E-commerce Tips & Tricks 4 min read
20 Dec 2020

How Men And Women Are Different When It Comes To Online Shopping 

How Men And Women Are Different When It Comes To Online Shopping 

Do you run an online store?

You're nodding your head there. That's good... you'll absolutely love this post; you can use some highly valuable information reflected in statistics on gender-based shopping preferences that we discuss here. Anyway, as they are, men and women are different in so many ways already. This specific truth is further confirmed when it comes to their online shopping behavior; studies show that they even have more differences.

Men vs women and their online shopping attitudes that's what we're zeroing in on here. By and large, the sexes vary in perceiving, thinking, managing tactics, planning, and even in decision-making. The same generalizations apply to online shopping as well.

If you browse over customer profiles, their statistics and other forms of data will show significant differences in men's shopping strategies vs women's shopping patterns. And since you're operating an e-commerce business, the following facts will help you in so many ways: a thorough analysis of the details of these consumer behavior differences will present opportunities for increasing your sales.

Let's See The Differences In Men Vs Women's Online Shopping Behaviors:

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 that 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.

Pro Tips: e-Marketing Based On Online Shopping Behaviors Of Men Vs Women

If you’re targeting men: We strongly suggest that you consider paid search advertising. 

The goal: your product shows up when the masculine gender searches or reads on competing or related products. Boost your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to make your products and website more prominent on the Web, for them to have a better chance of showing up when buyers actively search online.

In case you operate a brick-and-mortar store: Battle male showrooming by ensuring your retail store attendants are ready for any questions and are well-versed in everything you sell. Boldly offer them to order the product in-store from your website. This is for the goal of giving them a sort of instant gratification.

If You’re Targeting Women: We recommend sending emails - emails are definitely effective: With regards to women, most of them shop online from home, so don’t send emails during the busy part of the workday; the early part of the morning until before lunchtime is the busiest time of the workday. Shoot emails in the afternoon instead (around 3 PM to spark her interest as her energy wanes) and start emailing again in the evening, after dinner is served when she’s most probably relaxing already.

Use coupons: offer them by all means. Whether you post discount codes and coupons on coupon sites, on the Net, on social media, on your blog, or in emails, offer them. Women totally enjoy feeling the thrill of hunting for goodies when shopping. And (this is very important…) tracking down that big discount on your coupon offers is a huge part of the fun.

Your online strategy should include gender preferences

While men’s and women’s online shopping preferences vary, in roughly the same proportions, the good news is that more and more consumers are shopping on the web. This is why it’s wise to adjust your digital marketing efforts and check the composition of your customer base. If your customer base leans towards one gender or the other strongly, you must take the cue.

This may be a critical step for your e-commerce business to increase traffic and conversions. It could also be a way of building a strong channel for communication with your customers. (A long-term way, for that matter). Based on the relevant points we have thoroughly discussed in this post, we strongly suggest introducing gender-based adjustments to product categories in your e-commerce store.

Diane Eunice Narciso
Author

Diane Eunice Narciso

Diane Eunice Narciso is a content marketer, strategist, and writer who's skilled and passionate about marketing, social media, eCommerce, etc. And is also an expert in sales and business development nurturing strategic partnerships and collaborations.

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