Is That Lipstick on Your Collar..?

There used to be white collar or blue collar workers. Now you can add the term "pink collar." With the rise of entrepreneurial tech companies men have begun entering the realm of creating businesses for women. Apparently the market for online companies catering to women is far larger than I thought.

According to a 2010 report from comScore, women spend more time online than men, and they’re overrepresented in social networking, gaming, photos, blogs, and retail. Not only do women spend time online, they spend money, too—female customers make up 61% of online transactions. In a TechCrunch article on the topic, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Aileen Lee called women the “rocket fuel” of e-commerce. “Especially when it comes to social and shopping,” Lee explains, “women rule the Internet.”

I find it very interesting that in the case of a start up shopping site such as Gilt the two male founders go out of their way to shroud their identities; instead recruiting women to be the face of their company. So what do you guys think, should men be in the realm of creating products for women? Are these guys simply mad geniuses who are ahead of the trend in catering towards women online? Should men be ashamed of creating feminine leaning companies?

7 Comments
 

Women are largely lemmings. Look at pinterest. That was created by men.

You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake, son.
 

Women make 61% of online purchases and they are 51% of the population. Women do not rule the internet.

 

Women are good consumers. That's all.

Not that they aren't good creators too. But let's face it; why create when you could just toss some cash and have it made for you. Personally I find it in a woman's nature to not turn something like fashion into a business, just another method/medium of consumption and enjoyment.

Currently: future neurologist, current psychotherapist Previously: investor relations (top consulting firm), M&A consulting (Big 4), M&A banking (MM)
 
Best Response
Addinator37Are these guys simply mad geniuses who are ahead of the trend in catering towards women online? Should men be ashamed of creating feminine leaning companies?
Ashamed??? These guys are making a killing because they tapped into something that's been largely decentralized up to now: female buying. Men spend more money on big ticket items...cars, etc... However, women, on average, are more likely to shop around and therefore it's harder to capture that market.

Look at clothing for the average man: K&G, Men's Warehouse, JosBank, and a few mall retailers, that's it. Take a stroll through the mall and the overwhelming majority of clothing stores for adults are targeted at women. I used to cover retail in the fashion sector and there are WAYYYYYYYY more women's stores than men.

Another easy example: Jewelry. At the high end, a guy may drop $20K on a watch, and that's it. Women will buy earrings, necklaces, rings, etc... and while the total expenditure may be the same (for the sake of the example) there are dozens of retailers that they'll look at for each item.

Find a way to aggregate the best of everything into one place, and you'll capture the women's dollar...Huffington did this with digital media, for example. The one big exception is housing: women have a significant lead in being the one to decide on that, regardless if the guy is/isn't paying. But I don't know anything about that market, so maybe someone else can comment?

Get busy living
 
Addinator37 Should men be ashamed of creating feminine leaning companies?

Why on Earth would you be ashamed about creating a business, you see the opportunity, you take it, who cares what it is (bar human rights violations et al).

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

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