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If you joined me last year when I was in conversation with Andrea Learned, co-author of Don’t Think Pink - what really makes women buy, you will recall that we covered the important market of women – in fact women influence over 80 percent of consumer products bought in the US and Western Europe.

However is seems from recent research by Saachi & Saachi that manufacturers and marketers of technology products seem to be missing a trick.

In a recent report entitled “Lady Geek”, they comment that consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers will miss out on £600m in 2007 in the UK alone because they are failing to connect with women.

Key themes in the report include:

• Thirty-five per cent of female internet users polled for the survey stated that they would increase their spending on consumer electronics if marketers and retailers thought harder about how they approach them and offered more guidance in stores and on e-commerce sites
• One in two women said they walk out of shops and leave websites without buying anything because they’re unable to find what they want
• One third of women do not feel confident enough to ask questions in stores
• Almost one in three women do not consider technology advertising relevant to them
• Almost one in two (43%) women go shopping for consumer electronics without a specific brand or product in mind
• Only nine per cent of respondents think it’s important that their gadgets look feminine
• On average women spend £321 on personal technology every year according to the report amounting to a market currently worth £15bn.

Having spent the weekend with a group of men who love to talk technology and being a proud non geek I can certainly connect with the results.

It’s easy to forget that what we look for as consumers, whether male or female, is the functionality and emotional connectiveness of the products we buy i.e. how will the gadget/technology/machine make my life easier/more fun/more bearable; how will help me get things done faster/quicker/at less expense; how will purchasing this product make me look and feel?

Addressing these issues in a simple, consumer friendly “non geek” way will help us connect with the all important female consumer – never mind connecting with the grey $/£/€.

So if you have a website offering consumer products in the technology sector why not consider integrating new media to help you overcome the communication barrier. Adding a video or audio talking to your website visitor in easy to understand language will make their shopping experience much more enjoyable and they are likely to stay on your site longer.

Getting known as THE place to go online or offline for technology purchases actually could be easier than many technology businesses think.

And of course for the geek – whether male or female – you can always make available the full details of the specifications.