Women-led economic growth and consumer trends in 2023

*Read about the methodology here

You don’t need a doctorate in “girl math” to know that 2023 was the year of the She-conomy, with women being major drivers of economic growth. On the stage and screen, Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour lifted local economies, Taylor Swift headlined the highest grossing tour of all time, and Barbie broke box office records. Already this year, female artists swept the 2024 Grammys Big Four Awards. On bookshelves, female authors accounted for 7 of the 10 best-selling books of the year. On the field, female athletes made historic strides, with the National Women’s Soccer League breaking its attendance record.

Yelp data shows 2023 saw women business owners make notable advances in driving equity within local communities, as women-owned businesses saw a 17% increase in new openings compared to 2022. Yelp data also indicates that trends created and popularized by women influenced consumer behavior across a range of industries, including fiction, fashion, and fitness.

Women-owned business openings saw growth above the national average in several categories

With nearly half a million women-owned businesses on Yelp (470K), women are opening new businesses across a range of industries with the most growth in hotels & travel (up 44%), professional services (up 40%), home services (up 38%), and local services (up 30%), all growing above the national average in their respective categories.

In terms of total women-owned business openings, home services beat out every category on Yelp (more than 13K). Female home service pros grew their market share in traditionally male-dominated industries, including plumbing businesses like highly-rated The Pipe Doctor in Seattle, WA, and HVAC repair businesses like Southcoast Heat and Air in Santa Fe, TX.

*Read about the methodology here

Zooming into the cities where female entrepreneurs started businesses in 2023, Miami was the only city that placed in the top three for both highest percentage growth (up 31%) compared to 2022 and the highest total number of new women-owned businesses. Other top cities for women-owned new business growth include Austin (up 34%), Washington D.C. (up 25%), and Denver (up 25%). The two most populous U.S. cities, Los Angeles and New York City, had the highest total number of new women-owned businesses in 2023.

*Read about the methodology here

Women are at the center of consumer trends driving economic growth

It’s Lit: Women & diverse writers drive bookstore resurgence

With the emergence of BookTok and the resurgence of celebrity book clubs, a new generation of women writers have connected with millions of readers. Bestselling authors like Colleen Hoover, Jasmine Guillory, and Taylor Jenkins Reid have amassed devoted followings that find fans at their local women-owned bookstores, like Petals & Pages in Denver, browsing for the latest releases. When comparing 2023 to 2022, Yelp data shows increases in searches for women-owned bookstores were up 74%. Plus, Yelp saw searches increase for bookstore cafés (up 20%), Barnes & Noble (up 12%), and book shops (up 9%), indicating an overall rise in reading.

Taking self-care and wellbeing into their own hands

Building healthy habits, such as staying hydrated, moving daily, and improved sleep quality, are key to how consumers are prioritizing their time and budgets. Searches on Yelp increased for Stanley cup (up 215%), magnesium (up 74%) for the sleepy girl mocktail, pickleball (up 28%), pilates (up 25%) for a core as strong as Lori Harvey’s, and strength training (up 14%) when comparing 2023 to 2022. Yelpers are especially supporting women-owned fitness studios, with searches for women-owned pilates studios up 353% year-over-year.

Yelp users also looked into new ways to practice self-care, treating themselves to head spa treatments (up 550%), Korean skincare (up 447%) and Russian manicures (up 261%). Overall, searches for women-owned skincare businesses were also up 49% year-over-year, as creators, like Hailey Bieber and Marianna Hewitt, target new audiences through collaborations with brands like Erewhon (up 91%).

2023 was touted as the Year of the Girl and Yelp data shows women were at the core of major consumer behavior trends last year. Whether you attended a women-led stadium tour, adopted a new wellness routine, picked up a new bestselling book, or updated your wardrobe, the she-conomy dominated cultural trends and ultimately drove economic growth. As women invest in their own business ventures and set new trends, we anticipate our contributions will continue to propel economic activity as both consumers and business owners.

— Tara Lewis, Yelp's Trend Expert

Microtrends take the mainstage

With searches up 1,613% for women-owned fashion businesses when comparing 2023 to 2022, Yelp users are rounding out their wardrobes with pieces from microtrends and popular aesthetics, such as coastal grandmother, Barbiecore, or Tomato Girl. With the recent 25th anniversary of The Sopranos, the first big trend of 2024 is the mob wife aesthetic, a trend that rose to popularity this January and celebrates the glitz and glamour of Carmela Soprano herself. Yelp data shows spikes in January 2024 searches for gold jewelers (up 244%) and blowout services (up 87%) when compared to January 2023.

But the trend we predict will hold true in 2024 is quiet luxury, popularized by Internet IT girls like Jasmine Tookes and Sofia Richie, with closets made up of minimalistic and timeless, luxury pieces. To build their capsule wardrobes, Yelpers sought out thrifted designer pieces and searched for vintage clothing stores (up 37%). In fact, new women-owned thrift stores were up 35%, when comparing 2023 to 2022 openings.

A signature scent is also an essential part of a quiet luxury beauty routine, users are creating their own go-to scents, with increased searches for make your own perfume (up 52%) and custom fragrance brands seeing a jump in page views, like November Nichols’ Chémin (up 55%) and Indiehouse Modern Fragrance Bar (up 47%) in the last 12 months.

To further personalize their style, Yelpers also searched for color analysis (up 210%) experts, like Style by Rayne in Los Angeles, that can create tailored color palettes and help them determine if they are a summer, winter, autumn, or spring.

*Read about the methodology here

As women across the country started new businesses in a variety of industries and shined in traditionally male-dominated fields, it’s no doubt a big part of the country’s economic growth was due to women’s contributions. In 2024, we will continue to track female-fueled economic momentum and the trends they are starting.

If you'd like additional detail on how the economy is shifting, please contact us at press@yelp.com or join our mailing list to receive an email when new reports are released.

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