The Power of Sex and Self-Love in Retail
Victoria’s Secret vs. Aerie
(Co-authors: Merrick Eng and Coco Wang)
For the longest time, Victoria’s Secret has dominated the lingerie and intimate apparel brands. Known for its sex appeal, the annual iconic fashion show (now cancelled), and beautiful gorgeous models with what seems like unattainable body types, Victoria’s Secret started out as a lingerie store targetted at males. While Les Wexner pushed the brand towards targetting women, sensuality and sex are still core to the brand. It was just recently announced that L Brands will sell 55% in Victoria’s Secret for only $1.1 billion. This acquisition essentially separates VS lingerie, beauty, and PINK into a private company in hopes of rejuvenating profits. Another player in the intimate apparel space, Aerie, has long been an advocate for body positivity and diversity. Starting with its launch of the #AerieREAL campaign almost six years ago, Aerie has hired models with not only diversity in race but also body type and disability.
While both are in the same $28 billion intimate apparel industry, one brand is clearly outperforming the other. In the past consecutive quarters, Victoria’s secrets comparable sales have been decreasing consistently with a 5% decline in the first quarter of 2019. In 2019, Victoria’s Secret closed 53 stores. On the other hand, for the past quarters, Aerie’s comparable sales continue to rise in the double digits with a 14% increase in the first quarter of 2019. In the third quarter of 2019 alone, the company opened 170 Aerie side-by-side locations along with 12 Aerie stand-alone stores. We believe that these differences are not due to mere luck but rather draw on management’s calculated strategic and operational decisions.
In this paper, we will explore the differences between each of these retailer’s strategies that led to their different trajectories. Specifically, we will analyze how Aerie embraced industry trailwinds and changing consumer trends whereas Victoria’s Secret lagged behind. We will look at the unique features of their stores in terms of their product line, customers, store associates, and layout, as well as their advertising campaigns and how they collectively shape brand image. We will analyze both retailers’ financial statements and correlate changes in data with one another as well as with shifts in consumer preferences.
Furthermore, we hope to offer suggestions on how Victoria’s Secret can turn around its operation and determine how the company can reshape its brand image while staying true to its original brand values. For Aerie, we will identify opportunities for the company to expand into to sustain its continued growth.
Company Overview
In many cases, the history and development of retail have influenced future trajectories. It is the same with Victoria’s Secret. This lingerie brand was founded in 1977 by Roy Raymond in hopes of being the lingerie shop that was targeted at men. Hence, the focus on sex appeal runs deep into the history of Victoria’s Secret and sex is part of the brand’s DNA. When Les Wexner acquired VS as a part of L Brands, he shifted the focus to women rather than men while maintaining the sexy brand image. Ed Razek, long time CMO of L Brands, created the iconic famous annual fashion show where supermodels Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum rose to fame. In 2000, when Sharen Jester Turney became CEO, she launched the catalog and swimwear business. Her goal was to shift the perception of VS to be more Vogue than “hooker looks”. Under her leadership of nine years, sales increased by 70% to $7.7 billion dollars. However, when she stepped down abruptly as the CEO for personal reasons, Les Wexner took the interim role and made several key decisions that would contribute to the downfall of VS: killing the catalog, cutting the swimwear line, and focusing solely on lingerie. When Jan Singer became the CEO, sales had already begun to falter, as VS had missed dramatic shifts in the fashion trend and failed to adapt to changing consumer mindsets. Jan Singer soon resigned and was replaced by John Mehas. Throughout this time, there was serious criticism about VS not being inclusive. On November 21, VS confirmed that their annual fashion show would be cancelled. In addition to the 10% decline in comp sales during the fourth quarter of 2019, the brand has faced accusations of “misogyny, bullying, and harassment”.
Unlike Victoria’s core use of sex to sell, Aerie is an intimate apparel sub-brand owned by American Eagle Outfitters. From its core, Aerie has been known to focus on being a relatable brand. Victoria’s Secret promotes what is for most unattainable images of females whereas Aerie promotes body-positive campaigns. Aerie is one of the first brands that banned airbrushed and photoshopped photos. With its focus on female empowerment, Aerie has set itself apart from Victoria’s Secret. In addition to intimate apparel, Aerie has expanded into everyday apparel. Aerie has also embraced the changing bralette trend where there is a shift away from heavily padded bras. This is a trend that VS completely missed out on. Experiencing its 16th consecutive quarter of double-digit positive growth, Aerie hopes to open up 60 to 70 stores in the coming year.
