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.