1. Women spend more time researching and comparing products than men
The president of The TrendSight Group, Marti Barletta, presumes that the masculine gender male shoppers would prefer to buy a workable product immediately, while the feminine gender would rather choose to continue shopping carrying a bag of hope to find the perfect product in the long run.
The point we're tackling here is the explore vs. solution model that can be based on some biological theories:
The brains of men and women are different in structure.
Men rely heavily on their brain's left hemisphere (which makes them more task-oriented)
Women, on the other hand, utilize their cerebral cortex to execute tasks (making them better at emotion identification and controlling emotions)
Using this analogy, when doing online shopping, women tend to be more selective and likely to buy an item that matches all their desires. Usually, that happens after meticulous research and a thorough comparison session on many products.
On the other hand, men tend to buy the product they encounter first and which meets their requirements. In other words, they don't meander to other items once they find the first product that matches their desires.
This idea is stated fluently in “Men Buy, Women Shop”, a report in the Journal of Decision Making. This appeared in an article stating the idea above after research was conducted with 250 respondents. The piece says, "Women tend to be more astute consumers than men, simply because they are willing to invest more time and energy necessary to research and compare products."
But, there is research coming from other sources that somehow contradicts the claims. For example, research from ”InMoment” says, “males and females differ in how they utilize a product page.”
There are more specifics, such as, “Males intensely research the page, viewing all the product details and pictures, while women prefer to quickly scan the product page and go to the next product they want.
The research moreover states that “54% of males browse online every couple of days for the purpose of shopping research, compared to 47% of women who do.
On top of this, a survey from Baines & Ernst shows that 85% of females do compulsive buying online; which differs completely from the idea of doing careful research with controlled emotions when ladies go online shopping.
Yes, it's a fact. Research varies since consumer culture is in constant motion.
However, the male vs the female brain is structurally different (as mentioned previously) so it's reasonable to presume that there'll be differences, albeit minor ones, between male and female shoppers that are driven by habits in the manner that they will do their shopping online.
2. Compared to men, women shop online more
When the ladies discover what they're searching for online and the price matches their perceived value, they're ready to shell out cash. A Fastlane International study reports that with regard to shopping, women throw away money or are willing to spend more money on products they love than men. This is true for most items except in categories like computers and sporting goods, especially equipment, where the masculine gender spends more. Ladies, in greater numbers, also prefer using the Web to research products they shop for. However, the study shows that even if their research was conducted through the Internet, their final purchases were usually done traditionally. In physical stores.
Here's a revelation we found interesting: men appear to be more inclined to do m-shopping. A Business Insider report shows men are more likely to buy online using mobile devices.
According to this report, 22% of men made a purchase on their smartphones, compared to 18% of women. That's only a difference of 4%, but it still signifies a difference between men's vs women's own shopping habits and patterns. This statistic may also be a reflection of men's predilection to adapt to high-end technology compared to women.
3. Men tend to be loyal to brands, and women tend to be loyal to good service
An Erasmus University study came out with this result: men, upon finding a brand that really worked for them, they’re more inclined to stick with it. This is especially true for cars, apparel, financial services, and even home electronics. On the other hand, women developed a more intense degree of loyalty if they got a good service.
The results recommend that when creating ads targeting women, it’s significant to use marketing that builds a personal relationship with women customers. Contrarily, when targeting how men shop online, you should highlight your product’s advantages and benefits.
ClickTale, in a nutshell, explains this simply by saying: Girls Watch Faces. Boys Watch Objects. Simon Baron-Cohen conducted a study and concluded that you can observe these differences when studying boys and girls in their infancy: “While most female babies give most of their attention to social stimuli such as human faces and voices, the majority of boys pay most attention to non-social, spatial stimuli—such as the movement of a mobile hanging above a crib. Throughout their lives, male and female individuals continue to manifest these early traits more complexly.
4. Tech for men, fashion for women
As you will see, the online shopping difference is further evidence under this sub-topic. Men are generally more interested in software, hardware, and electronic gadgets, while women are more excited to shop for clothing, food, and beverages. Regarding men vs women online shopping tendencies, differences are reflected in the strategies in how they do research. Statistics show that ladies search by brand, while their knights in shining armor, the gentlemen, usually search by product.
5. Men purchase upon finding the first product that matches their needs
Basically, men are focused on scoring their original search when it comes to online shopping, while their counterparts, the women, more often than not, tend to check on things they didn’t plan to buy before shopping. Data shows that the number of pages women view before the final transaction is evidently higher than among men. As ContentSquare and Survey Sampling International (SSI) found: women click through e-commerce sites 30% more than men. On the contrary, once men spotted what they’re looking for, the game is over, so to speak; they pay for the product, and the search is over.
6. Females are more inclined to use coupons
For the majority of men, shopping is like a mission to be accomplished. Part of the activity is to collect essential information, which usually includes product details and product uses. The info is generally taken from the Net or from an e-commerce store newsletter.
Generally, female consumers treat shopping as a pleasurable ritual that often comes with rewards. They are also more fond of discounts offered for buying products online. Since women are considered to be more impulsive, it's clear that invitations to grab a chance to buy during limited promotions increase the tendency of female shoppers for unplanned shopping sprees and spontaneous decisions to buy online.