Branding and Positioning
Victoria’s Secret
Since its inception in 1977, Victoria’s Secret has marketed itself with provocative images of women
Overtime, VS ads became increasingly sexual, featuring seductive poses and naughty whispering voices. In 1997, VS released its “Angels” underwear collection. To promote it, the brand featured several supermodels including Tyra Banks, Karen Mulder, and Helena Christensen. Since then, the term Angel became synonymous with the brand. VS Angel became a sacred title awarded only to VS’s top supermodels, signifying that they were officially part of the family of VS and an active spokesperson. No other brand has the same prestige that comes with being a VS Angel.
In 1999, VS began televising the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show to market its products. The show features VS Angels in costumed lingerie, complete with wings, heels, and wind-blown hair.
Meant to help position VS as a high-end brand, the event also has live music performed by high-profile singers. Past performers include Taylor Swift, Rhianna, and Shawn Mendes. The show reached its peak of 12 million views in 2001. While the show remained popular for years, with 9.2 million viewers in 2014, in 2018 viewership had fallen to 3.2 million, and the show was canceled the following year. The dramatic decline in viewers is largely attributed to changing consumer perceptions. These changes have incited beliefs that VS is objectifying women.
To explore these changing consumer perceptions, we can look at the backlash the brand has recently faced over its racy campaigns. In 2014, VS released its “Perfect Body” campaign, which featured Angels dressed in the brand’s “Body” lingerie line. The use of the word “perfect” in the campaign’s slogan ostracized the majority of the female population who didn’t share the “perfect” proportions of Angels. In response, consumers took to Twitter with the hashtag #IAmPerfect to celebrate body positivity and empower women to love who they are. Similarly, the hashtag #I’mNoAngel has also emerged in popularity. In 2018, the brand received much backlash after Chief Marketing Officer Ed Razek said the VS Fashion Show would never feature transexuals since “the show is a fantasy”.
Only very recently has VS begun to expand its marketing efforts amidst public backlash. In August 2019, VS casted Valentina Sampaio as the first openly transgender woman as a model. Moreover, in October 2019, the brand released a lingerie campaign that featured Ali Tate Cutler, the first plus-size model in a VS campaign.
Aerie
On the other end of the spectrum, Aerie has pioneered the anti-Photoshop movement. In 2014, the company banned airbrushed and Photoshop from its ads, launching its #AerieREAL body-positive campaign.
The campaign focuses on women of all backgrounds and body shapes, in immense contrast to the cookie-cutter tall, thin VS Angels. Model Iskra Lawrence has become a spokesperson for Aerie. With a more curvy body shape, Lawrence stands out when modeling alongside traditional Angel-like models, yet the #AerieREAL campaign has empowered her to be comfortable in her own skin.
Aerie continues to ride its body-positive campaign with increasingly progressive advertisements. In 2016, Aerie debuted its #AerieREAL Role Model campaign, with Lawrence as the face of the brand. The campaign was meant to have every woman represented by presenting authentic personalities and lives. Role Models included olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, poet Cleo Wade, and actress Yara Shahidi. In January 2019, Aerie expanded the campaign with its most diverse group of Role Models, including Samira Wiley, who is openly gay; Brenna Huckaby, a Paralympian snowborder whose leg was amputed; and Busy Philips, an actress and author. In the campaign, all girls were fully clothed; rather than emphasizing sex like VS, Aerie sends a message of female empowerment and unity.
Women’s perceptions of “beautiful” and “sexy” have inherently changed; curves and natural body shapes are appreciated and loved. Rather than thinness, wellness is now the goal. Due to social media, consumers have been given a voice and brands no longer dictate the definition of beauty. Aerie has realized this change early on and paved the way for self-love. VS, stubborn in its traditional values, has only recently begun to adapt to this change in consumer sentiments, albeit still wildly behind Aerie’s campaigns.
Customer Analysis
Upon our store visits, we noted the different customers within each store. VS customers were generally young women around 20–30 years old. The few males in the store were there with their girlfriends, holding their shopping bags and following their partner as she explored the store. All observed consumers were thinner in bust, and their larger counterparts scouted the store only for a few minutes before exiting. There were no older women or families when we visited, signifying the brand’s appeal toward a limited demographic due to the overwhelming emphasis on sex throughout the store. While this emphasis appeals to young couples, young women may be embarrassed going to the store with their mom, and older women and their husbands may feel out of place.
