History of Victoria's Secret

In 1977, a Graduate Student named Roy Raymond, from Stanford Graduate School of Business, felt embarrassed when it came to purchasing lingerie from a department store.  Roy decided to open a store to make a man feel comfortable when purchasing women's lingerie.  He decided to open his first store at the Stanford Shopping Center, creating Victoria's Secret.  Soon to follow was a mail-order catalog and three other Victoria's Secret Stores.  Victoria's Secret is now owned by Limited Brands and there are over 1,000 Victoria's Secret stores and over 100 independent Victoria's Secret Beauty Stores in 49 states, Puerto Pico, and Canada.  The brand is now based out of Reynoldsburg, Ohio and they specialize in lingerie, swimwear, beauty products, sleepwear, hosiery, etc.    

Value Proposition

Victoria's Secret is a value-based company.  Their mission is to make their customers feel sexy, sophisticated and forever young.  They acknowledge their responsibility to deliver on that promise by providing high-quality, safe and effective products in all of their brands.  While their parent company, Limited Brands, offers a broad array of products from perfumes to collegiate dorm wear, they apply the same, disciplined approach to all of their products when it comes to quality and protecting their customers.  As a retailer, they have contracts with manufacturers throughout the world to make their merchandise.  Vendors are selected based on their ability and commitment to meet their safety and quality standards, as well as follow their strict ethical, labor and environmental standards.  Once contracted, their internal experts work with vendors to certify compliance with their strict quality standards and sourcing policies in an ongoing basis.

SCM

Victoria’s Secret's Supply Chain starts from raw materials, which are chosen by the designer and get shipped from China.  The raw materials get processed at the factories, which use special machines for Victoria’s Secret products.  The machines are highly qualified for specific use to process the materials. After the raw materials get processed, they become a product. The product is made in batches of different colors, sizes, designs, and cuts depending on the product design. Then, the finished product gets retailed at Victoria’s Secret stores and on their website.  

Unfortunately, due to certain trademark, labeling, product content and embargo restrictions, Victoria’s Secret currently does not ship all products to all countries. If you have a restricted item in your bag, you will receive a message during checkout that lists the restricted item along with specific instructions to remove the item from your shopping bag or change the shipping method or address if applicable. Shipping and handling charges are determined by the merchandise dollar amount of your order before any deductions; not subject to special offers. Charges are calculated before taxes. All orders are subject to verification. If items are backordered, the total shipping and handling charges will be allocated proportionally and charged as the merchandise is shipped.  All backordered items ship out via Standard Delivery. Delivery is usually 4-7 business days.  

The critical processes that make up Victoria's Secret's supply chain are:

1) Product Design and Product Launch; 2) Merchandise Planning, Allocation and Forecasting; 3) Production & Sourcing; 4) Logistics; and 5) Store Operations. A design idea, from the point it is conceptualized to the point the product is delivered to the Victoria's Secret Stores, termed by the company as "Concept-To-Market", traverses through each of these processes comprising the supply chain. 

Limited Brand’s division Limited Logistics Services (LLS) is a $9.7 billion supply chain management operation. It supports the global supply chain service needs for Limited Brands. The company has supporting departments including Limited Customs Services, Product Quality and Regulatory Assurance, Strategic Procurement, Supply Chain Planning and Analysis, Operations Engineering, Facilities Services, Logistics Operations and Operations Support. The products are distributed to 4,600 stores and catalog customers. Columbus operations contain seven distribution and fulfillment centers and two shipping facilities. LLS serves all Limited Brands businesses - The Limited, Express, Victoria's Secret Stores, Victoria's Secret Beauty, Victoria's Secret Direct, Bath & Body Works, and The White Barn Candle Co. LLS is one of the best retail logistics industry with a balance of state-of-the-art technology and automation, and trained logistics employees.

LLS has set up some functions to manage the company's supply chain processes. LLS wants to concentrate on maximizing distribution and logistics efficiency, fulfilling with international trade and customs laws, ensuring regulatory compliance and facilitating product allocation and flow planning. All departments also have to make sure there are no weak links in their supply chain management. One of the important facts is LLS investing in its employees.

