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A $300 billion opportunity: Serving the emerging Black American consumer
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A $300 billion opportunity: Serving the emerging Black American consumer

There’s a big market to be unearthed if companies meet the real needs of Black consumers.

Michael Chui, Sajal Kohli, Brian Gregg and Shelley Stewart III
McKinsey, 2021
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8

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The McKinsey Quarterly examines the untapped market potential of Black consumers in this statistically heavy report by Michael Chui, Sajal Kohli, Brian Gregg and Shelley Stewart III. Black communities often lack basic services, such as banks, healthcare providers, stores carrying healthful food, internet access and decent housing. While Black customers are younger and less financially secure than the general population,retailers and service provides could reap more than $300 billion if they tailored their wares to these consumers and sold in “low-access” areas. Research finds that some Black buyers are willing to pay more than white consumers,even though they have less disposable income.

Summary

Black consumers have been overlooked and underserved by the market for decades.

In areas such as housing, food, healthcare, broadband and banking, companies have routinely overlooked Black consumers, in part because they have lower incomes than white consumers. For example, Black households account for only 10% of the US spending on goods and services, despite being almost 14% of the population. This leads companies to believe they cannot profit by selling to Black consumers. However, businesses could tap into some $300 billion by providing services in low-access areas and by offering products tailored to Black consumers.

Black households bear a larger debt burden than white households due to the rising cost of housing, healthcare and higher education. Due to being paid lower wages, Black Americans have less...

About the Authors

Michael Chui is a partner in McKinsey’s San Francisco office, where Brian Gregg is a senior partner. Sajal Kohli is a senior partner in the Chicago office; and Shelley Stewart III is a partner in the New Jersey office.

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