Aerie’s customer base spanned a much greater range. We witnessed a mix of teenagers as well as older people (women around 40 years old). We observed young women with their boyfriends, moms with their daughters, and entire families in the store. Part of this reason is likely due to the existence of American Eagle’s other product offerings on other levels of the store. Furthermore, consumers vastly differed in their ethnic backgrounds, body shapes, and their heights. It seemed that Aerie appealed to a wide customer base, targeting not a specific physical feature of women, but rather a mindset geared toward self-love.
In terms of shopping behaviors, Aerie customers typically purchased larger basket sizes, likely because of the lower prices when compared to VS. Purchases included not only lingerie, but also other apparel including socks, shirts, and scrunchies. VS customers spent more time in the store and more frequently visited the fitting rooms. VS customers were often browsing the store with a sales associate, whereas in Aerie, customers explored the store independently.
Each store’s customer base aligned closely with their target consumer. With Victoria’s Secret, corporate successfully has targeted the sex-driven consumer. However, this demographic is becoming smaller due to changing consumer preferences, and Aerie has successfully capitalized on these shifts.
Website
Looking at their websites, upon landing on the VS homepage we are met with provocative images of models advertising the new Dream Angels spring collection.
On Aerie’s page, we are first met with not models nor lingerie, but with two hands forming a heart and the message “Power. Positivity. No retouching”.
We see models with imperfect teeth and birth scars, and models of different sizes posing alongside one another, echoing the idea that there isn’t a single definition of beauty. Scrolling on VS’s homepage, we surprisingly see different body types and models with their natural hair, dressed in traditional VS laced lingerie.
In the bra category, VS models look at the viewer with suggestive looks or look into the distance.
Nearly all models have long, flowing hair, glistening cleavage, and a defined core. Bras are marketed as “the sexiest,” whereas Aerie markets theirs as “bras that make you feel good.” All Aerie models are smiling or laughing, and many photos seem as if they were candidly taken amidst telling a joke. Analyzing the panties section of VS, models are pictured thighs up. In extreme contrast, Aerie terms the category “underwear” and sparingly features models in its product offerings. Instead, we simply see images of the underwear. In the sleepwear category, VS promotes its satin pajamas. Models wear the sleep tops wearing only panties. Aerie promotes its soft tank tops, worn by models wearing shorts, pants, or occasionally only underwear.
Most interestingly, Aerie seamlessly weaves in women from all different paths of life. On their website, customers see women casually modeling bras in wheelchairs, with ostomy bags, with insulin pumps, or with crutches.
This diversity of models resonates strongly with women and make each individual feel as if they are being represented. Echoing the Role Model campaign, individuals have these models as people to look up to, to realize that beauty knows no bounds. The subtle integration of these models with Aerie’s page has received much positive attention on social media.
When adding an item to cart, Aerie presents multiple options. Users can add the product to the bug, check in-store availability, bundle the product for a deal, or send the product as a gift. Users are entitled to free shipping on orders of over $50, whereas with VS the threshold is $100. Depending on availability, Aerie provides customers with the option to buy online and pick up in-store. Both websites enable consumers to rate and review products, although VS’s system is much more active than Aerie’s.
Overall, the models on Aerie’s website seem much more authentic and genuinely happy. Models on VS’s website are much more homogenous in their appearance, and their expressions resemble those in high-end fashion. While predominantly Angel body types, the effort VS is making toward body positivity is extremely apparent.
Store Design
When walking into the two stores, it was evident that the ambience of the stores were different. We went to the flagship stores in New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Walking into Victoria’s Secret felt like walking into an explosion of black and pink.
The furniture was feathery and velvety. The walls are lined with pictures of stunning Angels. The photos are usually quite suggestive and overtly sexual. Some of the photos did not even have the model’s head in it which in this day and age, made it feel like women were being objectified. The store’s dark lighting and dark walls immediately gave a very sensual, flirty, and sexual feel. It felt like walking into a showroom or a brothel. The New York flagship store with two levels is significantly bigger than the average VS store. The average size of a VS store is about 6,484 selling square feet. However, walking into VS stores, you know exactly what to expect. The newest items in the very front. The bras are organized by style and cheaper underwear are organized in circular displays in the center and back of the store. Surprisingly, everything was organized and the inventory was neatly laid out for the customer. All the elements of the store from the decorations to the signature VS fragrant scent of the store all came together to paint a unifying VS brand.
