I think that one possible explanation could be that women seem to have better intuition than men. If you're trustworthy, a woman seems to be able to tell by intuition. Once she trusts you, she will accept what you say as true and if it fits her needs, be more likely to buy.

Men, I think, are naturally more skeptical and less commital--it's harder to establish a "bond" of trust with them.

I would agree with Marcus. When my wife and I go shopping and a salesman approaches us with his product and pitch, she seems to trust him more than I do. I feel that he is trying to scam me or 'one-up' me. I never want to walk away from a business deal and feel like the salesman is in the break room laughing it up with his buddies because he just sold a chump. I think it's instinctive?

as a woman, i think we are just simply more keen on shopping than most men. if i'm searching for something to buy, i will buy it if the price is right regardless of whether or not i feel like the salesperson is someone that i really trust. unless we are talking about bigger sales, like real estate! i think you may run into more females in that area simply because we are the anchor behind the decision of what house we want to make a home.

When we bought our house this past summer my wife played the major role in narrowing down the selection. I would then visit the houses she really liked with her when I had time. This was partly due to the fact that she had more free time during the day. She ended up being the contact person for the realator, mortgage broker, etc. And in my opinion Jenny is right, my wife was the anchor behind our decision, the house had to have the potential to become a suitable home in her eyes. Earlier on in our marraige I actually wanted to buy a really nice RV and live in it for a year living in whatever park or part of campus we felt like. Needless to say it didn't qualify as a 'home' in her mind. Also, in my few experiences of designing houses I worked almost exclusively with the wife. They consistently made all decisions from where to put the laundry room to what the overall budget should be.

Here are some stats that I came accross in a New York Times article the other day (I wrote them down quickly in a notebook while at lunch so I hope they are accurate):
* Women purchase 80 percent of consumer goods (that includes 75 percent of OTC drugs and 80 percent of health care decisions).
* Eighty percent of all checks written in the U.S. are signed by women
* Forty-seven percent of all stock holders are women.
* Forty percent of households with assets more than $600,000 are headed by women.
* By 2005, approximately 70 million women will work, compromising 55 percent of the workforce. In addition, 50 percent of all businesses will be owned by women and 4.7 million women will be self-employed.

It also stated that 80% of your total sales is generated from only 20% of your customer base. It also said that 80% of sales is made by women. This means that 16 of your 20 returning customers are women.

the milk and eggs i purchase every week...aren't impulsive :)

There are five basic factors to keep in mind when selling to women:

-A woman buys with both her head and her heart. She wants detailed information about product benefits and ingredients, and she is also looking for a pleasurable experience.

- Women respond to convenience.
The biggest complaint women have is that they never have enough time. Their responsibilities leave them feeling rushed and pressured a lot of their day. If you save them five minutes, they'll be singing your praise all day.

- Women can see right through any standard sales pitch.

- Women often buy from the periphery.
Starbucks is a perfect example of how to take advantage of this. Notice how their stores have CDs on the counter; the coffee company knows women like music but won't usually take the time to actively purchase any.

- Women care about whom they buy from.
They will pay up to 20 percent more for a product or visit a store if they feel that the business owner is trying to make the world or the community a better place.

If you sell to these characteristics and attend to a woman's style of buying you will do very well!