Victoria\'s Secret still doesn\'t find women rejected by its excessive sexual marketing campaign, and disappointing holiday sales are the biggest evidence.
Other retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch and US apparel have taken back their sexy, but Victoria\'s Secret refuses to change.
The lazy, pou-mouth model\'s holiday advertising campaign walking around the castle seems to be out of touch with what women want today.
The L brand, which owns Victoria\'s Secret, reported a 4% drop in comparable sales in December.
Overall comp sales fell by 1%.
Part of Victoria\'s Secret decline is due to the company\'s decision to exit categories such as swimming, but the rest is the decline in its core underwear, its biggest business.
The company, known for its high prices, tried to sell some bras for $10 in December, but even a big discount wouldn\'t work.
This is very troublesome because December is the golden period of underwear sales.
\"Victoria\'s Secret loves the beauty models they \'ve created so much that I bet they never bother to test if their angels are really the best for business, morgan Herman, chief executive of online lingerie, saidWaiche.
He said his market test showed that he sold more underwear when he used a model with a dark curve.
The blonde, skinny glamazons just doesn\'t move the product, he says.
In addition to its outdated approach to underwear marketing, the company is too dependent on its physical stores.
The L Brand insists that while other mall retailers complain about traffic problems, they have no problems.
80% of the company\'s sales come from physical stores and rely heavily on traffic.
Either the customer doesn\'t respond to the product or they don\'t go to the store.
With only 20% of sales coming from direct sales channels, Victoria\'s Secret is lagging behind in attracting online lingerie customers.
This slip has created opportunities for other online lingerie retailers like Adore Me to start taking market share.
I\'m number one now.
Nine on Crain\'s fastest list-
Growing CompanyHermand-
Waiche also believes that Victoria\'s Secret is losing millennial customers, who shop mainly through mobile devices, and are expected to occupy 30% of the market by the end of this year.
\"It is clear to match the disappointing online growth with the business model that relies on 80% physical retail: Victoria\'s Secret was quickly eliminated by 30% of the market,\" he said . \".
There is also Victoria\'s Secret size problem, which has only a narrow size range in its store.
Between super thin models and limited size options, the company sends a signal to a large number of bra shoppers that they should go elsewhere.
Victoria\'s Secret did not happen.
The company plans to restructure and focus on reversing its bra business.
To cater to current trends, they have created a bra business and a sports bra business.
However, bralette products are lower priced and purchased by millennial customers who are shut down by super sexy advertising campaigns.
Keep in mind that these are women who oppose sexual assault on university campuses.
When it comes to sports bras, of course, female athletes will not turn to Victoria\'s Secret first.
In addition, the product is competing with giants such as Nike and Under, who are actively pursuing the female athlete.
Other competitors include cheaper products from Fabletics or Yoga ulemon, Sweaty Betty and Lucy active wear Yoga inspired products.
Analysts also saw that the company had lost its way and bought the stock.
Ike Borochow, an analyst at Wells Fargo, said, \"We believe that there is a clear lack of understanding of VS business. Slowing top-
The offline trend, coupled with the high pressure on profits, led to disappointing performance in December and more conservative guidance in the fourth quarter. He said: \"This led us to be cautious about the name, until a clearer improvement can be achieved, or the valuation becomes more convincing. \".
Brian Tunick of RBC Capital Markets cut his estimate and price target to $65.
\"We see a lack of media visibility into revenue --
\"Given the slowdown in Victoria\'s Secret business and the recent restructuring announcement,\" he said . \".
Victoria\'s Secret may have you stumbled, but it\'s still the biggest lingerie seller.
Overall net sales posted by the company were $2.
December was 438 billion, an increase of 1% over last year.
The company did not give detailed sales figures for the underwear business.
One thing that is good for Victoria is its pink business, which continues to grow.
However, it is not big enough to offset the loss of core underwear.
L Brands will be presented next week at the NHL conference in Florida.
Presumably they will discuss the positive winds that companies face when they move forward without swimming and clothing.
They will then focus on the strategy they are trying to reverse their business.