By Andrea Graziani, Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Founder of DUFL-http://www.dufl.com/
Business travel is different for everyone. Some of us plan well ahead, are completely organized and know exactly what we are going to pack and where each item goes in our suitcase, neatly folded and carefully placed. The rest of us pack 20 minutes before we have to leave for the airport, stuffing workout clothes in our shoes to maximize space in our carry-on, all the while hoping we haven’t forgotten anything. I can usually identify 3 things I’ve forgotten by the time I arrive at the airport.
But are there differences between the way men and women plan, prepare and pack for business travel? Is it fair to say that women are more organized and I just didn’t get the memo? Studies say that women purchase their airline tickets and book their hotels an average of 2 days earlier than men, and are typically more prepared and cost conscious. This may not seem like much, but equates to an average of about $113 in savings. While many women who travel frequently travel with a carry-on bag, there are still many who check their bags so that they can take full size toiletries, workout clothes, extra shoes and those other little items in order to be more comfortable on the road. All the while keeping in mind that the weight limit for the bag is 50lbs.
Let’s talk about stereotypes for a minute. The general perception is that women have larger closets, overpack when they travel and are better at packing than men. Conversely, women think that men can travel with one suit and three different shirts, wear comfortable shoes and don’t care about their hair and skin care products, making travel far less stressful.
Do these stereotypes hold water for road warriors? In general, road warriors (men and women), are great at streamlining travel. There is less of a gender gap in purchasing plane tickets early. The difference in ticket prices for seasoned road warriors drops to $2 in savings (vs. $113). These road warriors have a routine and know how to travel with the bare essentials so they don’t HAVE to check a bag- because doing so means they are spending additional time at the airport and leaving the fate of their suitcase in the hands of the airline.
Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprising) the sacrifices made for this frequent travel is a big stress point for many road warriors who not only dislike the time away from home, but also resent the disruption in their workout routines and the not so glamorous side of business travel. Packing, flight delays, lack of healthy food choices and fitness schedules, less than favorable hotels, waiting in lines at the airport and loss of productivity top the list of stress points while on the road – for both men and women.
But what happens if there are no restrictions on the size or weight of your suitcase, you could take full size toiletries without the hassle of checking your bag because the bag was waiting for you at the hotel? If someone else took care of the cleaning and packing would that change the dynamics of travel? Would there still be these stark differences between the sexes? Would frequent travelers be willing to let go?
As one of the co-founders of DUFL http://www.dufl.com/, a service that cleans, stores, packs and ships your business attire to your desired destination, I have the answers to those questions. When given the freedom to pack as many items as desired – behavior does shift over time. Initially, the women’s closets were larger. Some topping out at 150 items. Packing full size toiletries was a luxury for some women who didn’t want to check a bag, and a huge time savings for women who had checked their bag prior to using DUFL. A two week trip meant lugging two bags full of clothes and equipment to the airport for some ladies, very stressful and taxing in terms of laundry, packing, checking and retrieving those bags, and getting them to and from the hotel. Now these women pack as much as they want and sometimes have one bag arrive at the beginning of the first week, and a second bag arrive at the beginning of week two. Not only does this save time and stress, it also saved money on bag fees, laundry and dry cleaning and the ability to take smaller less expensive airlines because they were flying without large bags.
But what about the men? In the beginning, men’s closets were smaller. One, maybe two suits, a few dress shirts and the essentials. Their packlists for their trips still equated to a carry-on size. Boxes arrived from home with more clothes from their closets, and packages came directly from Nordstrom, Saks, Amazon, etc. adding new clothes directly to their closets. And then it happened. The men’s closets grew larger, several with over 200 items- exceeding the size of the women’s closets. Pack lists for trips became larger, suitcases became larger. Workout gear was added, full size toiletries (finally, good shaving cream) cologne, casual clothes, extra coats and shoes- even creature comforts like pillows and blankets and essentials like CPAP machines for sleep apnea.
So what does this mean? It means what we already knew. Being on the road isn’t glamorous. It’s often stressful and many do without essential items for the sake of efficiency. Perhaps women took more with them before DUFL because they weren’t willing to sacrifice in all areas, but they paid for it in other ways. Removing restrictions on the size and weight of the suitcase, eliminating the stress of packing, waiting in lines and lugging a bag with you to the airport and client meetings has shifted behavior for both men and women. It seems DUFL has become the great equalizer in the battle of the sexes.
Andrea Graziani, Chief Marketing Officer & Co-Founder
A marketing visionary with extensive tech sector experience, DUFL CMO Andrea Graziani manages the brand and leads all aspects of corporate and customer marketing to systematically drive customer growth and retention.
Before joining the DUFL team, Andrea served as VP of marketing, communications and media at Brightcove and as VP of marketing and then CMO at Unicorn Media, positioning the company for acquisition by Brightcove for $49M. Earlier in her career, Andrea led marketing, communications and creative services operations at a number of companies, including Limelight Networks, Honeywell, Critical Path and Frontier Global Center.