CRM

Victoria's Secret currently does 10 things to Optimize CRM.  The first thing they do is trend the long term control group.  This allows them to observe natural baseline shipping patterns.  Those patterns help inform their contact strategy for a season.  When there is lower baseline shopping, there is more CRM.  Next, Victoria's Secret is increasing the size of their Database.  They are adding cell phone matching capabilities to identify more customers at POS.  They are also investigating media deals that involve sharing of names.  Next, they are Considering Alternatives Channels of Delivery.  They want to test inserting their direct mail piece on top of newspaper deliveries, adding inserts in existing Victoria's Secret catalogs, use concierges to deliver their CRM pieces in high tourist areas and have bulk drops.  They are also increasing their number of email contacts and are using bounce backs since they are a less expensive delivery mechanism that targets high quantities of existing customers, including those not captured on their database. Fourth, they are focusing on current customers with minimal spending on lapsed and prospecting.  They want to retain their high quality customers by focusing on their Angel Credit Card customers, while adding new benefits and double and triple point events.  Fifth, they are rewarding loyalty.  They sent VS branded gifts ($40 value) to their best customers in the past holiday season.  Next, they are researching the customer.  They are undertaking a 3-month study to help better understand what is in their customers' and non-customers' lingerie drawers and what influences her to purchase certain products. Seventh, they are over-hauling the customer contact strategy.  They want to re-build their models, monitor customer cycle time and add more contacts per customer.  Eighth, they want to get more aggressive with offers.  They want to add more beauty samples to some of their gift with purchases and their gift with purchase will be larger.  They also want to feature value messaging on the creative side.  They are calling out special in-store deals that are featured at a great price in addition to their "champion offers."  Lastly, they are looking for creative sources of funding.  They are going to look at partnerships, list exchanges and use excess product for gifts with purchase events. 

Brand Awareness

Victoria's Secret does a great job when it comes to brand awareness.  When they want consumers to get excited for the holiday shopping season, they put on a show to spread the awareness of the brand.  However, this is not just any show.  Victoria's Secret creates a media spectacle with its annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.  The show is seen by millions worldwide during the Christmas buying season and generates tons of publicity for the brand.  Besides the fashion show, Victoria's Secret is mostly known for their celebrity models.  These models are the key factor in spreading the brand awareness for the company.  The models go on interviews and appearances, make commercials and pose for the catalogue in order to create a buzz for the awareness of the brand.  Lastly, Victoria's Secret is on almost every social media website there is.  They have pages on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc.  They are really getting involved in the social media aspect of E-commerce.  This is how they let their customers know what is going on with the company and new products or promotions that are going to take place.   

Building awareness for Victoria's Secret outside the U.S. is especially important now that the company has begun to expand internationally.  They have opened a few Victoria's Secret shops in international airports, such as in Dubai and Buenos Aires, that will serve as a testing ground for overseas expansion.  In order to bring more awareness internationally, they should look into cheaper shipping costs to international countries as well as expand where they ship to.  By doing this, their brand awareness will spread tremendously fast.   

Customer Behavior & Attitudes

You can rarely go into a local shopping mall and not find a Victoria's Secret store.  Victoria's Secret uses "girly" colors like pinks and reds in order to create a visually appealing store for their customer to walk into.  They also use their "sexy" models in order to sell the brand to the consumer.  Advertising plays a large role in the fashion decisions made by the customer of the brand.  Victoria's Secret immediately comes to a person's mind when they think of lingerie, bras and panties.  By using the models to appear in commercials and advertise the brand, the consumer begins to believe that they can be just as seductive as the Victoria's Secret supermodels if they purchase the lingerie.  This is what draws the customer to the stores and what gives them the drive to shop at the store.  

For women who think that the Victoria's Secret line is too sexy for them, the "Pink" line offers a casual alternative that allows young women to feel cute and playful.  A Pink consumer uses personal influences to make purchase decisions.  They like to take their personal sense of style to the next level by wearing clothing that better suits their personalities. 

Target Market/Market and Customer Segmentation

Victoria's Secret's Target Market is the middle class woman or man shopping for a middle class woman aged 21-49.  The customer wants to feel sexy and look sexy, which is why she comes to shop at Victoria's Secret.  Whether she is trying to buy lingerie to wear on a casual day or on a night to impress someone, Victoria's Secret caters to her needs and wants.  She is not afraid to look sexy or wear skimpy lingerie.  

