The FINANCIAL — Victoria’s Secret (VS) sales in 2007 were USD 5.6 billion, which includes Victoria’s Secret Stores, La Senza and Victoria’s Secret direct (Catalogue & Commerce). VS announces comparable store sales monthly and quarterly earnings four times a year.
“We plan to open 5 to 10 bath & body works stores in Canada later this year. With our acquisition of La Senza, we would consider Canada as our stepping stone into international expansion,” said Jennifer Ortiz Limited Brands Communications Coordinator.
“I make VS orders two times a month. Internet and express mail services are so much improved and safe in Georgia now, that it excludes any confusion. Everybody in Georgia knows how to use plastic cards and the internet. The simplicity and accessibility of the internet makes global shopping easy and comfortable to enjoy,” noted Nini Kinkladze, Marketing Manager of Volkswagen Tbilisi Centre.
“I’ve been a VS customer for two years already. I am very satisfied with the quality of the brand and the convenience of its shipping services. I make orders on VS production once or twice a month and often take an advantage of announced sales,” said Natia Lomtatidze, People’s Bank.
“VS’s advantage lies in comfort. You buy everything you like at your desk and you are sure that it is of high quality and is exactly the same as you see in the photo. In Georgia this site is becoming very popular. It is like an infection, once you buy and see how cool it is, you want to order more and more products.It would cost me more if I had done my shopping at Tbilisi shops,” said Bela Shakarishvili, TBC Bank.
As Shakarishvili stated, in 2007 she made orders of around USD 1,000 value.
“I buy VS production once or twice in three months. I’ve been an Angel VIP Card holder since March 2006. Nowadays when you have such an exciting tool like the Internet – why shouldn’t you shop online?! Online shopping is the best and the easiest way to buy things,” said consumer Vika Elchian.
“Shopping online can be fun, easy, practical, and economical. No need to stand in huge lines, no need to talk to customer care representatives, just one click-and wait for the shipping! It has been practical for me and I hope one day we will have a huge variety of online stores with acceptable prices of course,” she added.
According to Elchian VS cloths aren’t the best in the world of women’s lingerie but they have acceptable prices and what’s most important you can always find whatever you want. The service is really good in both retail stores and online. Representatives are always friendly and smiley, in the case of online shopping they give you a prompt answer immediately.
In 2007 Elchian made orders of an average of USD 1,000-2,000.
Limited brands acquired Victoria’s Secret, a small boutique on the West coast in 1982 that had a small catalogue. Today Victoria’s Secret is the world’s leading specialty retailer of lingerie and beauty products with modern, fashion-inspired collections, prestigious fragrances and cosmetics, celebrated supermodels and world-famous runway shows. There are 1,003 Victoria’s Secret Stores worldwide.
Victoria’s Secret operates about 1,000 Victoria’s Secret lingerie stores and 100 independent Victoria’s Secret Beauty Stores in the US, mostly in shopping centres.
“Victoria’s Secret sells bras, panties, hosiery, cosmetics, sleepwear and more. Victoria’s Secret mails more than 400 million of its catalogues per year. Victoria’s Secret is the lingerie leader in bras and panties,” claimed Ortiz.
According to Ortiz shipping and handling charges are determined by the merchandise dollar amount of your order before any deductions.
All backordered items ship out via standard delivery.
“Victoria’s Secret target customer is the woman who wants to feel sexy, sophisticated, forever young and ultra-feminine,” said a representative of VS.
As for the latest competition developments, VS was sued by women’s clothing retailer Juicy Couture for allegedly copying packaging shaped like lollipops, bonbons and ice-cream cones.
Juicy Couture, a unit of New York-based Liz Claiborne Inc., developed its `”Sweet Shoppe”' line in 2005, two years before Victoria’s Secret began wrapping bras and panties in nearly identical packaging, according to the trademark-infringement suit filed yesterday in federal court in Manhattan.
Juicy Couture singled out Victoria’s Secret's Pink brand, saying the copied packaging is part of a series of marketing imitations for the line of intimate apparel that resulted in similar clothing designs and store interiors.
In Ortiz’s words, the company gained notoriety in the early 1990s after it began to use supermodels in its advertising and fashion shows.
It’s been 10 whole years since Victoria’s Secret introduced the world to their iconic Angels. To mark the occasion, Victoria's Secret has launched a 10th anniversary retrospective at New York’s Herald Square flagship.
The list of Victoria’s Secret Angels from the 2007 fashion shows include: Heidi Klum, Karolina Kurkova, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Marissa Miller, Miranda Kerr, Selita Ebanks and Izabel Goulart.
As Forbes reported on April 30, Victoria’s Secret made millionaires of two newcomers: Miranda Kerr and Selita Ebanks, striking poses at Nos. 10 and 12, respectively. “Selita has a stunning smile and is a great on-camera spokeswoman,” enthuses Razek. “Miranda’s got the cheeks of a chipmunk, the smile of an angel and the body of a devil.”
According to Forbes.com’s 2008 list of the World’s Top-Earning Models, some beauties moved up, some down, some off, a few on.
Then there’s Gisele Bundchen (VS model), still entrenched firmly in the No. 1 spot with an estimated USD 35 million in earnings, more than double the USD 14 million. Bundchen may have ended her Victoria’s Secret run, but her USD 5 million a year record-setting contract didn't expire until the end of December 2007, allowing much of it to be included in this year’s tally.
“We feel there is a great opportunity with international expansion which is why we’ve hired Martin Waters to shape our international business going forward. Expanding internationally seems to be an obvious extension of our brands and is another way to further increase our brands to enhance stockholder value,” said Ortiz.
It's the 31st year already that Victoria’s Secret has remained a leading American retailer of women’s wear, lingerie and beauty products worldwide. During the last few years the company has seen considerable growth orders from Georgia.
“Although we do not break down sales information geographically, the VS brand has strong recognition internationally,” said Ortiz.
There are 1,003 Victoria’s Secret Stores worldwide, though not a single one in CIS at this point. As for Georgia in particular, there’s no alternative women lingerie brand available for the local population.
Discussion about this post