FY028 Victoria’s Secret Analysis Assignment Sample

• Subject Code : FY028
• University : Buckinghamshire New University My Assignment Services is not sponsored or endorsed by this college or university.
• Subject Name : General Management

Inquiry Based Learning

Contents

Introduction..

Current trends in retail

Analysis of Victoria’s Secret

Situational analysis.

Strengths.

Weaknesses.

Opportunity.

Threat

Recommendation..

Reference.

Introduction to Victoria’s Secret Analysis

Victoria's secret was established in 1977 by Roy and Gayle Raymond. The first store of the organization was established in California. The company operates more than 1100 stores in the US as well as approximately 50 in Canada, China, Ireland, and many more (Feng 2019). Also, the company has opened its stores in more than 70 countries under franchising, licensing, and wholesale arrangements. In the current scenario, Victoria Secret is facing issues as the sale of the company is declining continuously. Also, the company is getting a negative response from customers. To survive in a highly competitive environment, the company must design an effective strategy and analyze changing customer perception.

Current Trends in Retail

The future of the retail industry is entrenched in meticulous research and progress. The customer segment is recognized to support well known and confidential brands. The past decade has been an imperative alteration in retail business and it continues to develop rapidly. The market evolves faster than ever and retailer business requires acclimatizing to novel modification in demographics, approach, and customer liking (Zhou 2019).

Socially conscious humans driving ethical retail

In the current scenario, the customer base is collectively aware, careful, and well-informed when it comes to buying. Also, ecological distress and social awareness have even lead many customers to modify their buying behavior. These latest consumers lead and are influenced by millennia's or building pressure on retailers and stressing them to take action. As patrons are becoming more aware of what their life choices are doing to the planet they are demanding products and businesses respond accordingly. This time does result in brands having to keep in mind the picture their brand communicates to the world and work on incorporating social, financial, ecological, and ethical considerations into their trade practice.

Growing focus on exploring and development

The future of the Retail business is rooted in thorough research and development while a buyer is recognized to favor well recognized and trusted brand. It is the companies that devote to the community development and bring pioneering goods by leading the alteration through the way to market plan.

The augmentation of experimental retail

The prearranged retail for numerous brands include auction from a contemporary retail outlet, originally branded chains, companies branded store, and e-commerce. In the current scenario, the consumers are looking for an engaging experience and highly effective products and services (Robson and Pitt 2018). This inclination has been typically determined by millionaires and their fondness for experience over things. Therefore, consumer experiences more significant than ever as sellers are determined to distinguish themselves in a tough and packed market. Besides, stores will require making an interesting experience for the customer. The appearance of virtual reality augmented reality and enhanced mobile technology will gain more benefits and allows brands to add a new experience to their conventional methods. 

Providing modified retail experience

 Another Retail business trend that is becoming extremely significant to customers is having a personalized shopping experience. Personalization in the retail world usually includes retailers providing consumers suggestions based on their experience, location, order record and preceding search. Retailers also develop personalized experience through easy services. This involves chatbots that upsurge customer commitment and communication, text mail that offer updates on order online in Tele based communication and other services (Ikeler and Fullin 2018). Also, the augment of personalization as the Retail Industry inclination has paved way for the application of more superior and pioneering expertise like artificial intelligence.

Rethinking the cost of doing a trade

 The majority of retailers identify that the conservative shape of cost-cutting is no longer adequate to increase limits and reconstruct the businesses. Even after the violent cost repression approach rolled-out in the instant outcome of the reaction to COVID-19, numerous retailers recognized a need to go further if they hope to return their business to gainful growth in the future. In the current surroundings, clientele cares less about the width of variety and more about accessibility. Therefore, it is necessary to build a strong and effective supply chain to provide the products and services on time. 

Inclusivity moves from marketing to product

 Luxury is transforming from a background of individuality and distinctiveness to one of inclusivity, clearness, and equality. The social values express to the luxury product now in world gender equality, size, inclusion, design, variety, and selection of ambassador. The diversity is represented in sizes. Gender equality is important as the number of the high and luxury designer including Salvatore Ferragamo developing Unisex clothing and products (Souiden et al. 2019). In the current scenario, the magnificence brands continue taking style motivation from Street and incorporate sportier and casual urban aesthetics into designs. 

Analysis of Victoria’s Secret

Victoria's Secret is an American dealer of women's beauty products and lingerie. It is one of the major segments of the publicly-traded Limited brand with sales of five billion dollars. The company is famous for its yearly fashion show, the victoria secret fashion show, and its catalogues both of which involve the top fashion models (Finnegan et al. 2016). It is no secret that the company has built the empire but it is facing major issues in improving productivity as well as profitability. The report identified that the Victoria’s Secret Parent Company L brand incorporation is down by 44percent which is weakening the business market worth by 65percent since 2015. Besides, Aerie is an apparel and Lifestyle retail owned by American Eagle Outfitters (Ma and Du 2018). The product has no age demographic and it supports clientele from all ages to shop at Aerie. It has been identified that Aerie is one of the major competitors of Victoria's secret. The competitors started a body-positive movement campaign in 2014 which includes a retouched picture of models in their commercial.

The brand has also currently been posted to have a more varied model featuring women with an insulin pump, vitiligo, and other circumstances and disabilities. Possibly it is no chance that the brand has been successful in gaining 38 per cent sales in the first quarter reports of 2018. It has been identified that Victoria's Secret has struggled in recent years and has been blamed for losing significance. Also, the customers are continuously complaining about the poor quality and forecasters are becoming more doubtful about its future if it declines to adjust in the age of #Metoo. Besides, the customers are now attributing the brands diminishing popularity to lack of Representation. The report shows that the Victoria Secret struggled to keep pace with shifting customer tastes (Grunert 2017). Furthermore, five years ago the company produces nearly two-thirds of the revenue for its Parent company which was worth $28 million. The brand was highly criticized for promoting realistic ideals of beauty and suffered from a shrinking audience. In the current scenario definition of beauty has changed and the customers are becoming more aware of ethical and unethical practices. Also, the Competitors are giving tough competition to the Victoria Secret as they are introducing new products and campaigns to capture the attention of customers. 

