Multicultural women growing opportunity, report finds

Multicultural women will have an increasingly powerful impact on the retail and consumer products industry according to a recent article in Progressive Grocer. “Propelled by the prominence of First Lady Michelle Obama and newly minted Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 2009 has become the year of multicultural women, and this will drive the multicultural women’s century,” according to a report by research firm Packaged Facts.

The report, “The U.S. Market for Multicultural Women: How African-American, Latina and Asian-American Women Are Driving Change in the American Consumer,” says that multicultural women (women who do not identify themselves as non-Hispanic white) account for nearly one-third of the women’s population today, and will be in the majority in a little more than 30 years. In 20 years multicultural women will be the predominate group among 25- to 44-year-old women and by 2050, multicultural women will represent a majority -- 51 percent -- of the female U.S. population, the report stated.

“Black, Latina, Asian-American and other multicultural women already wield buying power in excess of $1 trillion and are the primary decision-makers in the vast majority of their homes,” according to Tatjana Meerman, publisher of Packaged Facts. “Multicultural women represent more than one-quarter of the buying power of all U.S. women.”

Multicultural women represent a significant opportunity for marketers, the report finds. Using data from Experian Simmons Winter 2009 National Consumer Study, the report found that multicultural women are relatively optimistic about their own financial situation and the economy as a whole. Multicultural women make up 43 percent of women who expect the American economy to be somewhat or significantly better off 12 months from now.