Report on Victoria\’s Secret Customer Behaviour

Introduction to the Brand

Victoria’s Secret is the largest lingerie seller in the United States. It has been under public spotlight since the late 1990s and it definitely is one of the most talked brands in the history. Even though it was earlier owned by L-Brands , it is now owned by a Private Equity Company after its CEO (former) and Chairman Lex Wexner stepped down from the company.

When Roy Raymond founded Victoria’s Secret , it was founded to appeal to men who were shopping for women’s lingerie. However , when Victoria’s Secret came under the control of Les Wexner, it started targeting women themselves after a complete revamp for the brand.

The Target Customer of Victoria’s Secret

Victoria’s Secret has rather wide base of target customers. They have a wide range of products appeal- ing for different age groups. For example, Victoria’s Secret Pink is produced to appeal for the younger crowd between 16-24 years of age. Moreover Victoria’s Secret offers products that includes lingerie and cosmetics that appeals to an age group around 24-40. While someone around the age 24-25 might be mostly interested in the lingerie products available on sale , women who are above 35 could be inter- ested in the cosmetic products available for sale such as the Body Lotions , Fragrances ,etc.

Considering the price point , Victoria’s Secret products are premium priced. Hence they are not afford- able to everyone. It can be argued that Victoria’s Secret products are affordable only to upper middle and high income groups. However, given that Victoria’s Secret products are of high quality , the price paid by Victoria’s Secret customers are well worth it and they get what they pay for. Moreover , the Victoria’s Secret PINK brand has slightly reduced pricing that is suitable for the younger crowd.

Victoria’s Secret stores are only available in select countries in the world mostly United States , Canada and Europe. Therefore a larger proportion of their customer base is limited to such countries. However, customers from rest of the world can purchase through their online store that allows shipping for any country in the world. However , given the premium price range only a few countries have a customer base that can afford those products. Moreover , cultural practices that might consider anything sensual to be taboo might prevent women from some countries from purchasing these products even if they can afford them. Therefore, it can be concluded that majority of the customers are restricted to the western countries.

How the Victoria’s Secret Customers move through each stage of the Process

Identification of the Need

The first stage of the Consumer Decision Making Process is Identification of the need. It is well known that Victoria’s Secret invests heavily on attractive and innovative marketing. They have glamorous fashion shows every year involving many celebrity models , singers , etc. They also have Music Video collaborations with poplar singers and Victoria Secret models. Whenever a potential customer sees these , the need to own Victoria Secret products arises. Victoria’s Secret marketing is always geared towards the customer to be wanting to feel seductive as the models taking part in such campaigns.Hence , the need to feel sexy and empowered arises within potential customers whenever they encounter such marketing procedures.

Information Search

Once they have identified that they need beautiful products that makes them feel sexy and empowered they would then go on to search information about the products they want. Potential customers have several options to do this. Visiting a Victoria’s Secret Store is one of the ways to get information about the Victoria Secret products , their quality and prices.

Another way would be to browse the Victoria’s Secret website as information regarding the prod- ucts and their prices are shown on their website. Furthermore , potential; customers could ask their friends about Victoria’s Secret products.

Evaluation of Alternatives

Victoria’s Secret stores are unique as they are designed in such a way that creates a mesmerising shopping experience for the potential customers. Visiting the Victoria’s secret stores in person gives any potential customer the chance to fit the items on as well as feel the texture and quality of items. It would not be incorrect to say that Victoria’s Secret stores have an edge over their competitors in terms of in store experience. The in-store experience tempts potential customers to stay on with Victoria’s Secret rather than going out looking for other brands.

Victoria’s Secret also has an online store. Unlike the physical stores , the online store is accessi- ble to customers from a wide range of geographies. It further lets potential customers to search information on Victoria’s Secret products at the convince of their home. However, the online store comes with its own drawback as it is easy for potential consumers go and search up on other brands just by opening a new web browser tab. Therefore , it is important for Victoria’s Secret to use online marketing strategies on their websites such as offering Free Shipping , discounts on bundle purchases, etc.

Furthermore , potential customers could ask their friends and family for recommendations on the price and quality of Victoria Secret products. Moreover peers of potential customers could recom- mend other competitive brands or can reinforce the potential customers’ decision to go with Victoria’s Secret brand.

Alternatives for the Victoria’s Secret brand include Panache Lingerie , Hanky Panky ,Aerie, etc.

Purchase

If potential customers are satisfied with the products Victoria’s Secret has to offer , they may proceed on to purchase the items . Victoria’s Secret also have introduced various incentives to its customers to encourage purchases. Victoria’s Secret has deals and promotions both on their online store and physical store. Customers are more inclined to purchase bulk if they are given discounts on purchasing multiple items. Furthermore , Victoria’s Secret has introduced a loyalty card named Victoria’s Secret Angel card which gives rewards for its customers when they make purchases. Such practices encourage customers to make repeat purchases.

Post Purchase Behaviour

After the purchase of Victoria’s Secret products customers would share their opinion on Victoria’s Secret prod- ucts with their peers. They might share their opinion whether the products are quality and if they worthy of the price paid. Moreover , they would even share their experience while shopping in the physical stores. They would also post pictures on social media recommending and encouraging their peers to shop at Victoria’s Secret.

