Don’t neglect your male customers!

Having just visited the Garden Centre of the Year, a massive operation near Manchester, this morning I was struck by how well they were merchandising for Father’s Day this weekend. Some Dads I am sure will be more than happy to receive a gift other than socks or a patterned pullover, while any items not sold can just go back on normal display after the weekend.

Anyway this got me thinking on the way back about how little men are marketed to by gourmet food suppliers. Most food (around 80%) is bought by the female (52% of the population), so I suppose that is fair enough. But are we missing a trick by not making more of the male leisure £s that are walking round our retail stores at the weekend. The stats I quoted above are largely for supermarket shopping, but I am sure if someone had the time and money to do the analysis we would find that a much higher percentage of food is bought by males at the farm shops, garden centres and delicatessens of the UK – especially at weekends.

There are some big opportunities this summer to merchandise to men. It is a big summer of sport: it is a home Ashes series, the British Lions are playing and Andy Murray has a good chance at Wimbledon. Men will be inviting their friends round to watch sport – make sure you have plenty of drink and snacking food available. Also these events will be combined with BBQs, especially if the weather continues like this. For some men, this is the only cooking they do during the whole year! Why is it the men that are always in charge of the BBQ? Have you thought of buying in a pallet of charcoal and selling it outside the shop? Why not buy in some BBQ utensils and sell these at the same time?

Being a hands-on dad myself, I long for decent places to take the children, where they can have a good time and I can enjoy a decent coffee. Having something for children to do is a great asset for drawing in Dads, who are longing to feel useful by having the children, but are sometimes at a loss as to what to do with them. Having a small children’s play area – indoors or out, animal’s for them to stroke or even children’s activity sessions or cooking days will be a great draw.

Don’t neglect your male customers!