Gender differences in shopping behavior at Victoria's Secret

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 layout also reinforces the brand image of a little bit of luxury. 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.

Recommendations

The first recommendation is that Victoria's Secret should have more sale items. This was the biggest issue we saw, in that the company did not really promote the value of its goods. We found that the store otherwise was very appealing to a female shopper, in that it was open, soft and warm, and had an atmosphere that kept the men outside. Thus, the store was very comfortable and encouraged lengthy visits. There was little emphasis on impulse purchases and some of the ones we saw were thins like specials on the more utilitarian panties and bras. The store, however, did not have sale items to entice visitors. This might be because of the timing of the visit or as a matter of company policy, but appealing to a price conscious consumer is easier with a few sale items, prominently displayed, in order to encourage traffic. Alternately, a few discounted items hidden randomly throughout the store as easter eggs would be a great idea because it would encourage even more extensive browsing of the shelves.

The second recommendation that comes from our observations is that there should have been more changing rooms. We know that women like to try on multiple items, and we feel that the layout of the store encouraged browsing for a lot of items, but then there was a line to try on goods. Most of the women in the line were either talking to friends or texting, but nevertheless it seemed that the line was a bad idea.

The third recommendation for Victoria's Secret is to have more mirrors. This seems to be an integral part of the process of trying clothes on, and there was competition for the mirrors in the store, as there were simply not enough of them. To me, this and the dressing rooms were the only things that did not fit with the objective of creating a warm and friendly environment in which to purchase these types of goods, so these are the areas that would be addressed, along with having a few more sale items.