Oct. 12, 2010, LAS VEGAS—The increase of a diverse population in the United States can serve as a growth factor for shop business, said Kelly McDonald during her keynote speech Monday at the opening general session of NACE.
Hispanics are one of the biggest forces of diversity in the country, said McDonald, who is president of McDonald Marketing in Dallas and an expert in multicultural diversity. Hispanics make up 16 percent of the U.S. population, and have the greatest purchasing power of any minority in the country.
McDonald said recognizing and adapting your business to this change is good for shops for three reasons:
• It provides an opportunity to grow business revenue through a new customer base;
• It gives shops the ability to attract a new pool of employees;
• It improves employee and customer retention.
Shops’ futures depend on catering to the diverse population, McDonald said. Identifying and adapting to this will help give you a competitive edge in the marketplace.
McDonald reported there are presently 48.7 million Hispanics in the U.S. To put that in perspective, she adds that the U.S. is now the second largest Hispanic country in the world. “There are more Hispanics in the U.S. than there are Canadians in Canada.”
The Hispanic population is projected to increase to 20 percent of the population by 2020, McDonald said.
“Communities in the U.S. are changing,” McDonald said. “Diversity is here and it’s good for business.”
Look for more from McDonald on diversity in shops in the December 2010 issue of FenderBender.
