How Retailers Are Encouraging Black Consumers

Learning how to market to different customer segments, whether that is different racist or age groups, can be a tricky thing for retailers to cater to, especially if it's a new company or just a small business. Certain ways have worked for different retailers and stores that other stores can catch on to, but it ultimately meets their needs like other customers.

It states on McKinsey, that “Black consumers’ collective economic power is set to expand dramatically, from about $910 billion in consumption in 2019 to $1.7 trillion in 2030.”

The first thing is not having language barriers, there are a couple of different groups of African Americans, like English or French-speaking people. A mixture of people speak one or the other, depending on where you live. For instance, America’s northern neighbor, Canada, is a bilingual state. Having product descriptions and names in multiple languages will be a helpful and beneficial tool for many people. It states on Doz, “If your target market speaks Spanish, Chinese, or Japanese, for example, it only makes sense to address them and engage with them in that language, too.” It only makes sense to make your products and content in the languages that your audience is because it leads to more inclusivity within the brand.

Another way that retailers tailor their marketing tactics to encourage the black consumer is by supporting the community. This can be done in multiple ways, the most common that brands are doing is by targeting their experience to establish their trust and loyalty from collabs. It states on Inc., that “Nike’s Black History Month collection, which uses the “power of sport to fuel community action in creating positive change.” They can have partnerships around historical days and months or collaborate with black influencers.

Or, if they want to take a more personal approach to this, they can go out, help different communities and places, and volunteer their time. This may take longer, but will make a big difference for the community and the brand. It states on McKinsey, that “The company has a history of publicly supporting Black cultural figures. It is actively investing in Black communities through various initiatives supporting youth in underserved communities.” A lot of companies that either have a large African-American audience or want to establish one can go out and support their communities like this.

The couple of things that companies have to do in order to establish this for their brand is first understanding the market by doing the research and figuring out what they truly want and catering to them in special ways. According to Doz, it states that “When it comes to the African-American community, there is far more to differentiate them from other American markets than simply their ethnicity.” If they want to market to black consumers, they need to do deep research, ask questions, and get advice.

Another thing is being inclusive with everything from their marketing to their products and just getting out there and giving back to the community. All it takes is some time and effort on their part.