Victoria's Secret's PINK line attracts people outside of the Victoria's Secret market.  These are the younger age women, such as the college student aged 16-29.  The bright colors, trendier prints and smaller attire appeals to be more casual and laid back than the traditional Victoria's Secret line.  This line inspires the younger generation to come into the store and shop.  Victoria's Secret recognized that there is a fad with females who are growing up faster and faster.  The Pink line position's itself as an acceptable method of offering female young adults the opportunity to purchase items where not many other apparel brands will. 

Brand, Product and Company Positioning

Victoria's Secret has 1,040 stores globally with more than 6 million square feet of retail space.  Net sales are more than $5 billion and average sales per selling square foot are $581.  However, when the word globally is used, it actually means the United States.  International sales are mostly mail order or at a handful of airport stores.  Victoria's Secret could position their international presence better and is something they should work on.

Victoria's Secret still might be a secret to a lot of people in the Middle East as well.  Sexy lingerie and conservative societies do not always mix.  This means that expansion into the region will be slow and is most likely going to be led by beauty and branded accessories.  That is what the brand current does in their Mirdiff City Centre Mall in Dubai.  

Victoria's Secret's Corporate site says: "Visit one of the most powerful, sexy and glamorous stores in the world, Victoria's Secret, where you'll find a dazzling assortment of intimate apparel, beauty products, sleepwear, hosiery  and more."  Sexy and glamorous are the keywords, with the brand one of the dominant players in the mid to up-market lingerie stakes.  Victoria's Secret has never made any secret of its highly sexualized merchandise, which has allowed it to establish a strong brand positioning. 

Addressability

Strength:  Victoria's Secret has a very easy URL Addressability to remember.  It is simply Victoriassecret.com (their name).  This is a huge strength because if someone wants to buy something from Victoria's Secret online, they will actually go to the website right away, instead of trying to figure out what the URL is.  Some stores cannot make their URL Addressability the name of their store.  This is where Victoria's Secret has a huge advantage in the business. 

Threats: A possible threat could be if someone made an URL Addressability say "Victoriassecrets.com" or "Victoriassecretlingerie.com"  They are very similar to their current URL, so customers might get confused as to which website is the real website. 

Interactivity

Strengths:  Victoria's Secret does a great job with interactivity on their website with their customers.  If there is a sale going on, the main page will state the sale and any additional discounts offered.  The customer immediately is aware of the promotions and can respond by actually buying the promotion that is being offered  On their Facebook page they also tell their "followers" what is happening with the company, what is the new "hot" item, what the Angels are up to, etc.  They really like to keep their customers involved in the process of creating new products and love to hear the customers opinions.  Lastly, Victoria's Secret sends tons of emails.  They are always trying to communicate with their customer's through email.  Email is how they mainly get their customer base that is needed in order to make the brand as successful as it is today. 

Weaknesses: A main weakness that Victoria's Secret has is that they do not have an online chat on their website.  Since they do not have an online chat on their website, they are most likely loosing potential sales that could really benefit the brand.  If someone needs help measuring what bra size they are at home or was not sure about a particular item, an online chat could help tremendously.  This weakness should be fixed immediately for the brand.

Opportunities: An opportunity for Victoria's Secret's interactivity is getting an online chat.  With the online chat being accessible by the online shoppers, more questions would be answered, more products would be sold, and a lot more customers would be happy with their purchase decision.  Also, there will probably be less online returns since the customer can get any questions answered before they buy the product. 

Threats:  A huge threat to Victoria's Secret's interactivity is the use of online chat's from competition.  Competitors already have online chats on their websites to ask questions.  Their websites are more advanced with this technology and they are able to access their customer directly, more than Victoria's Secret can since they do not have an online chat.  

Memory

Strengths: Victoria's Secret allows you to make an account on their website.  Once you have made an account, all of your information is stored on the website including your address, credit card information and email address.  This gives the customer a convenient shopping experience and saves them time and aggravation. 

Weaknesses: One main weakness that Victoria's Secret has is that their Credit Card website does not link to their own website.  It is through a different company, so in order to pay your Victoria's Secret "Angel Card" you have to go to a separate website and do any necessary transactions regarding your credit card there. 

Opportunities: Victoria's Secret has the opportunity to link their website with their credit card website. By doing this, it will be easier for the customer to take advantage of all the benefits the "Angel Card" offers and will be convenient for the customer. 

