy begins to recover.

Women at present drive the globe economy.

Globally, they control nearly $20 trillion in annual consumer spending, and that figure could climb as high as $28 trillion in the next v years. Their $13 trillion in total yearly earnings could accomplish $18 trillion in the aforementioned period. In aggregate, women represent a growth marketplace bigger than China and India combined—more than than twice every bit big, in fact. Given those numbers, it would be foolish to ignore or underestimate the female person consumer. And yet many companies practice just that, even ones that are confident they accept a winning strategy when information technology comes to women.

Consider Dell'due south short-lived effort to market laptops specifically to women. The company roughshod into the classic "brand information technology pink" listen-ready with the May 2009 launch of its Della website. The site emphasized colors, computer accessories, and tips for counting calories and finding recipes. Information technology created an uproar among women, who described information technology equally "slick merely disconcerting" and "condescending." The blogosphere reacted quickly to the visitor'southward "very special site for women." Austin Modine of the online tech publication The Register responded acidly, "If you thought computer shopping was a gender-neutral affair, then you lot've evidently been struck down by an astute instance of female hysteria. (Nine out of x Victorian-age doctors agree.)" The New York Times said that Dell had to become to the "school of marketing hard knocks." Within weeks of the launch, the visitor altered the site'due south proper noun and focus. "You spoke, we listened," Dell told users. Kudos to Dell for correcting class promptly, but why didn't its marketers grab the potentially awkward positioning earlier the launch?

Near companies have much to learn about selling to women. In 2008 the Boston Consulting Group fielded a comprehensive report of how women felt about their work and their lives, and how they were being served by businesses. It turned out in that location was lots of room for improvement. More than 12,000 women, from more 40 geographies and a variety of income levels and walks of life, responded to our survey. They answered—often with disarming candor—120 questions about their teaching and finances, homes and possessions, jobs and careers, activities and interests, relationships, and hopes and fears, along with their shopping behavior and spending patterns in some three dozen categories of appurtenances and services. (You tin learn more nigh the survey and take an abridged version of it at world wide web.womenspeakworldwide.com.) We besides conducted hundreds of interviews and studied women working in 50 organizations in thirteen fields of try.

Here'due south what we constitute, in cursory: Women experience vastly underserved. Despite the remarkable strides in market power and social position that they accept made in the past century, they notwithstanding appear to be undervalued in the market place and underestimated in the workplace. They accept too many demands on their time and constantly juggle conflicting priorities—piece of work, abode, and family unit. Few companies accept responded to their need for fourth dimension-saving solutions or for products and services designed specifically for them.

Information technology'due south still tough for women to find a pair of pants, buy a healthful meal, get financial advice without feeling patronized, or make the fourth dimension to stay in shape. Although women control spending in most categories of consumer appurtenances, too many businesses behave as if they had no say over purchasing decisions. Companies proceed to offer them poorly conceived products and services and outdated marketing narratives that promote female stereotypes. Look at the automotive industry. Cars are designed for speed—non utility, which is what actually matters to women. No SUV is built to adapt a mother who needs to load 2 modest children into it. Or consider a contempo advertizement for Bounty paper towels, in which a hubby and son stand past watching a spill cross the room, until Mom comes along and cheerfully cleans upwards the mess.

Meanwhile, women are increasingly gaining influencein the work globe. As nosotros write, the number of working women in the United States is about to surpass the number of working men. Three-quarters of the people who have lost jobs in the current recession are men. To be fair, women are yet paid less, on boilerplate, than men, and are more than likely to work part-fourth dimension—factors that have helped insulate them somewhat from the crisis. Nevertheless, we believe that every bit this recession abates, women not only will represent i of the largest market opportunities in our lifetimes but also will be an important strength in spurring a recovery and generating new prosperity.

Where the Opportunities Lie

Each person's story is different, merely when we looked for patterns in our findings, we identified 6 basic archetypes among our respondents. These types, which are primarily divers by income, historic period, and phase of life, are fast-tracker, pressure cooker, human relationship focused, managing on her own, fulfilled empty nester, and making ends run across. Few women autumn into only one blazon. Married fast-trackers with children, for instance, are likely at some point in their lives to besides autumn into the pressure level cooker category. (See the exhibit "Six Key Female Consumer Segments.")

