Bridgestone EMEA retail network: record number of female customers

(Photo: Bridgestone)

Bridgestone’s retail network in the EMEA region has recorded a 55 per cent increase in female footfall, year on year. Within the UK market , the company’s ETB Autocentres network says it has doubled its customer base of female motorists. President retail EMEA and business leader global franchise Daniel Giroud said the figures mirrored a gender-shifting pattern across its network of over 3,400 stores, where the number of female staff – including technicians and managers – has increased in recent years. The company expects this evolution to continue growing significantly in future. The company revealed the increase on Friday 8 March, coinciding with International Women’s Day.

The Bridgestone retail network consists of 16 retail brands. It says the spike in business amongst female motorists comes as a result of sustained investment in store environments along with a more seamless and jargon-free digital experience for customers.

Giroud said: “We are seeing a growing trend and with it, a shift in perception across the industry as a whole, in what used to be a male dominated environment.”

“We are committed to making each and every store more inviting for females, with collaborative environments in place to ensure that their voices are heard and respected.

“In general, we are finding female motorists to be more informed and knowledgeable about car maintenance than ever before, with the days of leaving automotive matters to their partners a thing of the past. More evidence of this can be seen in the number of women we now employ across the retail network, who are excelling in a variety of significant positions.”

Giroud is the founder and creator of Bridgestone’s Women in Motion – Lead, Inspire, Connect programme. Women in Motion selects colleagues into specially tailored categories, with a course then put in place to enhance their skills. Bespoke training is tailored to meet the needs of each individual, with the overarching aim of developing more empowered colleagues. As evidence of the success of the programme, Bridgestone says that 40 per cent of all participants have gone on to gain a promotion.

Bridgestone is investing in its store environments and attracting female workers (Photo: Bridgestone)