It seems these behaviours have stuck fast and it would provide a neat explanation
as to why women tend to spend a lot of time browsing and men take a more direct approach. While men are often puzzled and frustrated by womens shopping habits, this theory might help to explain and make the experience less traumatic for the average couple.
The recession has seen shopping habits change in a lot of ways but women still forage and men still hunt. What has changed is what we buy, what were prepared to spend and what we look for both online and on the high street. Where once we mightve been able to justify that 100 pair of jeans and bought them without looking around for a cheaper alternative, more and more people are now searching online for voucher codes, joining loyalty schemes and extensively comparing prices before they settle on a purchase.
So what can shops do to tempt people to buy and make that immediate commitment? It looks like its back to tactics of ten years ago when managers of shops often put an A board up in the entrance to the store or just outside advertising best deals, deals of the day and so on. This is a quick way of taking price comparison out of the hands of the consumer and giving them an instant reason to come into the shop. Once there you can use point of sale display items to create subtle but enticing offers and discount areas that tell the customer exactly what they want to know that they cant get this item cheaper anywhere else and that its discounted by such and such a percentage.
Research recently carried out by a large retail design agency showed that women are far more likely than men to be cautious about household expenditure in the current economic climate. Even though this is the case, its also true to say that as a retailer you probably shouldnt act on impulse and start aiming all in store promotions and marketing at men, this isnt likely to produce great profit margins. This is because its still the case that in the majority of households, the women are more likely to do the shopping. So it looks like some clever techniques need to be employed and any in-store and point of sale messaging can be geared towards your stores demographics.