Threats: Other websites already link their credit card website to their main website.  If anything, they have all of the credit card information in the "Your Account" section on the website.  Customers who have a credit card might prefer this option better and shop at competitors rather than Victoria's Secret. 

Control

Strengths: Victoria's Secret control is very fast and easy to navigate.  If you click on a link, it will bring you to the right page, at a fast speed. 

Weaknesses: A huge weakness is that on the Victoria's Secret website, there are bold headings that look like they can be links, however you cannot click on them.  This could frustrate the customer tremendously and it might even discourage them from looking on the site.

Opportunities: Victoria's Secret should make a link a different color after you already clicked on the link.  This will let the customer know that they already viewed the page and this way the customer will not get confused when searching the website.

Threats: I feel like competitors control of their website is a lot easier to navigate and the link really look like links that you can click on.  Sometimes on the Victoria's Secret website, you do not know if the link is a real link or if it is just information on the page.

Accessibility

Strengths:  Victoria's Secret is currently utilizing all their social media platforms in order to make the brand more accessible to their customers.  They are extremely active on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram.  They also utilize television commercials and catalogs in order to reach their customers who are not "tech savvy."  By Victoria's Secret participating in traditional and digital advertising, they are impacting a larger audience.  Also, the company has a huge strength in the number of stores that they have.  The large amount of stores that they offer are able to reach a large consumer base.  Lastly, they are a well-established brand, so their name is already renowned in the market. 

Weaknesses:  One of the main weaknesses associated with Victoria's Secret is that all of their products are not offered at all locations.  More than half of what Victoria's Secret sells online cannot be found in stores.  This is a major inconvenience for their customers.  Victoria's Secret stores do not sell clothing, shoes and accessories that are offered online.  If their product selection were offered at all locations, the customer would have an easier and more predictable shopping experience. 

Opportunities: Victoria's Secret currently does not have many international stores.  This is a huge opportunity for their accessibility.  A lot of people from around the world come to the United States to shop at Victoria's Secret.   It would benefit the company tremendously if they made international stores for their loyal customer base.  For countries that do not have a Victoria's Secret store, they have to shop online.  However, shipping costs are tremendously high and  Victoria's Secret does not even ship to some countries.  

Threats: Victoria's Secret does not have the sizing options like other lingerie stores such as Lane Bryant.  This is a huge threat to the company because they are forgetting a huge market segment that they could be selling products too.  Stores like Lane Bryant take possible Victoria's Secret loyal customers because of this issue.  I believe that Victoria's Secret needs to expand their sizing options and look into what their customer is actually looking for. 

Digitization

Strengths:  Victoria's Secret currently updated its PINK page on Victoriassecret.com.  This led to a more cohesive brand image that was formed.  The new PINK page will increase brand loyalty among their customers and will set them apart from their competitors.  

Weaknesses: A huge weakness to Victoria's Secret's digitization is cost.  Recreating the PINK portion of the website costs as much as $1,000,000. Victoria's Secret should also have a "Check In Store" option where they can see if certain products are in certain stores.

Opportunities: An opportunity for Victoria's Secret's digitization would be sales.  By having a "Check In Store" option on their website, products would be easier to buy.  Products like swimwear and make-up are more appealing to buy in a Victoria's Secret store rather than buying online.  Also, by updating the PINK section of their website, it will further distance the line from the traditional Victoria's Secret line.  Maybe, creating a separate PINK website might be a smart idea as well.  

Threats: If Victoria's Secret were to create a "Check In Store" option, this might lead to loss E-commerce sales.  Customers might only go online to look at products then go to the store to buy them.  Some customers might even stop being E-commerce customers all together.  Also, Victoria's Secret does not have a good return policy when you purchase goods online and you want to return them.  The old policy stated that you had to ship your goods back at your own convenience and pay for shipping as well.  Competitors have free returns and in store returns as well, which Victoria's Secret does not.  However, Victoria's Secret recently changed their policy so you could bring the merchandise you want to return in store, but they will only ship it back for you.  You cannot exchange the merchandise in store for a different item, nor can you get refunded in store as well.  This is a huge threat to the company, especially since competitors let you return very easily. 

