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"Retail labels are full of signals designed to appeal to shoppers\u2019 preferences and values: Made in America, gluten-free, fair-trade or kosher.\u00A0Soon, shoppers will be able to look for a new signal: A small, circular symbol indicating that the company behind the product is owned by women.\nThe new logo is the work of two nonprofits\u00A0and Walmart, which will sell products from lingerie to salsa bearing the stamp starting in September.\u00A0The retail giant pledged in 2011 to\u00A0source $20 billion\u00A0of goods from U.S. women-owned businesses by 2016.\n\u201CPeople are looking for reasons to feel good about the company they\u2019re buying from,\u201D says Pamela Prince-Eason,\u00A0chief executive of\u00A0the Women\u2019s Business Enterprise National Council. Her group, along with\u00A0WEConnect International, certifies\u00A0businesses seeking contracts earmarked for women-owned businesses. Any business that gets the stamp of approval from either organization can use the logo,\u00A0Prince-Eason says.\nLingerie brand\u00A0Smart &amp; Sexy\u00A0and West Virginia-based\u00A0Maggie\u2019s Salsa\u00A0are among the women-owned businesses that plan to adopt the new logo. Prince-Eason believes many more will follow. \u201CI think there\u2019s a very strong business case for having the logo on a product,\u201D she says, citing research from Walmart that found 90% of female shoppers will seek out goods marketed by women-owned businesses.\nSEE ALSO: How to Take a Vacation From Your Small Business\nShe\u2019s probably right. Expressing values through buying decisions has become a regular practice for a certain breed of shopper (albeit one more likely to be found at Whole Foods than Walmart). Customers\u00A0look for logos proclaiming a product certified kosher, or free from genetically modified organisms. Campaigns that encourage local-shopping have also proven successful: American Express says the Small Business Saturday promotion it sponsors\u00A0drove billions of dollars to small business owners last year.\nIs there a place for products from women-owned businesses in the catalog of products for values-driven shoppers? Unlike kosher or gluten-free, the designation doesn\u2019t tell you anything about the inherent qualities of the merchandise. Backing women-owned businesses is more akin to asking consumers to buy fair-trade goods or items made in the U.S. \u2014 a more abstract expression of values.\u00A0Prince-Eason hopes that the logo, which resembles a ring of women with their arms around each other, can inspire female consumers to act on a sense of solidarity.\nKeep an eye on the salsa shelf to see if it works.\nSEE ALSO: Small Businesses May Be Even More Sick of Washington Than Most Americans"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/06/29/walmart-women-entrepreneurs/>