The Rise of Female Consumer Power - I Am Woman, Hear Me Shop!

Women's decision-making authority has grown in part because more households are headed by women -- 27% at last count, a fourfold increase since 1950. Their buying power has grown, too. In the past three decades, men's median income has barely budged -- up just 0.6% -- while women's has soared 63%. Some 30% of working women out earn their husbands, notes Martha Barletta, author of Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach and Increase Your Share of the World's Largest Market Segment. And 75% of women with the title of vice-president or higher at Fortune 500 companies out earn their husbands, bringing home on average 68% of household income, according to Barletta.

Little surprise that companies -- including businesses that largely overlooked women in the past -- are trying to woo this key consumer. Not long ago, Home Depot (HD) marketed its power tools and drywall to men, but it's now aggressively pursuing women with classes that teach them how to do home improvement. It's also pursuing entertainment partnerships with home improvement shows like Trading Spaces, which are widely watched by women.

NEW LUXURY SECTOR. Banks and financial-service companies, including Citibank (C), Merrill Lynch (MER), and Charles Schwab (SCH), have created entire departments that market investment products exclusively to women. Indeed, it would be a mistake to ignore this fast-growing segment of wealthy individuals. The Employment Policy Foundation says the number of women earning $100,000 or more has tripled in the last 10 years.

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