The Indisputable Power of the Mom Consumer

The world is being let in on a little secret: Moms control the all-might dollar. Stop and think about it. Moms are the providers and nurturers so it stands to reason that they are also the most powerful consumer on the planet.

It’s shocking, especially for men, but if anyone man or woman wants to get their business products in the right hands then they need to look at the mom market. According to the book, “The Women’s Market Rules,” in the United States alone, women spend almost 4 trillion dollars a year on consumer goods.

They are not spending it on themselves alone. The world of moms is not only the new Millennium mom but the Generation X moms, the baby boomers and every mom in between. Each one of these mom groups has different needs and different concerns in their lives. As a result, their spending is wide and varied.

The concerns of moms are not just about their small children, but teens, adult children and parents. Where will teens go to college? With the current economy, moms are weighing in on topics like health care (for themselves and parents), federal education funding, political agendas and new technology.

So, why haven’t businesses targeted this massive market? Well, they have but not in the right way to reach moms. For one, to tap into the power of the mom market you have to understand the mom market. According to Maria Bailey, author of the Trillion Dollar Moms series, around 40 percent of baby boomer moms are now caring for their moms. That opens up an entirely new area of product interest for moms who are becoming parents to their parents.

Women are the ones who make the majority of the decisions for their children and the entire household. The book, EVEolution: Understand Women: Eight Essential Truths That Work in Your Business and Life (Dimensions, 2001), 80 percent of all checks are written by women. Women do the shopping, decide on clothing, buy gifts for family and relatives, coordinate parties, plan weddings and the like.

Women also influence purchases made in the business world. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research (2002) over 9 million people were employed by businesses owned by women. As the head of their own business, they had a major say in the purchase of everything from furniture to equipment to employee medical insurance plans. Now that number is even higher with women finding ways to bridge the gap between motherhood and career.

There is no question that moms are a market to be reckoned with. The real question is will businesses use the statistics to change their tactics and tap into the power of the mom dollar.