Mother’s Day advertisements could soon be promoting power tools rather than kitchen appliances and the like as a surge of female renovators becomes more concerned with ‘doing it themselves’.
Mother’s Day advertisements could soon be promoting power tools rather than kitchen appliances and the like as a surge of female renovators becomes more concerned with ‘doing it themselves’.
According to Bunnings community affairs manager Felicia Booth, while about 50 per cent of the hardware giant’s customers are women, increasingly they are the purchasing decision maker.
“There’s about a 50:50 split between men and women but when you look at who makes the decision it’s more and more a woman. They’re sending guys down with a list for a specific products,” Ms Booth said.
“Women have been using power tools for years but they’re now doing it in greater numbers.”
And Bunnings is making the most out of the emerging power tool-friendly female market by launching ‘do-it-yourself’ classes for women later this month.
Called Ladies’ Nights, the events will be held regularly throughout the year and are designed to provide women with the skills needed to understand how various products work and how they can be applied to DIY jobs.
“We’ve done ladies’ nights before but it’s been a bit hotch potch,” Ms Booth said.
“But we’re going to roll-out a program which we are launching at the end of the month.
“We’ve been running them (Ladies’ Nights) on the east coast and they’ve gone really well.”
Women have become an increasingly important demographic in the hardware sales market, typically dominated by men.
According to Ms Booth, a recent study in The Family Handyman magazine revealed that women increasingly were taking charge of family home renovations.
The study found seven out of 10 women had undertaken some form of DIY renovation in the past year.
Whether it’s the home renovation television shows or just a desire to get the job done, women are making more visits and are becoming more involved in hardware purchases, something important to Bunnings in a climate of fluctuating retail sales.
Bunnings will still be offering its weekend ‘how to’ workshops, however Ms Booth said the new Ladies’ Nights program would offer consumers a tailor-made learning environment.
“Women enjoy learning with others more so than men. Men tend to be independent but women like the camaraderie,” she said.
Dates are yet to be confirmed for Bunnings’ Ladies’ Nights, but details will be available from stores later this month. Attendance will be free.
Ms Booth said the aim was to help more women feel comfortable working with power tools.
“We feel that they will also be more comfortable coming in and talking to one of our team about purchases,” she said.