Victoria's Secret and the Internet
"Victoria's Secret, you're murdering my budget!" Proclaims regular customer Cyanne after making another online purchase from her favorite retail store. When asked to rank the company's website, the shopper admits "4.5 stars. It would have been 5 stars if I'd stopped bleeding from the last shipping charge. Victoria's Secret online is a complete addiction!" (Cyanne 1). This testimonial is merely a small sample of the extensive number of lingerie connoisseurs who shop Victoria's Secret via the Internet. This highly profitable enterprise was the first to come to mind when prompted to select a company for analysis. Reporting on the growth of Victoria's Secret's broad spectrum of offerings as an effect of the Internet is made simple, due largely from personal experience in shopping through this medium. Easily the highest grossing lingerie company in the world, Victoria's Secret caters to shoppers in over 91 countries. The Ohio based company reportedly drew in over a million visitors to their website after their first ever fashion show webcast in 1999. (Krochmal 2). On average, the women's apparel company hosts approximately 212,000 viewers online per week. Nine out of ten shoppers are women, however, after the initial broad
cast of the first annual fashion show, fifty-two percent of the visitors were male, each spending an average of ten minutes on the site (Krochmal 2). Men are exceedingly becoming more loyal gift shoppers compared to recent times. Internet use has helped the industry enormously through extending reach to non-traditional clients and nonmembers of the target groups. It has also provided much ease, flexibility and convenience for shoppers by allowing them to click their way to purchases in a matter of seconds. Largely triggered from television, magazine and billboard advertisements, an abundance of inquiring minds are driven to the lingerie purveyor's website. One frequent shopper testifies, "I'm a Victoria's Secret addict. If they held self help meetings for this my family would have signed me up a long time ago. Unfortunately for my family, Victoria's Secret has gone online and thus continued to feed my addiction!" (Cyanne 1). Because of this highly convenient service, shoppers are able to browse for undergarments, nylons, clothing, shoes, coats, jewelry, perfume, cosmetics and other accessories from home or the office. The company continues to expand its product line. More heavy emphasis is being placed on the cosmetics and fragrance line than has been in the past. Some online shoppers are rewarded with "website only" sales too. (Soulveil 2). Approximately 27% of current sales are being made online at Victoriassecret.com (Bailly 1). This percentage climbs daily due to the convenience discovered after making the initial online purchase on the site. Customers feel the experience to be much more enjoyable. The popularity for the company's products never seems to decline, as sales records have shown. Website administrators strive for excellence by constantly updating and improving the site and corresponding via e-mail with online purchasers. Although primarily catalog sales account for the majority of the company's revenue, significant portions of income result from in store sales and online services. The existing marketing mix sales force is heavily concentrated on promotion and product aspects. Conveniently, many retail store locations exist multinationally, accentuating the place aspect of the mix as well. One main weakness viewed by multiple customers leans heavily on the price issue. Prices, although not astronomical, tend to be on the higher end for this industry and type of apparel. Most purchasers admit the quality of the product is worth the price. One client states, "You get what you pay for, the items not only feel, fit a
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Approximate Word count = 1736
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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