Positioning of the Site to Brick and Mortar

The Victoria's Secret site is similar and different to their brick and mortar stores in many ways.  The Victoria's Secret site and the brick and mortar stores follow the same color combinations and look.  Both are meant to be very feminine.  You will mainly see colors of pinks and reds when you are in the store and when you are on the website.  Both also use the Victoria's Secret "Angels" to promote the products.  When you walk into a store, there are pictures of the "Angels" all over the place.  When you go on their website, you will see the same exact models everywhere.  Both the store and the website and using the models to really promote the products and send a message that if you wear the products that the models are wearing, then you could look and feel as sexy as they are.  Victoria's Secret is great at marketing because of this aspect.  They get into the customer's mind very well and show them that you don't necessarily have to be a model in order to look or feel sexy.  Lastly, the prices on the website are mainly the same as the prices in store.  If there is a promotion in store, there will probably be the same promotion on the website.  However, sometimes the website will offer free shipping, money off of a purchase, or a gift with purchase.  That is the only difference considering pricing online and in store.

However, there are many differences between the two as well.  The main difference is that the Victoria's Secret site has way more product than the Victoria's Secret store.  The Victoria's Secret website has clothes, shoes, and accessories which you could buy.  The store does not have any of these products.  Although the stores have the PINK collection and the Supermodels collection, they do not have the clothing items and shoes that are offered online.  These clothes and shoes offered online are mainly third party companies, which may have an effect on why the merchandise is not offered in stores.  Also, the sizes in a Victoria's Secret store are limited.  It would be very hard to find a size that is higher than a 38 band.  The only time you really see these sizes is when it is Semi-Annual sale.  When you go online though, you can pick these sizes. Online you can even go as big as a 38 DDD.  You will almost never find that size in a Victoria's Secret store.  This is something that Victoria's Secret should work on so that they can have more similarities between the store and the website in order to make each coincide with each other.  

Current Content

On Victoriassecret.com, there is a section called VS All Access that you can click on.  I consider this to be Victoria's Secret's own blog.  You can find anywhere from News and Events to information about the Supermodels.  There is a "What is Sexy?" list where you can vote for celebrities who are the sexiest Tweeters and Up and Coming Bombshell.  On the VS All Access page, you can even watch the Fashion Show that aired in November 2012 and watch workout videos to help you lose weight!  You can follow the Angels around while they work out and do the exercises that they do.  One of the most important pages is the Connect page.  This is the page where Victoria's Secret tells you to connect with them on: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Spotify, on your Iphone, Ipad, Android, Email and Text.  They really want you to be part of the company in every social media outlet there is.  The company wants you to stay on top of all the news and/or upcoming events. 

Merchandise Assortment

You can buy many items on Victoriassecret.com, such as bras, panties, sleep, beauty, swim, VSX Sport, clothing and shoes.  If we look at bras, there are many collections you can choose from.  Some collections are: Very Sexy, Body By Victoria, Angles by Victoria's Secret, Fabulous by Victoria's Secret, Bombshell, Cotton Lingerie, Incredible by Victoria's Secret and The Showstopper by Victoria's Secret.  Bra's on the website range from $29.50-$88.00.  Below are some examples of bra merchandise offered on Victoriassecret.com

Bombshell
$49.50-$72.00

Very Sexy
$55-$68

Dream Angels
$52-$75

Integrated Marketing Campaign

When Victoria's Secret introduces a new bra, there is always a new fragrance that goes along with the bra launch.  This is how they create a successful marketing campaign.  They market both of these products at the same time and it creates excitement and anticipation for the product.  When a new bra comes out, for example the Incredible, an Incredible fragrance was also launched as well.  Recently, Victoria's Secret launched the new Dream Angels Collection.  Along with commercials on TV, Victoria's Secret put the launch on all of their Social Media sites, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  Here is an example of their marketing campaign on Facebook:

Here is an example of the fragrance advertisement that was also launched with the new Dream Angels Collection:

They continue to launch the products on their website.  On Victoriassecret.com, they state that the new Dream Angels collection is a softer than ever push-up and comes in multi-way and demi.  

Underneath the main advertisement on the website is the bras that you can choose from.  Then at the very bottom of the page is the new fragrance that came out with the new bra launch. 

Victoria's Secret usually advertises their new market campaign for about 2-3 months.  They usually have four launches a year, so spreading the campaign 2-3 months long is a good time length for the company.  In order to build the "hype" up for their new launches, Victoria's Secret hands out advertisements in their stores with every purchase and puts advertisements on their website to make it known that there will be a new launch coming out. 