Walking into Aerie felt fresh, although the store was significantly smaller than VS. Aerie feels like a younger brand from the store design.
The average Aerie store is around 3,000 selling square feet, half the size of the average VS store. There was wooden flooring with white shelves and bright lighting. There were also plants used as decoration all around the store further emphasizing its focus on natural beauty. Lining the walls of the Aerie store are models that were differing in race as well as size. Positive messages like “Strong. Beautiful. You!” are plastered all over the store. The Aerie store also has an empowerment table where customers can leave positive messages for others. The #AerieReal campaign has a strong presence in the store from the shopping bags to an entire wall dedicated to this hashtag. However, the inventory was not as organized as it was in the VS store. In Aerie stores, apparel is at the front of the store then bras, swimwear, and underwear. Aerie stores have a uniformed look. They are all organized the same way.
The store design for both stores align with their espoused brand image. VS focuses on selling the lingerie so that women can look like the VS models whereas Aerie focuses on selling the lingerie so that women can feel beautiful in their own skin. The store design communicates this difference in branding. In a time of women empowerment, VS’s store image is completely misaligned with consumer wants and trends.
Store Associates and Experience (Execution)
Victoria’s Secret prides itself on customer service. In fact, the associates drive a lot of the sales and take initiative in pushing forward sales. This is corroborated when visiting the stores. As soon as we walked into the VS store, we had more than two associates approach us asking if we needed help. Everywhere we turned, there was an associate available. I decided to try on a couple of items and asked help for sizing. The associate was warm and asked for my name. All the store associates communicated with each other using headsets. When I asked for something that was in the backroom, the associate who was helping me would stay with me while she asked someone else through the headset to bring it out front. This way, I wasn’t just waiting alone for them to bring out whatever I requested. In the fitting room, before trying on the items I had, the associate did a mini consultation where she asked why I was buying, what is my style, and what are my sizes. When I was trying on the different items, there was another associate constantly checking up on me asking me if there was anything else I needed. At one point, the associate started recommending other items to me that she thought would be a good fit. All the VS associates are knowledgeable about the products that they carry and are good at recommending products that might better fit the customer’s needs. Overall, it was good customer service. I was able to find what I was looking for, but it becomes overwhelming when there are so many people constantly asking you if you need help. In the fitting room, I felt like the associate was trying to upsell which made me uncomfortable. This overenthusiasm to help customers is most likely due to the commission based sales structure. While commissions do help to motivate sales associates, there is a fine line between being helpful and overly invasive.
In terms of customer service, Aerie stores are much smaller, and therefore, it is easier for customers to locate items themselves. There are significantly fewer sales associates in Aerie stores. When I asked for help, the associate was friendly. When I asked for something in the back room, she had to go to the back room for a long time and came back empty handed saying that the product in the size I wanted was out of stock. There should be better inventory management and a digitized inventory system that allows associates to verify stock without having to go to the backroom to scavenge. However, the associate immediately offered me the option to order online for the item that was out of stock. I had the choice to pick-up in-store for free or have it delivered directly to my address for a fee. The associate also explained that there was in-store free pickup that can be ready in just 2 hours in select cities like Philadelphia, New York City, and Los Angeles. This integration of different channels makes it more convenient for customers. The store associate said that the buy online pick up in store is quite popular because it gets customers in the store and they are more likely to pick up additional items. VS does not have a buy online and pick-up in store option as of yet. VS offers free shipping on orders over $100 while Aerie offers free shipping on orders over $50. As a customer, if the item is out of stock, it is highly likely that I would order that item online at Aerie than VS.
Overall, VS has better customer service and the associates are knowledgeable about the product SKUs. While the Aerie associates were friendly, VS associates went above and beyond to meet the customer’s needs and make them feel welcomed. However, Aerie has better integration of channels. In the case of a stock out, Aerie presents more options to customers than VS.