It would be safe to assume that after purchase most consumers will be happy with their purchase given the quality and the relative price of the products. Customer satisfaction is evident in the promotion of customers returning to make purchases on Victoria’s Secret.

External and Internal influences on the Customer Decision Making Process

There are many external as well and internal factors that might influence Victoria’s Secret customers in their decision making process. There are internal influences such as personality , attitude, motivation and perception while external influences such s reference groups , family ,culture, social. Class ; the product Mix which includes price , place , promotions, etc as well as technological, sociological , economic factors , etc.

Victoria’s Secret is a brand that has build a brand image as a premium brand that offers products that makes women feel sexy and empowered. Majority of target market of Victoria’s Secret is young women who also has the same need to build their self-image and self- confidence ; to feel empowered and to feel attracted. Moreover young women are more inclined to pay a premium price for their undergarments to satisfy their need to feel empowered. Moreover young women are more inclined to use social media and the internet. It is well know that Victoria’s Secret has a good presence over social media. Ex: Music Video collaborations with Popular Artists. Young women always has the need to be upon with the new trends and when a potential customer watcher one of such songs , they might immediately be motivated to purchase Victoria’s Secret products to feel inclusive and be wearing something even the celebrities wear.
Moreover Young Women value freedom. Victoria’s Secret products always give off a vibe that resonates with personal freedom and liberation.
Therefore it is clear that Victoria’s Secret product line matches with the personal attitudes , values and believes of the Young Women which is the target audience of Victoria’s Secret.

Furthermore , recommendations by ones friends and family is also one of the major factors driving Victo- ria’s Secret customers towards purchases. Friends of potential customers could post on social media about their purchases and might wear Victoria Secret’s products for social gatherings making potential customers want to try those products as well. Recommendations by friends are much more trustworthy to potential customers than Advertisements and thus are really powerful in influencing potential customers to make a purchase. Moreover , culture could also play an important role when someone decides to buy Victoria’s Secret. Freedom and Empowerment are two of the values that the brand always portrays through their products and advertisements. Almost all of the western countries , and specially USA have socio political systems that prefer liberal values such as those promoted through the Victoria’s Secret brand. Hence , the western culture too has been in favour of promoting Victoria’s Secret as a brand.

The marketing mix also has a considerable impact on the demand for Victoria’s Secret products.
As mentioned earlier , Victoria’s Secret products are priced premium. Therefore it might only be affordable by a certain promotion of the population. However Victoria’s Secret has great promotional schemes , specially with their loyalty card : “Angel Card”.
Moreover , the place where the Victoria’s Secret products are sold, i.e. their physical stores are also one of the major factors that influence potential Victoria’s Secret customers. Victorias Secret stores are built with an interior resembling an English Vintage look along with classical music in the background creating an elegant vibe to its shop- pers justifying the premium prices and reassuring the quality materials. Moreover they are mostly located in busy shopping centres allowing customers to reach them easily.

Are customers satisfied with Victoria’s Secret as a Brand

A Victoria’s Secret customer is known to spend around $40 to – $60 more than the average shopper who shops intimate apparel. This could be a very good indication that Victoria’s Secret has a more loyal and satisfied customer base.

However , during recent years, Victoria’s Secret is accused of not being able to appeal to their female customer base . There has been a serious uproar from women about the marketing style of Victoria Secret ad campaigns predominately promoting very thin supermodels who are far different from the average woman. While an average woman would be 5 feet 4 inches tall with a bra size of 34DD to 36DD while a Victoria’s Secret supermodel (angels) would stand 5 feet 10 inches tall with a bra size of 32A to 32D.. These advertising campaigns
Therefore could make potential customers feel as if the brand is not for them.
As response to this backlash, Victoria Secret , now has shifted to use models of varying body types and colours, in their advertisements promoting female empowerment , body positivity and acceptance.

Improvements to be Made in Marketing Attempts

Victoria’s Secret is a brand that is known for its distinct marketing attempts involving celebrities , super- models , fashion shows ( that are more festive in nature) and attractive advertising campaigns. However , as mentioned earlier , their marketing attempts can sometimes be out of touch with reality which might distance many potential customers . They can adjust their marketing campaign to make women of ordinary skin shape, colour , size and of different values and sexual orientations more inclusive. However , it must be noted that they are already attempting to make that shift. Furthermore, they can work on expanding its locations of stores . That would definitely be influential in expanding its reach to the target market.

Summary

As explained above Victoria’s Secret began as lingerie brand that targeted men buying lingerie for women initially , however later turned into a brand that catered to women themselves. Even though at first , Victoria’s Secret only used supermodels for their advertisements , at present they have begun to involve models who can more closely relate to the average woman.

The customer decision making model in respect to Victoria’s Secret starts off first with identification of the need which could be triggered by many factors including advertising , followed by information search which could be either from personal sources or through the marketing. Then , a customer may evaluate the alternatives before purchase. After purchase , a customer can either be satisfied or not. Data shows that while customers are generally satisfied there are issues with Victoria’s Secret’s marketing attempts that distances women. However , lately Victoria’s Secret’s management has attempted to tackle that issue as described above.