Aesthetics of the Site

The Victoria's Secret website is very "girly" to me.  When you first log onto the website, there is a pink banner that goes from left to right on the top of the website where you can choose what category of merchandise you would like to shop.  Below that is always a picture of a supermodel with whatever product they are trying to advertise.  The below picture shows the model advertising a free tote with any swim purchase.  On the right side of the picture shows an advertisement of free shipping if you spend $50.  You will also get $30 off a $150 purchase. 

Below the main picture are always five smaller pictures advertising some sort of product, promotion, or line of clothing.  The below picture shows a link to get the Very Sexy Multi-Way bra, Beach Dresses, the Pink Boyfriend Pant, Swim, and a link to apply for the Victoria's Secret Angel Card. 

Lastly, below those five pictures is the information section.  There are links that could take you to places such as Secure Checkout, Privacy and Security, Customer Service, Contact Us and even Careers at Victoria's Secret.  There is even a link to Victoria's Secret's Facebook page as well. 

Victoria's Secret Editorial

Victoria's Secret recently launched a "Bright Young Things" line where they have underwear that says, "Call Me," "Wild," and "Feeling Lucky." Parents took to Victoria's Secret's Facebook page to criticize the company for the sayings on the underwear.  They were complaining that Victoria's Secret was targeting this line to the 'younger' teenager.  However, Victoria's Secret responded with:

"In response to questions we recently received, Victoria's Secret PINK is a brand for college-aged women.  Despite recent rumors, we have no plans to introduce a collection for younger women.  'Bright Young Things' was a slogan used in conjunction with the college spring break tradition."

I personally feel like these parents are taking this issue way out of control.  Victoria's Secret is known for being sexy.  For the company, sex sells.  The brand is not meant for a young girl, so parents should not even let their child shop there if they are not okay with the message that the brand sells.  A girl who is not even a teenager yet should not even be wearing lingerie in the first place!  I feel like parents try to shelter their kids from "sexy" things, when in reality no one should even be seeing a "child's" underwear in the first place.  Parents should worry more about their "child" not showing someone their underwear rather than worrying about what the underwear actually says. 

Fraud and Security

On Victoria's Secret's website, they have a section called "Avoiding Fraud."  They state that protecting your information when using the Internet should include consideration of safeguards you put on your computer and use when online.  They then give you information and their practices in order to raise their customer's awareness of some current scams that might affect their customer's computer.

The first section is "Phishing."  Victoria's Secret tells you that "Phishing" or "Spoofing" refers to emails that appear to be from a legitimate company and request personal information such as credit card and bank account numbers or passwords.  However, these emails are from unauthorized and phony sources.  They then state that VictoriasSecret.com DOES NOT email you to verify your credit card number.  You should only submit credit card information to us when completing an order at their check-out page or when updating your account.  Also, if you receive an email that appears to come from Victoria's Secret that asks you to provide your credit card information or your password to your account, it will not be from them.  You should NOT provide your credit card or password. 

The next section on this page is "Malicious Software."  Victoria's Secret states that when you visit sites on the Internet or open attachments in emails, there is the risk that malicious software may be downloaded onto your computer without your knowledge.  This is referred to as "pharming."  They then state that VictoriasSecret.com DOES NOT download software on your computer.

Victoria's Secret also has a security page.  This page talks about what Victoria's Secret does with your personal information, how Victoria's Secret interacts with third-party websites, what information they share with third-party websites, etc.




Victoria's Secret Fraud Page



Victoria's Secret Security Page

Ethical and Compliance Issues

Victoria's Secret states that honesty, integrity and fair treatment of associates, customers and suppliers are fundamental values of their company.  They insist that their businesses be conducted according to ethical standards that they can point to with pride.  They state that they have been actively engaged in the development of initiatives and best practices that enhance the capacity of local governments to improve legal compliance and the capacity of their suppliers to comply with their labor standards.  They have undertaken these initiatives in collaboration or consultation with other leading companies, NGOs,, labor groups, international organizations and multi-stakeholder initiatives.  Additionally, they seek active and constructive engagement and cooperation with labor groups and NGOs focused on solving problems that may arise at their vendors' facilities.  Through those efforts, they strive to develop effective and sustainable models for addressing challenges throughout their supply chain.