Despite its limitations, such segmentation is useful in informing the development and marketing of companies' offerings. Knowing whom y'all're targeting and what she looks for in the marketplace can exist a tremendous source of advantage.

Women make the decision in the purchases of 94% of home furnishings…92% of vacations…91% of homes… 60% of automobiles…51% of consumer electronics

Any company would be wise to target female customers, simply the greatest potential lies in half-dozen industries. 4 are businesses where women are almost likely to spend more or trade upwardly: nutrient, fitness, beauty, and apparel. The other 2 are businesses with which women have fabricated their dissatisfaction very articulate: financial services and health care.

Nutrient represents one of the largest opportunities. Women are responsible for the lion'south share of grocery shopping and meal grooming. Food is also one of consumers' most important upkeep items, ane that can be adjusted only never eliminated.

Favorite grocery stores amongst the women we surveyed included Whole Foods and Tesco. Though they entreatment to unlike segments, the 2 chains take each developed a loyal following. Whole Foods has succeeded despite its high prices by targeting the demanding (but well-to-do) fast-trackers, who desire loftier-quality meats and produce and a knowledgeable staff. Tesco stores, which offer one-end shopping for a wide range of household items, including books, article of furniture, and fiscal services, appeal to the fourth dimension-strapped pressure cookers, who desire convenience.

Fitness is also a big business organization. In the United States solitary the market for diet food has been growing 6% to nine% a year and is worth approximately $10 billion, while the worldwide market is worth virtually $twenty billion. The U.South. health lodge industry generates revenues of about $xiv billion annually.

About two-thirds of our survey respondents described themselves as overweight; what was until recently an American issue has become a global phenomenon. Simply while women say that their fitness is a priority, in reality it tends to have a backseat. When asked to prioritize the needs of spouses, children, parents, and themselves, nearly all women ranked their ain needs second or third—which means they take trouble finding time to work out.

The challenge for companies is to make fitness more accessible to women. For instance, virtually health clubs are expensive and designed for men. They tin feel more similar nightclubs than fitness centers and are geared to bodybuilders. Generally, women are less interested in pumping themselves upward than in shedding a few pounds, improving their cardiovascular wellness, and getting toned. Bright lights, electronic music, sweaty men, and complicated equipment are often a turnoff.

The fitness concatenation Curves recognized and responded to women's concerns—and grew quickly as a result. Curves has a very simple concept: cheap, fast exercise for women only, with no-frills spaces suited to center-anile clients of average build. Helpers stand by to usher them through a simple 30-infinitesimal circuit, so there's no need to hire a trainer.

Beauty products and services promote a sense of emotional well-being in women. Those we talked with who spent a college portion of their income on cosmetics felt more satisfied, successful, and powerful; they as well reported lower levels of stress even if they worked longer hours.

But nevertheless, women are fundamentally dissatisfied with beauty offerings, and the way the industry is evolving keeps them from spending every bit much equally they might. For one thing, in that location are likewise many choices; it'southward a male-dominated industry in which men make hit-or-miss guesses about what women desire, and products come and go at a rapid pace. Women are passionate about the industry and well represented in jobs at the entry level, just female employment drops off at the executive and senior leadership levels. A proficient kickoff step toward gaining market share might be to put more women at the meridian—where they can help brand central decisions and provide input virtually what does and doesn't resonate with customers.

Many companies that exercise well in dazzler have made artistic utilise of new technologies to address women's desire to look younger. Facial skin-care products, for case, have grown into a $20 billion category worldwide. Whereas shelves used to exist lined with products whose sole purpose was to moisturize the skin, now there are formulas containing a diversity of benefits, such equally sun protection, peel plumping, and capillary strengthening—all designed to forestall, or at the very least disguise, aging.

