SWOT Analysis Project
Victoria's Secret
by
Shelby Pigott, Nicole Rangel, Riley Carter, and Rogelio Anguiano
Ann Coker
Marketing 1030-002
09-16-2015
My group and I decided to do our SWOT analysis project on Victoria's Secret. Victoria's
Secret is the leading specialty retailer of women's intimate apparel. They are also home to
prestige fragrances, cosmetics, supermodels, and a world famous fashion show. The current
president and CEO is Sharen Jester Turney. Turney took over the company in 2006. We chose
the Victoria's Secret located at Fashion Place Mall as the focus of our project.
We found that this specific location has a lot of strengths.
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They are the highest volume store in the entire state of Utah.
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They carry the most product and carry said product in the widest variety of sizes and
color choice.
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This location also has very knowledgeable associates. Victoria's Secret does very well in
making sure their associates are ready with any question a customer has.
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They also hold special events at this location. These event are usually after normal
business hours and are very successful. These events build customer loyalty by offering the
product at extended hours. These events also hold a raffle and have special deals.
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They also have the Angel Card. The Angel Card is the credit program that Victoria's
Secret offers. The card is not limited to this location but being that they are the highest volume
store they are most visited by card holders.
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Another strength is the quality of the product. This is also not just limited to this location
but they carry the most product. Victoria's Secret maintains their customer loyalty by continuing
to produce quality product.
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This location also contains a PINK section. PINK by Victoria's Secret was launched in
2002 and targets 15-22 year olds. The launch of PINK expanded the target crowd of Victoria's
Secret.
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Victoria's Secret at Fashion Place does very well at building customer growth. They set
the standard in knowledge of associates. By doing this, associates feel comfortable to go onto the
sales floor and selling and assisting customers and making them feel appreciated and welcomed.
This increases the loyalty to this location and on a more grand scale, the company as a whole.
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This location also has a large Beauty section. Some of the beauty products include hair
products, make up, fragrance, and various lotions.
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Victoria's Secret also has a world famous fashion show that airs every year on CBS. This
store receives a large amount of fashion show relate product. They also receive certain fashion
show product that other stores do not because they are the highest volume.
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This location has a lot of strengths but they are also large so with that comes
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struggles. Some weaknesses we found are:
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Victoria's Secret at Fashion Place could use some remodeling on the interior. The stores
usually receive remodels based off of how much they revenue. This store has some broken
fixtures and damaged mirrors. They also have a lot of foot traffic which makes it hard to
maintain cleanliness throughout the day.
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A weakness not just limited to this store but the brand in general is that they don't carry
many options for men. They carry three fragrances. This doesn't eliminate men completely as a
customer base but it does limit them.
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Another weakness is that this store has a very high turnover rate. This store sees a lot of
foot traffic and it can be overwhelming for some. The hours can also be strenuous. Retail hours
don't just start at 10 a.m. and end at 9 p.m. A lot goes into setting the store up in the morning and
closing it at night and sometimes associates have to be in strenuous conditions for an extended
period of time.
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Victoria's Secret is a carrier of intimate apparel. This doesn't appeal to certain cultures.
Utah has a large Mormon population and they tend to be more modest.
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Although this store carries the most product, they are limited in the sizes that they carry.
This isn't limited to this location but to the company as a whole.
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This location also doesn't sell much clothing. Victoria's Secret is not known for their
clothing but they do sell it.
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The stores are ran on segments. The segments are cut into two hour increments. They
start at 10 a.m. and end at 10 p.m. This can negatively affect how the store functions throughout
the day. If a manager sees that segments aren't being made then they can choose to cut
employees shifts to make up for the loss. This effects how many employees are being made
available for customers and if customers have questions and aren't being assisted then customers
don't feel acknowledged or appreciated.
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Another weakness is the online delivery process. This isn't limited to this store but
associates here are taught to give options to the customer. One of these options is offering
customer’s online product but the delivery process of the product still has a lot of work to do.
Things can be ordered but then be put on backorder or become unavailable. This can aggravate
customers and effect customer loyalty.
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Victoria's Secret can also be costly. The quality of the product is worth the price but it
can be seen as unpractical. Prices of the product varies but an example of the costliness is that a
bra from the Body by Victoria collection, which was the original collection, starts between
$54.50-56.50 (based on size) and can go up to $70. That’s almost $100 for a single item.
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Although this store has the highest volume, they still are limited on the amount of product
they receive. Utah is a smaller state and has a smaller customer growth. This limits the store.
There is always room for growth and development in this store and the brand as a whole. We
found opportunities for the company and store to take and consider.
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This location could sell more clothing. This would bring in people who aren't necessarily
shopping for intimate apparel. By selling more non intimate apparel it would appeal to a more
modest crowd.
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This location could also carry more product. They might have the highest volume in the
state, they can still not always provide product to every customer.
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This store does well but the company would build more customer growth if they opened
up more locations or separated the PINK store from the Victoria's Secret store.
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The associates can also assist in making the online store experience be a little smoother
and more convenient. They could be educated on that aspect more.
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This store could use a little bit of remodeling and upgrades. This would make the store
look cleaner and keeping it up to date keeps it relevant and appealing to customers.
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Another opportunity is adjusting advertising and posters to being more modest. Victoria's
Secret is unapologetically sexual. They are strong and bold and confident. But they have been
approached at this specific location about removing certain photos found in fitting rooms and
placed in the windows.
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This store and brand could also appeal to more than women in the western hemisphere.
They could branch out and explore expanding to other countries.
Although Victoria's Secret is the leading retailer in intimate apparel they do face threats.
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Local boutiques are a threat to this store. There has been a movement in "shopping local"
and it is influenced to support your local artists and retailers.
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Another threat is department stores. Department stores provide a one stop shop to
customers. They can get full outfits at a department store. It is more time efficient.
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Imitation product also proves to be a threat to Victoria's Secret. Although the quality isn't
as high, it can be more cost efficient.
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Another threat could be high end product. Other retailers are expanding to carrying
intimate apparel.
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This store could also use customers for not carrying certain sizes. Women want to feel
beautiful in their skin and hearing that a popular store doesn't carry a size you're looking for can
negatively affect their experience and make them less likely to return.
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This store also has a reputation. Customer surveys reveal that customers don't always feel
welcome or assisted properly.
Through our SWOT analysis we found a few recommendations we could make to improve the
company and this location. We found that the store could upgrade the interior and and fixtures.
Some are chipped and damaged. This doesn't show a good image to customer. They could also
try a hybrid of traditional and fast fashion. They could continue to stock the popular items and
restock them when they are sold. They could also stock some items that are not restocked so they
could incentivize people to buy when they go into the store and this would make sure they came
back often.