CONTRAST IN BUYING METHODS OF WOMEN AND MEN

WHO BUYS THE HOME FURNISHINGS?

In this bulletin the buyer of home furnishings is referred to as "she." This is done partly for simplicity, and partly because most buyers are women.

As a matter of fact, men do play an extremely important part in the purchase of home furnishings, and they are likely to be the determining factor in large sales. This is so much the case that clever salesmen and decorators frequently try to get the man involved even in the earlier stages of a large sale, while many highly successful oriental-rug men make no serious effort on a sale of any importance until the man is actively interested.

Accurate percentages impossible.—Such data as we have indicate that, in the purchase by average-income families of the kinds of merchandise carried by furniture stores, 5 percent or less of the buying is done by men alone, 50 percent or more by women alone, and the remaining 40 percent by men and women together.

The percentages, which are of approximate accuracy only, vary widely with different classifications of merchandise. Women probably buy from 75 to 85 percent of all curtains, draperies, mattresses, and pillows; men alone buy considerably more than 5 percent of lamps, refrigerators, and small electric appliances; and men and women together buy from 60 to 70 percent of room-size rugs and the more important items of furniture.

WHY FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE VITAL

These figures indicate that women have some part in considerably more than 50 percent of all sales in our business. There is reason to believe that they initiate fully 85 percent of all sales. This means, among other things—

1. That we must expect and be set for competition and delayed sales in the majority of cases, because three women out of every four shop in more than one store before buying furniture.

2. That we must conduct every interview with a woman shopper in a way calculated to influence her to return in case an immediate sale cannot be made. This will demand—

a. Prompt and skillful service, with every effort to save her time; because women of the intelligent classes in recent years have come to attach great value to their shopping time and to resent any waste of it as a result of inefficient salesmanship or store service.

b. Careful attention to those elements of salesmanship discussed under "The daily check-up," unit I, p. [10], because women are strongly influenced by first impressions, and in a competitive market rarely return to the salesperson who made an unpleasant first impression.

c. Belief that "high-pressure" selling is a mark of inadequacy both in the salesman and the firm he represents. The customer of today is rightfully resentful of it, although it is true that some seem to react positively to it. Intelligent selling is marked by efficiency in fitting merchandise to a customer's desire and need, coupled with an understanding of her capacity to purchase without financial strain, and readiness to offer the best value commensurate with these limitations.

d. Convincing demonstration of the value of merchandise under consideration, even in cases where we are morally certain that there will be no immediate sale; because in the absence of such demonstration there will assuredly be no later sale. This is a point at which many consistently fail, with an enormous total loss in sales as an inevitable result.

3. That salesmen and merchants alike discard any smug conviction that "our old customers will always come back to us when new purchases are under consideration," and must turn to the development of an efficient follow-up system. The repeat purchases of old customers are not as a rule sufficient to assure the continued success of any retail business. Surveys in 1940 show that 60 percent of the home furnishings customers of the country shift to another store for their "next" purchase. This does not mean that they never return to the original establishment. It does show the need for salesmen and merchants to keep in touch with those whose confidence they have once developed. Properly handled, the customer likes the friendly follow-up and unquestionably it affects her shopping habits.

DEALING WITH WOMEN CUSTOMERS

While generalizations on human motives and thought patterns always are dangerous, a few observations are set down here for consideration.

As buyers of home furnishings, women are in general more conservative in matters of price than men. Women's traditional role has been that of the conserver, rather than of the earner. Her attitude in the furniture store is due partly to this fact, partly to the fact that under present conditions she feels that a larger measure of personal and social satisfaction is to be gained by expenditure in fields other than home furnishings. Her capacity as family purchasing agent compels her to keep constantly in mind a wide range of immediate and future needs, and to plan the division of her dollar on that basis.

Women are more interested in details than men; more inclined to postpone decisions; more indirect in their thinking; more responsive to appeals based upon instinctive and emotional reactions; less attentive; and less responsive to complete-explanation sales talk.

Women respond more strongly than men to appeals based upon time saving, efficiency, durability, quality, and the guaranty of performance, and far less strongly than men to appeals based upon family affection or sympathy. Appeals to elegance or modernity make a stronger appeal to men than to women.

Women respond more quickly to appeals made to their dislikes than to their likes, but with men the case is reversed. This fact, coupled with woman's habit of indirect thinking and her reluctance to go on record, makes questionable the use of the "yes-channel" method of selling which is often successful in dealing with men. The theory is that by asking questions to which the logical answer will be "yes" in the earlier stages of the sale, you groove the way for a final "yes." It is good theory, but fails with women buyers.

For the same reason the habit of repeating the question "How do you like this piece?" or "Isn't this beautiful, desirable, etc.?" is dangerous. Women do not like to be cross-questioned, or forced to declare themselves. Their inner response to a "don't you like" question is likely to be destructively negative, no matter what they may choose to say out loud.

Women respond more directly and strongly to the appeal of color than do men, and less strongly to the appeal of line and form. They often have strong prejudices against certain colors, certain types in texture, pattern, and proportion. These the salesman must uncover skillfully and avoid in showing merchandise.

The buying psychology of a woman naturally is influenced by her age, social position, experience, and income. On the upper levels of intelligence and income women buy much as men do. They are interested in "reason why" talk; their thinking is direct and their decision prompt. On the low levels we find women who, however shrewd in buying foodstuffs or clothing, have had little experience in the purchase of furniture and floor coverings. Lacking both taste and knowledge, these women often are childishly credulous. They buy on the basis of easy terms and what is to them eye-appeal, and have little or no concern with what would constitute value in the upper levels.

RECENT SURVEY REVEALS NEW VIEWPOINTS OF VITAL INTEREST[3]

Seeking to eliminate guesswork in designing a 1940 line, the Kroehler Manufacturing Co. conducted a Nation-wide survey on consumer furniture-buying habits. In 49 cities 1,817 families of all classes and age groups were interviewed in their homes. By virtue of scientific statistical sampling and complete coast-to-coast geographic coverage the survey should correctly represent the typical viewpoint of no fewer than 26 million people and more than 6½ million families. Since the Bureau of the Census shows that 51.2 percent of our families own their own homes, approximately one-half of these interviewed in the survey must have been home owners. Because three-fourths of our people live in one-family dwellings, about three-fourths of those interviewed must have been thus housed, and one-fourth lived in apartments conforming likewise to census specifications.

The summary of the survey's results provides a basis for analyzing buying habits and style preferences. But more important to us here, the study developed certain inescapable conclusions for all those who actually sell home furnishings.

Fewer than one-third had bought their last furniture at the same store from which their last previous purchase had been made. Two-thirds went elsewhere.

Why this huge turn-over?

Is it because furniture stores and departments, as a whole, fail to do constructive selling?

Is it the result of dissatisfaction with previous purchases?

Thirty-three months elapse between major furniture purchases of the average family.—A lapse of nearly 3 years between large furniture purchases is astonishing. The Chicago Automobile Trade Association says the average family buys an automobile every 2 years—not because the car is worn out, but because of model changes. To increase furniture purchases dealers must put more emphasis on style changes through better display, better advertising, and better merchandising.

Over one-half of all furniture buyers shopped more than one store or department.—Better selection, better floor display, and better selling might have converted many shoppers into buyers in the first store. What happened there?

Fewer than 10 percent of actual buyers simply bought to replace out-of-style furniture.—Furniture lined up in ranks along aisles like wooden soldiers, and advertising which shouts nothing but price, will not motivate purchases.

Six out of ten customers wait until they are in the store before they choose a style.