Buying Power of Females Fuels Expanded Interbike Women’s Lounge
Partnership with industry women’s group will provide product awareness, education and networking opportunities for retailers
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SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. – June 13, 2011 – The Interbike Women’s Lounge, presented by the Outdoor Industry Women’s Coalition (OIWC), will return in an expanded format to the Interbike Expo, held September 14-16, in Las Vegas.
“Recent studies suggest that women control nearly 65 percent of global consumer spending,” said Rich Kelly, brand and communications director for Interbike. “With that much influence, understanding women’s needs and how to appeal to them just makes good business sense for retailers. With the additional education and events planned around our women’s lounge, we plan to help retailers better serve this market segment.”
In addition to providing attendees with a comfortable, easily accessible networking area where they can meet and relax, the Women’s Lounge and its featured events will bring attention to outstanding women’s products and influential female leaders, while providing education on the purchasing power of women and how to market to them. The Women’s Lounge will be located on the upper level near the leftmost concession area at the top of the new escalators.
“There’s a lot that can be done to change the perception of cycling in the minds of new female customers. All that spandex can be pretty intimidating to someone who is just getting started or returning to cycling after several years,” said Norm Pace of the Great Escape network of bicycle retailers in Greenville, S.C. “Women who see the positive effects of cycling are much more likely to convince their families to get active, purchase a bike for their kid’s birthday or tell female friends at work about a fun ride they had the night before.”
Pace has already recognized the value of the category with women’s-specific in-store handouts, escorted test rides, a locally broadcasted TV commercial, a dedicated portion of his web site and a 45-day money back guarantee. Each of these efforts is focused on delivering the best experience he can for his female customers. At Interbike’s women’s lounge and events, other retailers will gain actionable knowledge and ideas to implement in their own businesses.
The 2011 Interbike Women’s Lounge will include:
Women’s Product Showcase
An expanded area on the show floor that will highlight products designed specifically for women.
“Buying Power of Women” Seminar
Experts on the buying power of women will present about how companies can tap into this important market.
Executive Roundtable
Senior-level women will convene at an invitation-only leadership presentation and discussion of topics related to the bike industry.
OIWC Awards Presentation and Happy Hour
Hosted in the Women’s Product Showcase, OIWC will present two awards recognizing outstanding female leaders in the bike industry.
More details on Women’s Lounge event dates, times and speaker details will be available as the show approaches.
Sally Grimes, executive director for the Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition, was a recent contributor to the Interbike blog (interbiketimes.com) discussing opportunities and issues surrounding the women’s market in the cycling industry. To read her entire blog post, please click here.
For information about contributing product to the Women’s Product Showcase Lounge, please contact Andria Klinger at andria.klinger@nielsen.com.
About Interbike
The Interbike International Bicycle Expo and OutDoor Demo are the bicycle industry’s leading business-to-business events bringing together top manufacturers, retailers, industry advocates and media to conduct the business of cycling. Interbike is a business unit of Nielsen Expositions, the parent company of the Outdoor Retailer (OR) and Health+Fitness Business expos. Nielsen Expositions is a full-service trade show company that creates, markets and produces high-quality expos and educational conferences. Interbike (www.interbike.com) gathers more than 1,100 cycling-related brands and close to 24,000 total attendees annually.
Interbike celebrates 30 years of serving the industry, beginning with OutDoor Demo (September 12-13, 2011 in Boulder City, Nevada), followed by the Interbike Expo, September 14-16 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas.
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Maura Lansford, 801.656.0472 x2(wk) / 817.929.8123(cell), mlansford@soarcomm.com
Chip Smith, 801.656.0472 x1(wk)/ 801.597.7515(cell), csmith@soarcomm.com
EUROPEAN MEDIA CONTACT:
Uwe Weissflog, inMotion mar.com, +49(0)714 1913131(wk) / +49(0)170 3164035(cell), uweissflog@inmotionmar.com