At the top of the range is Switzerland-based La Prairie'due south Cellular Cream Platinum Rare antiaging moisturizer, which goes for $1,000 for ane.vii ounces. The cream contains a trace of platinum, which, the company claims, "recharges the peel'south electric residue and protects the peel's Deoxyribonucleic acid." Despite the cost, customers lined upward at luxury retail stores to purchase a jar when the cream was introduced in 2008.

At the other end of the range, Procter & Take chances's Olay make is available in drugstores. It has morphed from one depression-end product with a simple purpose (moisturizing), which about 2% of the population used, into an assortment of higher-terminate products with numerous applications and a twoscore% household penetration. I of the most successful new Olay products is its Regenerist Daily Regenerating Serum, advertised as the next-best thing to cosmetic surgery.

Dress—including accessories and shoes—is a $47 billion global industry with enough of room for improvement, primarily when it comes to fit and affordability.

Most women are not a perfect size 6, and they don't like to exist reminded of it every time they shop. Trying on clothes is often an exercise in frustration that but reinforces women'due south negative body images. Banana Democracy, a favorite retailer of the women in our survey, has won a loyal following by taking steps to solve the problem of fit, specially for pants. It offers a variety of cuts to accommodate dissimilar figures, and sizes are consistent across the lath. One time you discover your "fit block" (the chain's technical term for body type), y'all can purchase multiple pairs of pants, even online, quickly and dependably. Banana Republic has go Gap'south most profitable make, the merely i that's grown over the past v years.

By contrast, Express stores focused on manner and color merely failed to deliver a consistent fit. Women might try on four garments marked "size 8" that really varied in size from 6 to 12. The chain'due south sales began to lag so much that its parent company, Limited Brands, ended upward exiting the fashion apparel business organization; it sold Limited to a private equity group in 2007.

The costliness of clothing was another sore indicate for the women in our survey. That explains why respondents also favored Sweden-based H&Yard. Its stores offer inexpensive, fun, trendy clothes and, with a rapid turnover of stock, an chemical element of surprise each fourth dimension shoppers visit. Women value the ability to buy a new outfit without breaking the bank. Peradventure contributing to H&One thousand's success is the fact that nigh 80% of the visitor's employees, 77% of store managers, and 44% of country managers are women. So are seven of the eleven lath members.

Few of the women we talked to during the course of our enquiry actually needed new article of clothing. Almost could get away with shopping once or twice a year just to replenish the basics. Only given that women say they are willing to spend actress to find habiliment that really works for them, manufacturers and retailers can find enough of untapped potential in the apparel market—if they listen carefully to what women desire, seek new technologies that offering superior fabrication and color, and improve condolement and fit.

Fiscal services wins the prize as the industry least sympathetic to women—and one in which companies stand up to gain the most if they can change their approach.

Despite setbacks in the economic system, private wealth in the United States is expected to grow from some $14 trillion today to $22 trillion past 2020, and 50% of it will be in the hands of women. However women are still continually let down by the level of quality and service they get from financial companies, which presume men to be their target customers.

Our survey respondents were scathing in their comments nearly financial institutions. They cited a lack of respect, poor advice, contradictory policies, one-size-fits-all forms, and a seemingly endless tangle of cherry-red tape that leaves them exhausted and bellyaching. Consider just a few quotations from our interviews:

• "I hate being stereotyped considering of my gender and age, and I don't appreciate being treated like an infant."

• "As a single woman, I oft feel that financial services institutions aren't looking for my business."

• "Financial service reps talk downwards to women as if we cannot understand more than just the basics."

• "I'1000 earning close to $1 million a year and should retire with $20 one thousand thousand plus in avails, so I'm not right for a cookie cutter discount banker, nor qualified for high-finish wealth management services."

An unhappy customer with $20 million plus to invest represents a golden opportunity. Overall, the markets for investment services and life insurance for women are wide open. (For iii of the largest opportunities, come across the exhibit "Financial Categories Where Untapped Sales to Women Are Worth Trillions.")

Extraordinary amounts of money are up for grabs in the financial services business concern. The most lucrative opportunities for companies arise at transition points similar marriage, divorce, childbirth, and a job alter, because women are most probable to brand investment decisions around such events.

