The Female Economy
by Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Sayre
WOMEN NOW DRIVE THE WORLD economy.
Globally, they control about $20 trillion in annual consumer spending, and that figure could climb as high as $28 trillion in the next five years. Their $13 trillion in total yearly earnings could reach $18 trillion in the same period. In aggregate, women represent a growth market bigger than China and India combined—more than twice as big, in fact. Given those numbers, it would be foolish to ignore or underestimate the female consumer. And yet many companies do just that, even ones that are confident they have a winning strategy when it comes to women.
Consider Dell’s short-lived effort to market laptops specifically to women. The company fell into ...
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