Seven Things Every Smart Business Needs to Know About Boomer Women
September 3, 2006 by admin
Filed under Book Summaries
Adapted from BOOM: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer — The Baby Boomer Woman
by Mary Brown and Carol Orsbom, Ph.D.
Everyone wants success, however it is defined. For some, it can mean financial riches. For others, success can mean reaching the top of their field. Some simply define success as living a fulfilled and contented life. The question is: how do you attain success? .
2. Many Boomer women are well established in their careers and at the peak of their earning potential. What’s more, eight out of 10 Boomers say they don’t plan to retire, with an estimated 52 percent growth in the category of women 55+ projected in the workforce by 2010.
3. Within the next decade, many Boomer women will not only continue to earn income but will also be managing inheritance windfalls from their parents and their husbands. One-third of women who become widowed are under age 60. Boomer women are likely to outlive their spouses by on average, 6 to 9 years.
4. Even in traditionally “male” product categories, women are responsible for more than half the purchases. Women make 80 percent of home improvement decisions, buy 65 percent of all new automobiles sold every year, and spend more than $55 billion annually on consumer electronics, a $96 billion industry. Add this to the fact that disposable incomes are highest for women between ages 45 to 54, and it becomes evident who’s driving a majority of the numbers.
5. In 2004, women age 35 to 54 represented the highest proportion of Web surfers, compared with both male Boomers and all members of younger generations. Direct catalog marketers calculate that 70 percent of all online purchases are made by women, the majority of whom are in the Boomer demographic.
6. 6.7 million strong and counting—companies owned by women account for 30 percent of America’s small businesses. This sub-segment skews heavily toward women age 35 to 54. Eighty-six percent of female entrepreneurs say they use the same products and services at home as they do in their businesses.
7. If you think these middle-aged women are set in their ways, think again. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, almost seven in 10 women over age 35— about 68 percent—say that the older they get, the more they enjoy trying new things.
BOOM: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer — The Baby Boomer Woman http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0814473903/ref=nosim/powerhomebizguid
By Mary Brown and Carol Orsbom, Ph.D.
AMACOM; September 28, 2006; $24.00
ISBN: 0-8144-7390-3).
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