The outlines of the emerging American retail marketplace of the 21st century can be seen in two fast growing southern California sister cities, as explored in "The Lancaster-Palmdale Report," a study of women's shopping patterns conducted by WSL Marketing, a New York City based retail marketing consulting firm.

The study's findings are based on 600 telephone interviews with adult females (at least 18 years of age) who had made a shopping trip in the previous seven days. A similar WSL Marketing study on Evansville, Indiana, was featured in the Trade Talk column in the December 1991 issue of Quirk's Marketing Research Review. As with the Evansville study, the Lancaster-Palmdale research studied women's purchasing habits in a range of essential and non-essential products, including clothing, food (fresh, frozen and snack food), greeting cards, and health & beauty aids. Respondents were asked to name the stores they had shopped at in the past week, which stores and brands they had switched to/from, and to answer questions designed to gauge their optimism or pessimism regarding their lives and those of their children.

Lancaster-Palmdale are two ethnically diverse and fast growing cities with a combined population of 166,000, of which 71% are White, 18% Hispanic, 7% Black, and 4% Asian. "The competitiveness of the local retail environment, combined with the ethnic mix, made Lancaster-Palmdale the ideal place to discover what marketers must do to satisfy the new face of America," says Wendy Liebmann, president, WSL Marketing.

"The 1990 Census made it clear that the U.S. is fast becoming more ethnically diverse and that the melting pot concept that has typified American society for the last century is rapidly being displaced by a multi-ethnic mosaic. This mosaic is nowhere more evident than in Lancaster-Palmdale. "

Sleepy communities

Until the late 70s, Lancaster and Palmdale, California were sleepy backwater communities dependent on the aerospace industry and the military for a living. (Edwards Air Force Base, the primary landing site for the space shuttles, is close by.) But in the early 80s, as home costs in Los Angeles skyrocketed, families looking for affordable housing alternatives within commuting distance of their downtown jobs, began moving north.

As a result, Lancaster-Palmdale became a dynamic community - the population tripled within ten years. Now everywhere one can see home building, young children, and shopping centers. In fact, Lancaster-Palmdale have become competitive and dynamic retailing environments: There are seven major supermarket chains, four major discounters, five drug chains, a warehouse club, four department store retailers, and numerous specialty stores.

The study found that the different ethnic groups had different demographics and attitudes, which frequently resulted in distinctly different shopping habits. Of 600 women interviewed, Asian respondents were the best educated group. Nearly 50% were college graduates and the vast majority held professional jobs, contrary to all other groups where less than half worked outside the home. So it was no surprise that Asians had the highest household incomes.

Because they worked, Asian women were more concerned with how they dressed, which explains why they were the most likely group to shop in department and off-price clothing stores. More than any other group, Asian women shopped close to home, largely for convenience and time-savings. And, when they found a store or brand they liked, Asian women were the most brand/ store loyal of any ethnic group, regard less of product category, from snack foods to apparel and cosmetics.

The Black community of Lancaster-Palmdale was something of an anomaly, reflecting the changing nature of the community and the varying fortunes of Black Americans. The majority of Black women interviewed were poor, uneducated, unmarried, and had more children living at home than any other group. Of necessity, food was the major focus of their frequent shopping trips (3-4 weekly). They were the least loyal, frequently switching stores and brands in their constant search for the best sale price.

They were less likely than other groups to shop at discount stores, because they bought less clothing. But the most striking finding was that not one respondent had shopped in a drug store during the week of the survey. They did not buy medications and bought their beauty care products in the supermarket.

However, there were a significant number of well-educated Black women. Over half had some college education and worked in professional positions. A quarter had incomes of $55,000 and their shopping habits reflected it.

Hispanic respondents were the youngest, the least educated, had the lowest household income, and were more likely to have adult relatives living at home. They shopped more in discount stores, which is logical since they bought more clothing, baby, and household products than other groups.

White respondents, being in the majority, covered the demographic spectrum, but were older and had fewer children living at home.

"In many ways what we discovered was no revelation, says Liebmann. "If you think about it, it's logical. People of different ethnic backgrounds and family histories should have different preferences for products, stores, and services. The real revelation is what the Census and this report means for retailers and marketers. Marketers can no longer succeed with a one-size-fits-all mentality. Instead they must learn to take into consideration the concerns, interests, and needs of a variety of different consumers.

Where do women shop?

Supermarkets were the stores most frequently shopped in the week prior to the survey (average 1.3 times weekly), followed by discount stores and then department and drug stores and warehouse clubs. Of note, discount stores remain important and warehouse clubs are growing in importance, fast becoming an everyday place to shop, especially for food.

The most striking difference in the types of stores shopped by ethnic group was among Black respondents who were conspicuous for the kinds of stores they did not shop. They were much less likely to shop in discount stores (28%) than Hispanics (51%), Whites (42%) or Asians (38%) and were less likely to have shopped in department stores or warehouse clubs, instead shopping predominantly in supermarkets, averaging 1.7 times per week compared to 1.3 times for Asians, Hispanics, and Whites.

Asian, Hispanic, and White respondents were similar in the types of stores they shopped, with a few interesting exceptions: Asians shopped department and off-price stores more than the other groups. Hispanic consumers shopped more at discount stores. Black consumers shopped more frequently than any other ethnic group, nearly four times per week. Hispanic and White consumers shopped approximately three times, while Asians shopped twice a week.

Food shopping was reported more frequently by Black respondents than by any other group. B lack consumers bought more soft drinks than other groups, but fewer products overall, their purchases being largely confined to food. Asians bought more jewelry and domestics, and less toiletries than other groups. Hispanics bought more clothing, candy, household and baby products. White respondents bought more greeting cards and gift wrap, OTC drugs, and pet supplies.