The Importance of Knowing Your Buyers
ByI had to run to the local grocery store tonight to grab some items and decided to pick up a birthday card for my father. Here is a picture of the card selections:
It’s hard to see, but there is at least 400% more selection of “Birthday for her” than “Birthday for him.” It’s an interesting coincidence that the ratio is about the same for males and females sending text messages. The greeting card companies and the retailer aren’t dumb, this is very intentional: they know that women expect a card for their birthday and that they look for more personalization. While I was in the aisle, there were three women browsing and I was the only male. Not scientific, but I am willing to bet that you’d see similar results in most groceries.
On the buying side, aside from being selection limited, the for him options were also modeled in a choice-directed fashion: there was only one or two choices for “humor” or “grandpa.” The card company and retailer know that male buying patterns are quick strike, vs. the more deliberate compare-and-contrast for the female market. Which is exactly what I was after – a quick choice that would be acceptable. The irony? I would not even have thought to get a card (until maybe the day before), except for my wife reminding me as I walked out the door.
What’s interesting for me is how much room there still is to improve on this market. I’m content to choose from 30 cards at retail because I am OK with good enough, but that doesn’t mean my problem is sufficiently solved. My buying patterns, and I am guessing that of many men, are different online. Online I am a researcher, compulsively drilling down on specifications and comparing/contrasting. What if a greeting card company took their directed choice model online? Did a choose-your-own-adventure, asked you 10 questions and generated a personalized card from there? Not some cheesy “card” that you print at home but they actually printed it on-demand and shipped it directly to the recipient (or to you). I’d go for that, and the biz dev possibilities with online retailers like Amazon would be huge. Someone really smart could build the middleware between Amazon and iStockPhoto and make some good IP in the emotional choice models and associated verbiage.
Maybe that already exists? Point me to it if it does!
If I remember correctly, the old Blue Mountain Arts online has this feature to a limited extent. I once sent a card to either my brother or sister that was modifiable: you could personalize the picture, the fonts, the color, and the message. And if it came with a musical accompanyment you probably could choose that too. Then for a fee, they would build the card, and actually stick it in an envelope and mail it for you. I only did it once but it was better than “just good enough.”
Which is a long prelude to this punch line: “I’ll be looking at your ‘just good enough’ card very carefully this Saturday!!
Dad