While traditionally women have been the heavyweight shopping champions, men are quickly starting a love affair with online shopping. A recent survey found that over 80 percent of men prefer shopping online to shopping in stores.
Additionally, almost half of American men surveyed said they would ideally purchase everything online. Only a third of women said the same.
As men’s sights turn from the stores to the web, they are grabbing a bigger spending share of the market. Experts estimate that men are out-shopping women 20-30 percent in every eCommerce vertical.
Clearly, there are plenty of reasons to pay attention to mansumers. They are a formidable force that requires understanding about how to cater to their particular wants and needs. Here are the basics on how to keep men shopping at your store.
Men don’t shop, they buy
For men, shopping is functional, not emotional. While women crave a more emotional experience and will spend more time browsing in stores or online for the pleasure of shopping, the majority of men have a “get in and get out” mentality. Psychology Today theorizes that this may be because of man’s history as hunter-gatherers, which has caused them to evolve into wanting to find prey quickly rather than linger around with many choices.
Takeaway: So how do you simplify the shopping process for mansumers? Give them less choice. Women enjoy seeing a large amount of diversity and shop online for the pleasure as much as the purchase, men are results-driven when shopping and feel overwhelmed by too many choices. Don’t overwhelm men by displaying a multitude of products — show off the basics and save related similar choices to be displayed on product pages.
Men want to know before they purchase
When men shop, they value feeling fully educated about an item before they make a purchase. Men research by scanning product pages for information so they can make a well thought out choice.
Takeaway: Do more than make your site easy to navigate. Display important product info up front so men don’t have to search for it. Give pertinent details on product pages so men don’t go offsite to gather the information they need. Displaying competitor’s prices next to your own is also helpful. Men in every age group are more likely to look for lower prices than their female counterparts, so rather than men having to search for the best price, you can show them then and there that yours is the best.
Men like mobile
Research has shown men are more likely than women to make purchases on mobile devices. This could be because of their desire to find and commit to a purchase decision quickly, rather than spend extra time going back and forth before deciding. No matter what the reason, it’s important not to forget your mansumers when optimizing for mobile.
Takeaway: Optimization means different things to different people. To men, getting to the information that matters is key. To make mobile shopping easy for men, exhibit detailed price and product information on main navigation pages.
Men get by with a little help…from their friends
A recent survey found that while three out of four women want to discover content on their own, men are much more social shoppers. The majority of men want social validation and refer to social recommendations when preparing to make a purchase.
Takeaway: Men are more likely to be influenced by user-generated content that endorses a product. Encourage social shares and leverage user content marketing that caters to men. Make it easy for men to find product reviews and see what their friends may have said about a product or store.
Men want purchasing to be easy
The debate on whether or not men are more loyal shoppers than women has been raging for quite some time. While the verdict isn’t entirely clear, it has been found that men will buy a particular product if they have bought it before.
This may explain the reason behind women having a tendency towards overloading their bathroom drawers with a multitude of cosmetic and beauty products from many different brands, while most men have a few simple grooming products and continue to buy from the same brand time and time again.
For this reason, monthly clubs, like the Dollar Shave Club, have done exceptionally well with men. They deliver products men need to purchase regularly so they can sign up once and be done with the decision-making process. This business model has been very successful because it allows men to check off an item on their list they need and not think about it again
Takeaway: You can make offers based on what men have liked in the past to take overwhelming choices out of the equation and get to a purchase quicker. You can also leverage men’s aversion to brand and product changes to increase loyalty. Marketing a product as a “one-stop solution” or including ways to buy once and receive an instant reminder to buy again can signal to men that a product will solve their issue so they don’t need to re-visit it.
