Once beloved by teenaged boys everywhere, Victoria’s Secret is getting with the times and getting rid of its paper catalog.
According to the VS, the last year’s worth of testing on the subject were clearly indicating that for consumers, the thrill was just gone.
The catalog didn’t “generate an acceptable return on sales.”
So it is time to repivot and reallocate. The firm will shift its efforts to “brand-building and loyalty-enhancing marketing rather than traditional offers.”
The move was largely expected since L Brands announced about a month ago that Victoria’s Secret’s direction was being repositioned, as this is the division where catalog efforts were centered (along with online sales). At the time of that announcement, VS noted it was looking “to align how customers engage with the brands.”
That shift has seen VS moving away from online exclusives, according to Stuart Burgdoerfer, L Brands chief financial officer and executive vice president, during a conference call with analysts.
Though others in retail are pursuing the “endless aisle,” VS believes that this sort of approach has proven ill-suited to the market they are in.
“We believe that the power and advantage of focus and the consistency between channels far outweighs the incremental revenue that you pick up by adding categories online,” he said.
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At the same time that Victoria’s Secret is rethinking how it operates, it hired Jan Singer as its CEO. Singer, who had been CEO of Spanx Inc. will join the retailer in September. She’ll report to L Brands CEO Les Wexner.