Situational Analysis

To understand the strength, weaknesses, and opportunities and threats of the company it is necessary to conduct a situational analysis. The company has a different strength that allows it to flourish in the Marketplace. The strength not only helps the company to shelter the market share in the existing market but also help in penetrating fresh markets.

Strengths

One of the major strengths Victoria secret is a large number of faithful clientele which frequently spend in the products and services (Thompson et al. 2020). This is probably not just because of quality creation but also because of the customer commitment plan accepted by the business.

Women do not favor shopping at Victoria secret because of the reasonable value range but because of the exceptional customer satisfaction, the brand swears. The pink wallpapers, the open Fittings, courteous staff, and high enthusiasm can fulfil the in-store experience.

Weaknesses

 It is also necessary to understand the major weaknesses that are affecting the overall sales of the company.

Even though the company is spending above average on research and growth but it has not been able to contend with the player in terms of modernism. It has been identified that the new competitions are putting much pressure on the company (Varghese and Kumar 2020). One of the major weaknesses of the Victoria Secret is the brand image that focuses on a specific body type. Also, the company's advertising and campaigns are not capable to relate to all women.

Opportunity

There is enormous potential in the new Markets and rising income levels increase, urban population, changing demand equations can provide more opportunities for their growth and development. The Global use of Technology can upsurge brand presence internationally. Now the customers are highly dependent on online technologies so the company can target the untapped markets (Grau and Zotos 2016).

Threat

One of the major threats of Victoria's Secret is that it is facing strong competition from the French retailers. The idea of the brand is not compatible with modern women who believe attractiveness is several layers deeper than the skin.

Recommendation on Victoria’s Secret Analysis

The analysis revealed that Victoria's Secret requires an effective strategy to survive in the current competitive market. After conducting the analysis, it is clear that there are many risks associated and major adjustments are required to improve the brand image. Some of the suitable suggestions for the brands are as follows:

• The commercial advertisement of Victoria's secret is not promoting gender equality and diversity. Therefore, it is necessary to design a campaign that includes diverse models and featuring different women’s. To improve its overall reputation, the brand must focus on increasing diversity. It is also necessary for the company to invest in market research to understand changing customer perceptions.
• Also, the brand must put a major emphasis on understanding the reason behind the negative reviews and implementing customer feedback to provide the most effective services. Also, the brand must focus on customer retention as the sales are continuously declining.
• The brand is facing extensive repercussions for its ideal body movement which features a line of models. Also, the customers complain that Victoria's secret was endorsing fake stereotype of beauty. To change consumer perceptions, the brand must come forward and develop a diverse campaign that will promote all body types. The campaign must be designed in a way that shows more sincerity towards the target customers. The Analysis highlighted that the company needs a new marketing strategy to keep its target customers. The overall success of a brand will depend on its approach and viewpoint towards the beauty and the need to celebrate this new attitude to remain relevant. 

• Also, a combination of the right products and successful social media branding can help Victoria secret to gain the trust of customers in the most effective manner. The company must understand that generation Z does not want the unrealistic, oversexualized body in the advertisement. The diverse campaign and advertisement must allow the company to target new customers as well as retain existing customers. With the help of effective and diverse messages, Victoria's Secret can increase the response rate with relatable messaging and boost the brand image. The brand must target plus size women who want to feel beautiful irrespective of their size and celebrate the intrinsic gorgeousness rather than admit to a definite label. The new marketing campaign must relate to all customer sentiments. The overall strategy of the brand image must alter its brand image.

Reference for Victoria’s Secret Analysis

Feng, Y., 2019, December. Victoria's Secret Performance Report 2019. In Proceedings of the 2019 3rd International Conference on Software and e-Business (pp. 177-182).

Finnegan, C., Runyan, R.C., Gonzalez‐Padron, T. and Hyun, J., 2016. Diversity and rigor trends in retailing research: assessment and guidelines. International Journal of Management Reviews, 18(1), pp.51-68.

Grau, S.L. and Zotos, Y.C., 2016. Gender stereotypes in advertising: a review of current research. International Journal of Advertising, 35(5), pp.761-770.

Grunert, K.G. ed., 2017. Consumer trends and new product opportunities in the food sector. Wageningen Academic Publishers.

Ikeler, P. and Fullin, G., 2018. Training to empower: A decade of the Retail Action Project. Journal of Labor and Society, 21(2), pp.173-191.

Ma, J. and Du, B., 2018. Digital advertising and company value: Implications of reallocating advertising expenditures. Journal of Advertising Research, 58(3), pp.326-337.

Robson, K. and Pitt, L., 2018. Victoria’s secret: Keeping up in a changing industry. SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals.

Souiden, N., Ladhari, R. and Chiadmi, N.E., 2019. New trends in retailing and services.

Thompson-Whiteside, H., Turnbull, S. and Howe-Walsh, L., 2020. Advertising: should creative women be expected to ‘fake it?’. Journal of Marketing Management, pp.1-26.

Varghese, N. and Kumar, N., 2020. Feminism in advertising: irony or revolution? A critical review of femvertising. Feminist Media Studies, pp.1-19.

Zhou, X., 2019. The Ugly Beauty Standard: What can Fashion Industry Do?. Proceedings of Business and Economic Studies, 2(4).

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