Product
Wrong product selection is one of the biggest downfalls for Victoria’s Secret. When Les Wexner became interim CEO, he immediately cut the VS swimwear line and all other apparel in order to shift focus back on lingerie, VS’s core business. VS decided to adhere to its traditional bombshell heavily-padded push up bras. However, this proved to be a terrible decision. In the beginning of 2015, there was a rise in the bralette or anti-padding trend. Women no longer wanted the heavily padded bras with underwires; they wanted something light, comfortable with no wires that enhanced their natural shape. Being so fixated on its traditional core business, Victoria’s Secret completely missed on this trend. Victoria’s Secret further missed the “athleisure” trends by pulling back from sports bras and expansion into apparel. Victoria’s Secret has been playing a catch up game since then. In order to get rid of excess inventory, VS had to slash prices of their signature push-up bras and underwear by 50% and tried to push out new lines of bralettes a couple of years later than competitors.
Our Victoria’s Secret store visit focused on investigating the number of SKUs, product trends, and size inclusivity. In the New York flagship store, it was estimated to be well over 10,000 SKUs including fragrances and makeup products. When we first walked in, we first saw new bralette items. VS has made a lot of progress in terms of staying on trend. It has expanded into more clothing lines and created partnerships with other brands such as For Love & Lemons and Bluebella to reach luxury customers as well as niche customers. We were surprised to find that half of the second floor in the flagship store is dedicated to apparel that can be worn for everyday purposes. This shift shows that the brand is trying to make up for its previous mistakes. The intimate space is limited in terms of the frequency at which customers return to buy. However, apparel in general keeps customers coming back more often. This emphasis on apparel is not paralleled by other VS stores such as the ones in Philadelphia which primarily just sell intimate apparel. After missing a couple of key consumer trends, VS is capitalizing on the new “lingerie as outerwear” trend and this is evident in the feature of everyday wearable bralettes at the front of the store. In general, sex is still a main sell at VS and that is evident from the products. There are a lot of lace and neon colors which people don’t usually associate with comfort wear. In terms of sizing of the products, VS carries 30 AA to 40 DDD and lounge wear from XXS to XXL. In terms of pricing, while VS has expanded its annual sale by two weeks and slashed prices further than ever before, in general, VS prices are on the higher end and considered pricey. A regular bra can cost upwards of $60 and a bralette costs at least $40. This price point alienates a huge segment of teens that VS targets. Customers on social media have expressed discontent with the expensive price tag and declining quality. From walking around in the store, it seems that VS is continuing to expand its expensive offerings with lingerie that start at $90+ a piece and apparel that is well over $100.
In the Aerie store, it was estimated to be around 5,000 SKUs. Aerie stores always place apparel and outerwear at the front including sweatpants and hoodies. Unlike VS, Aerie has significantly fewer SKUs. Aerie has a huge selection in stores dedicated to just bralettes. In fact, Aerie was one of the first brands that capitalized on the bralette trend and unlike VS, Aerie has been known to stay on top of consumer trends. In the stores, there was also a heavy focus on athleisure items such as sports bras and athletic leggings. Comfort is a unifying factor for Aerie products. In a consumer era where comfort is a trend, Aerie has done well to take advantage of its positioning. At Aerie, they carry 43 sizes from 30A to 42DD and bralettes span from XXS to XXL which is slightly more options than what VS carries. Unlike VS’s premium and expensive offerings, Aerie’s bras are priced around $35 and the lounge clothes are around $50 for a dress. This price tag makes it more accessible for teens rather than the $100+ apparel at VS.
Overall, Victoria’s Secret has more SKUs than Aerie. However, in terms of product selection, VS has not been following closely with consumer trends whereas Aerie has been capitalizing on the new athleisure and bralette trend. VS has been trying to play catch up since then. VS prices itself significantly higher than Aerie. The high price point of VS is not reasonating well with younger target audiences.
Quantitative Analysis
Aerie trades under American Eagle (AEO). AEO’s stock has been holding relatively strong within the past few years, hovering between $11.22 and $24.30. With 165.86M shares outstanding, the company is valued at $1.98B. The company’s gross margin sits at 35.3%, with a net profit margin of 7.28%. This profit margin is within the industry standard of between 4% and 13%.
AEO operates at an inventory turnover of 5.4, placing it slightly above its market competitors in terms of gross margin and inventory turn correlation.
However, in the past few years the company has experienced decreasing gross margins accompanying decreasing inventory turns, bringing the company closer to market standards for Apparel & Accessories as mentioned in Lecture. The company’s SG&A expenses amount to 23.9% of total revenue, placing it slightly above average in terms of its gross margin to SG&A expenses ratio.
AEO’s Return on Equity is 20.7%, and its Return on Assets is 14.1%, which suggests that the company generates high value from its resources and available capital.
