Lady Geek

I read an interesting article in this week’s International Herald Tribune about the growing purchasing and influencing power of women:

The Consumer Electronics Association in the US estimates that this year women will make 40% of consumer electronics purchases in what is a $200 billion industry. Indirectly , as spouses, girlfriends, significant others, daughters and mothers, they will influence another 21% of purchases, making their total involvement a whopping 61%, up from 57% in 2004.

That is a lot of buying power considering the average US household has 25 electronic devices. Many of the highest ticket items will reside in the living room such as the HDTV, PVR, Console, stereo and this is in the most part the terrain of the women. As the design of electronics gets better and better, women are more interesting in choosing the electronics and styling is a big part of this. I say part, as many of the electronics fall into the ‘colour’ or ‘fashion’ trap by thinking design=colour=pink and that women have no interest in performance and software.

And as Elizabeth Kelan, co-author of this blog, discusses the retail experience in the IHT article “…Walking into an electronics store is like walking into a men’s locker room. But slowly, progress is being made.”

Sony, despite being late into the flat panel market, is doing some ground-breaking stuff that goes beyond the superficial. They have clearly identified the financial gains to be made if executed well and have set up a gender steering committee of its’ top European executives to revamp product lines and better connect with women.

The new Bravia’s remote contol (on the left) has been designed to enhance a living room coffee table. The TVs have a single cable for all electronic communication. Not only that, they are redesigning their retail outlets in Switzerland to include couches and offer child care services (that would be heaven for me and most mums) and their staff are being trained to ask about interior design tastes and wishes. As Nichola Hinton puts it, “The Bravia is essentially a piece of furniture.” Where women largely control the home, in particular the living room, and what goes into it, this is a very wise strategy.