Wellness care was a source of frustration for women in our survey—and for middle-aged respondents in particular. Women resoundingly reported dissatisfaction with their hospitals and doctors. When polled about the service provided by their general practitioners and specialists, more than than 60% of them said those doctors could do "somewhat improve" or "significantly improve." Seventy-one percent of women aged 30 to 49 were dissatisfied with full general practitioners, and 68% of that group were dissatisfied with specialists. More specifically, they were irritated by the corporeality of time they spent waiting for doctors and lab results, and scheduling and keeping appointments for themselves and their families. Making matters worse, women generally pay significantly more than men do for health insurance.

Again, the opportunities for companies that do cater to women are enormous. Johnson & Johnson, though not a health care services provider, was about invariably represented (in the form of oral contraception, babe intendance, bandages, and other products) when we peeked into our respondents' medicine cabinets. The company spends 4% of its sales on consumer inquiry and development—more than twice the industry average—and thus in all likelihood has a better understanding of its female customers than well-nigh companies in its space exercise. For instance, because mothers of immature children are one of its important customer groups, the company conducted a clinical study in partnership with a pediatric slumber expert at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Together, they developed a three-pace routine to help babies sleep ameliorate, consisting of bath, massage, and serenity time. J&J and then launched a line of products to complement the routine—with the results of the clinical report to boost their credibility.

Overburdened and Overwhelmed

Considering how often the issue of time—and not plenty of information technology—came up in our survey and our interviews, offering easier and more convenient ways to make purchases would create a clear advantage in all the industries we've discussed. We've seen that women don't make enough time for themselves. They are still far more encumbered than men past household tasks; according to our survey, about one-third of men don't assistance their spouse or partner with chores. In Nihon women receive the to the lowest degree support, with 74% getting little or no aid from their spouses. At the opposite farthermost, 71% of Indian husbands pitch in on household chores.

Our research likewise showed that pressures change over fourth dimension. Women are happiest in their early on and later on years and experience their lowest betoken in their early on and mid forties. That's when they face the greatest challenges in managing work and dwelling house, and must deal with caring for both children and aging parents. And so this group is particularly receptive to products and services that can help them better control their lives and remainder their priorities.

A Future of Parity, Power, and Influence

When the dust from the economic crisis settles, we predict, women will occupy an fifty-fifty more than important position in the economy and the globe social club than they now exercise. What might that economy await similar? In some ways it will exist characterized past the same trends we've seen over the past five decades. For one matter, women volition represent an always-larger proportion of the workforce. The number of working women has been increasing past near 2.ii% a yr. Nosotros expect an boosted 90 meg or so women to enter the workforce by 2013, perhaps fifty-fifty more than as employment becomes a necessity. At most every major consumer company, most middle managers are women. It's only a affair of time before they ascent to more-senior positions. Already, women own 40% of the businesses in the United states, and their businesses are growing at twice the charge per unit of U.S. firms as a whole. (Admittedly, the numbers are being skewed as small businesses position themselves for government contracts that favor female-owned companies.) Women will too keep to struggle with work/life balance, conflicting demands, and too piffling time.

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Once companies wake up to the potential of the female person economy, they volition discover a whole new range of commercial opportunities in women'southward social concerns. Women seek to buy products and services from companies that exercise good for the world, especially for other women. Brands that—directly or indirectly—promote physical and emotional well-existence, protect and preserve the environment, provide education and care for the needy, and encourage honey and connection will benefit.

And women are the customer. In that location'southward no reason they should settle for products that ignore or fail to fully meet their needs, or that do and so cynically or superficially. Women will increasingly resist existence stereotyped, segmented only by age or income, lumped together into an "all women" characterization, or, worse, undifferentiated from men.

The financial crisis will come to an end, and now is the fourth dimension to lay the foundation for postrecession growth. A focus on women as a target market—instead of on any geographical market—will upwards a company's odds of success when the recovery begins. Understanding and meeting women's needs will exist essential to rebuilding the economy; therein lies the key to breakout growth, loyalty, and market share.

A version of this commodity appeared in the September 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review.