Turning more specifically to Aerie, in 2019 Q4 the store experienced comparable sales growth of 20%, following 32% comp sales growth 2018 Q4 and marking the 20th consecutive quarter of double-digit sales growth (Aerie Investor Relations, 2019). In the past quarter, Aerie opened 24 new locations, totaling 52 new locations in 2019 and 312 locations in total. Store size averages to 3,900 square ft (including back storage), with approximately $545 in sales per square foot.
Victoria’s Secret trades under L Brands (LB). LB’s stock has been in strong decline since its peak price of $99.77 in late 2015 to its current price of $20.60. This uncoincidentally closely aligns with the launch of the competing #AerieREAL campaign, proving highly detrimental to LB’s valuation. In February 2020, Sycamore Partners acquired a 55% stake in VS valuing the company at only $1.1B, which is extremely low considering its excellent low price to sales ratio of 0.16 (whereas industry standard is 2.1). However, with the 55% stake, Sycamore Partners also absorbed the company’s lease obligations. Unless the firm is able to turn around VS’s performance, one might argue that L Brands got a better deal. Looking at L Brands as a metric for VS (since the transaction was very recent), the company’s gross profit margin is 36.3%, with a net profit margin of negative 2.8%.
LB operates at an inventory turnover of 13.2, placing it above market competitors in terms of gross margin and inventory turn correlation. However, while this performance may seem phenomenal, it does not take into account LB’s net profit margin, which is negative. This indicates that LB is facing a lot of expenses that exceed its revenue. In the past year, LB has seen its inventory turnover double while its gross margins have been in steady decline, falling further below market standards. The company’s SG&A expenses amount to 26.9% of total revenue, falling exactly within the industry relationship between gross margin and SG&A expenses. LB’s Return on Equity is 34.7%, and its Return on Assets is -9.1%, which suggests that the company generates low value from its available capital. The positive ROE is due to both a negative net income as well as a negative value for average equity, indicating a greater amount of liabilities and accumulated losses.
Turning more specifically to Victoria’s Secret, in their 2019 Q3 (which aligns closely with AEO’s 2019 Q4), VS experienced comparable sales decline 8%, following several quarters of decline. In contrast to Aerie, in 2019, VS closed 53 stores, after already closing 30 stores in 2018, leaving the company with 1,017 company-owned stores. Store size averages to 6,500 square ft (including back storage), with a steadily declining $760 in sales per square foot.
While VS may seem as if it’s performing well in this sliver of time, in a holistic view we realize that its current success is largely attributed to the brand it has built overtime. The company has experienced declining profit margins and decreasing comp sales for the past few years. In contrast, Aerie has emerged as a newer brand and is slowly capturing more of the lingerie market, realizing high levels of comp sales growth. The metrics indicate that Aerie is succeeding, albeit at the expense of VS.
Recommendations
From performing all the qualitative and quantitative analysis, there are three key recommendations for Victoria’s Secret: repositioning and redefining sexy, expanding into other apparel categories other than lingerie, and staying ahead of consumer trends. From market analysis, Victoria’s Secret positioning itself as sexy is not the reason why it is failing and lagging behind Aerie, rather it is defining sexy as one single body type. Sex sells, as evident by brands like Rihanna’s new lingerie line and Fashion Nova. However, the problem with VS is that its marketing implies that being sexy is an idea that is only available to those that fit a certain mold. It does not promote all body types and all different types of beauty. VS had its first campaign with plus size and transgender models in October of 2019 which is years later than its competitors.
As consumers focus more on body positively and self-love, VS should redefine sexy to be inclusive and individualized. In addition to rebranding, VS should expand into other apparel categories including athleisure, swimwear, and casual wear. With 92% of customers buying a bra once every 6 months or longer, the frequency of the buys are quite low. Increasing apparel and everyday wear will increase foot traffic. It will hopefully increase basket size. Finally, Victoria’s Secret should do more to stay on top of customer trends. Missing the bralette trend and embracing body-positive trend was detrimental to VS’s financial performance. VS should be in touch with uprising trends to be relevant through focus groups with target audiences. In conclusion, VS is more well-known and is more established than Aerie. Victoria’s Secret fundamentally has a different positioning than Aerie. One focuses on sexy while the other focuses on comfort and empowering women. As consumer trends change, Victoria Secret should redefine sexy, expand into other apparel categories other than lingerie, and keep up with consumer trends.
