Marketing We went into a Victoria's Secret store, and recorded our observations. These were then evaluate against what we learned in Underhill about the differences in the way men and women shop. We sought to evaluate the store on a few different dimensions, including store design, merchandising and the way that the store seeks to influence buyer behavior. At the conclusion of the report, we will offer some recommendations to Victoria's Secret with respect to enhancing their in-store presentation.

Store Design

Before even entering the store, we noticed something unusual about Victoria's Secret. There were men, but they were outside. We stopped to observe this, and found that very few men would actually go into the store. They would arrive, always with a woman, and would either wait outside or walk away. Victoria's Secret seemed almost like a "no man's land," even though one might think that a man would go into the store in order to buy some lingerie as a gift. This was an element of the store we had not expected, but we took the time to investigate this phenomenon. Indeed, when we entered, we were the only males in the store for most of our visit. We were glad to have chosen Victoria's Secret, but we could tell right away this was a good choice because of how the store is merchandising. Most men are clearly uncomfortable even setting foot in the place.

Underhill notes that there are certain shopping traits that are inherent to men. Men are faster than women when shopping, for example. They tend to enter a store, seek out their item, and then exit the store just as quickly as they entered. Underhill notes that in a regular clothing store "it is almost as if the sheer fact of being in the store is a threat to his masculinity." This might explain why no men would even venture inside the Victoria's Secret shop. I wonder what they thought of us -- were we brave or something else?

One of the elements of store design that Underhill mentions is the location of the dressing room, which he suggests should be nearer the men's section because 65% of men will buy something if they try it on, whereas only 25% of women do. We were unable to test this theory about with respect to how the company would react in its store design -- for obvious reasons -- but we noted that the change rooms were at the back of the store, allowing the women time to browse the entire store before trying something on. This seems intuitive. If the woman is unlikely to purchase something just because she tried it on, then getting her to take more items to the dressing room serves as a way to increase the odds of finding a purchase.

Another area of store design is with respect to impulse purchases. At Victoria's Secret, these are all located close to the cash register. This is an important element because women are less likely to make impulse purchases than men are, and this is perhaps why there were relatively few impulse purchases at the store at all.

A major difference in shopping habits between men and women is the propensity to browse. Whereas men do not browse much, even when shopping for clothes, women will obsessively browse. We observed this while in the store. The typical shopper would investigate every item closely. Each decision weighed multiple variables. Price was almost always a factor judging by how many women looked at the price tags of the different items.

The overall store design was very feminine. One of the objectives, one can imagine, is to make the customers feel comfortable browsing the store, spending a long time. The store wants women to feel good about themselves and their bodies, so the lighting was bright but not harsh, and the colors of the store were generally softer and warmer. There were ample mirrors. All of these relate well to the way that women shop, by taking their time and exploring. . The store clearly wanted to encourage this behavior, sensing a correlation between amount of time spend browsing and the ability to find something.

The store was generally uncluttered. Racks were carefully organized. Victoria's Secret cultivates something of an aspirational positioning, and the general presentation of the store reinforced that. The store felt relatively upscale, and not disorganized at all. It was, all things told, fairly comfortable and an easy place in which to linger. This comfortable...

As Underhill notes, women have less time today and a as a result there have been changes to their shopping habits, but shopping at Victoria's Secret is seen as an indulgence, one worth taking some time on. Shopping there appears to be presented as an event unto itself, regardless of whatever might be purchased.
Another layout factor is the "butt-brush factor" that women in particular do not like to shop in crowded environments. The store design that emphasizes tidiness and space I think to me had a connotation of luxury, but it probably reflected more the fact that there is a need for space when one is browsing. As such, Victoria's Secret stores are usually medium-sized to allow for room.

We also wanted to figure out why men were not going into the store. It could relate to what Underhill said about threat to masculinity. However, there is more to it than that. Victoria's Secret, I think, does not want men in the store. The staff were friendly, and wanted to help us so we could get out of there, but the layout is conducive to browsing and the atmosphere very feminine. It seems to me that lingerie is a personal thing, related strongly to a woman's sense of self. If there are men around, a woman will be less comfortable shopping for intimate apparel. It is sort of the same thing as the women's only gym -- women need time and space to themselves to feel comfortable. Victoria's Secret knows this, and takes subtle steps to discourage men from entering the store.

Merchandising

Merchandising reflects the choice of items for sale and where they are situated in the store. The butt-brush rule was in effect, as there were basically no items below waist level. Beyond that, Victoria's Secret is clearly cultivating an image of aspiration, and its goods were relatively high quality. It did not have anything that I would consider to be cheap. While I'm sure there are fancier lingerie stores, Victoria's Secret did stock a fairly wide range of goods in order to entice buyers to shop around for different things.

It was worth noting that all major categories of intimate apparel seemed to be present and accounted for, and that the shoppers were well aware of what everything was. There is a level of specialization in this stuff that I wonder if most men are even aware of. By stocking a wide range of merchandise, the store was able to keep the shoppers in longer. This represents a significant challenge for the company, to stock enough merchandise to allow shoppers to linger, while keeping the aisles clear and stocking enough sizes for all of the customers.

Discounted items were especially popular, if not plentiful. These were located away from the front of the store, in order to entice shoppers to move through the store to purchase the discount items. This put them past racks of regular-priced goods. The women then ended up browsing those racks as well. Victoria's Secret on our visit did not have too many sales. Maybe they are saving their sale items for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season, but there were few such items on our visit. Perhaps not discounting much is part of the marketing strategy to maintain brand positioning.

Most female shoppers are price conscious and that may have reflected in a low number of people going to the checkout while we were there, relative to the number of people in the store. There did not appear to be many sale items, and while there are different explanation for that, one outcome is that relatively few purchases seem to have been made. This may perhaps be our impression, however, given that we were in there long enough to buy several items.

At the entrance to the store were newer items, just released and winter seasonal items. These were all at full price. Some stores might think of putting discounted items at the entrance to entice visitors, but Victoria's Secret seems comfortable that its brand will bring people in, and the store had a door that was closed to create a more private, intimate environment, so the entrance had full-price items. This to us seemed like one of the few tactics that would have been used in a men's clothing store, because we tend not to look past the first decent item we see. For women perhaps the appeal is that these are the hottest items, or that they are the…