Samenvatting

Victoria's Secret is the leading specialty retailer of lingerie and beauty products. This brand is
dominating the world with body fashion, fragrances and cosmetics. In addition, Victoria’s
Secret is also globally recognized for their supermodels and world-famous fashion shows.
There are more than 1,000 Victoria’s Secret Lingerie and Beauty & Accessories stores
worldwide. Owned and operated by its parent company L Brands, Victoria’s Secret belongs
to the top 3 lingerie brands in the world. With an implemented multi-channel strategy,
Victoria’s Secret is able to market its products through the official stores, catalogues and
websites. Victoria's Secret's success has set the bar for the lingerie & beauty industry and
continues to internationally expand this brand overseas.
In 2011 and 2012, Victoria’s Secret entered European ground by opening two Beauty &
Accessories stores at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. The key focus of this
research report refers to the further expansion of Victoria’s Secret on the Dutch market in
combination with the most effective and suitable marketing tools. Therefore, the central
research question is formulated as follows: ‘Which marketing tools can be used by Victoria’s
Secret to further expand their business on the Dutch market in 2015?’ In order to answer the
central research question, information was gathered through desk research. Existing literature,
books, articles, databases and reports have been used. Field research was conducted in the
form of semi-structured interviews among the target audience at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
in the Netherlands.
As previously discussed in the first chapters, Victoria’s Secret has established a strong brand
presence in the lingerie and fashion industry. With its standard product lines and various subclassifications, Victoria’s Secret has proven to offer a wide and deep assortment to their
customers. Furthermore, the company positions the brand as a sexy, yet, sophisticated lingerie and beauty retailer within the market. The external analysis shows there is competition among existing competitors in the lingerie and beauty industry. Victoria’s Secret beats its competitors by offering very high quality when many other companies try to beat or match this existing competition on prices. Therefore, Victoria’s Secret’s differentiation strategy is based on the high quality of products and customer services. The company prices its various products at a higher level than many other lingerie companies, which ensures the exclusivity and luxurious image of the brand.
Store expansion is feasible by implementing the most effective marketing tools. As the
marketing mix chapter indicates, these marketing tools refer to product, place (distribution
policy), price and promotion. In addition, people and psychical distribution aspects are also
analysed to develop a stronger marketing strategy.
With regards to future perspectives, recommendations have been made for Victoria’s Secret.
In order to win more market share and a stronger position on the competitive market, it is
highly recommended for Victoria’s Secret to further expand their business on the Dutch
market. In this case, it is suggested to expand the full product assortment of Victoria’s Secret.
This is possible by introducing a new flagship store on the Dutch market. A new flagship
store with a full product assortment will create more brand awareness for Victoria’s Secret,
and moreover, reinforce the competitive position of this company in the Netherlands. With
regards to the most important growth strategies, Victoria’s Secret should put the emphasis on
market development. Market development allows a new flagship store to improve its brand
awareness by targeting existing products to a new market segment in the Netherlands.
Furthermore, it is also recommended to expand the Victoria’s Secret Beauty & Accessories
stores in the Netherlands. Further research is suggested to analyse the added value of the
different airports for Victoria’s Secret Beauty & Accessories.