Women + Menopause — a reframe
I concur wholeheartedly with Alison Ryu’s assessment of the current state of affairs of the “world of menopause” and what’s needed to serve women as they go through this natural transition.
Many points in her piece were compelling. The comparison to the wedding industry spun me down a line of thought that I want to share.
It was noted that 2 million women in the US get married every year. And beyond the excitement and celebration of this milestone event, it is clear why so many companies (and investors) have focused on this industry and this target consumer. With an average spend of over $30k per wedding and $3b total annual spend, it’s hard to ignore.
In contrast, ALL women will age (barring unexpected life-threatening circumstances, of course). Until older women are understood and appreciated for their capacity to spend and their persistent sense of loyalty, menopause will continue to be ignored. Ignored as an opportunity for outsize innovation. Ignored as a market of compelling consumers.
Let’s break it down.
First, we look at the women who are in their transition years of their 40s and 50s. In the US, there are about over 40m of them right now. The majority of them in the throes of perimenopause or early post-menopause symptoms. There are four essential factors here: (1) they spend, (2) a woman’s body transitions over many years, (3) they are loyal and (4) they aren’t going anywhere soon.
A $100 spend per month (e.g., mani-pedi’s, blowouts, massages etc) for just 20% of these 40+m women equates to $10b spend annually. $10bn. Every. Year.
Add to that menopause is a multi-year transition and symptoms last many years. One report determined that women are symptomatic for 7 years on average. This is when they are the most motivated to seek solutions (and pay for) products and services to resolve their issues, restore balance/wellness and or mitigate the disruption to their lives that these issues cause. That’s $70bn.
Now add to that women are now expected to live more than 50% of their adult lives (approximately 25 years) PAST menopause. Here’s where loyalty to products and brands come in.
I have been using the same soap in the shower for 20 years, the same super greens supplement for 10 years and the same dental floss since I was kid. Most women share similar consumption patterns and loyalty to brands and products.
With 25 more years to live, that’s a spend $250b (again, aggregating only a $100 spend per month).
How many times is a woman gonna splurge on a gown, a venue and thousands of flowers? Hopefully, just once but let’s top it out at 3x. That opportunity plays out pretty quickly. And, not all women will get married or or have an extravagant wedding but all women (people born with a uterus and ovaries) will age and experience menopause. And currently, it’s tallies to over half the planet.
I encourage everyone to reconsider and reframe our collective understanding of women at midlife and of menopause. To extract from the prevailing opinion that menopause is the end and women going through it and live after it are uninteresting and unimpactful.
How we innovate for them is a whole other discussion.
