SavvySugar

Fantasy Gifts Get Made-Under

SavvySugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:00:57 -0700

So maybe you weren't actually going to purchase the $20 million submarine for sale in the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog, but it doesn't hurt to look, right? Well, actually that may not be the case, anymore. In light of the recession, retailers are scaling back fantasy gifts traditionally offered around the holidays. Take a peek at the scaled-down luxury gifts of the season.

Photos courtesy of Neiman Marcus and Source

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Victoria's Secret Has Your September Budget in Mind

SavvySugar — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:30:51 -0700

Sexy has taken a backseat to saving in this economy. The majority of you would choose saving $50 more per week over having more sex, and the slip in Victoria's Secret's sales suggests that women aren't making lingerie a priority purchase. To remedy the hardship, the company plans on focusing on highs and lows in its upcoming sales strategy.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Victoria's Secret will introduce a new budget-conscious line of bras called the "everyday" collection priced at $29.50. The line will make its debut in stores next month. At the same time, the company will continue to push its more pricey BioFit 7-way bra that costs $49.50. It seems the brand is discovering that sensible can be pretty sexy, especially if it means boosting sales.

Victoria's Secret Doesn't Want to Be Too Sexy

SavvySugar — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:53:36 -0800

Sharen Turney, chief executive of Victoria's Secret, has proclaimed that the brand has become "too sexy" and thinks the company should get back to its more sophisticated roots. The comments were made yesterday during a call with VS investors - the company had some explaining to do after reporting Wednesday a 12% decline in its fiscal fourth quarter net income.

The chief executive said that the brand strayed from its "ultra-feminine" image and started overusing "sexy" after the release of their successful Pink line. That line is aimed at college aged consumers and it triggered the rest of the company's designs to veer on the side of really young, too. She said that the 2008 Super Bowl commercial exemplifies the "less seductive" image that Victoria's Secret will take on going forward.

Do you think that the commercial varies greatly from their traditional sexy-fied marketing techniques, and would you be more likely to buy VS lingerie if they can get away from their Pink-tainted past?

Super Bowl Bringing Sexy Back with Victoria's Secret

SavvySugar — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:16:13 -0800

After an eight-year hiatus from Super Bowl advertising, Victoria's Secret will run a 30-second ad featuring Adriana Lima during the game's second half. I'm someone who's in love with her DVR because it means less commercials, but the Super Bowl is one time that I actually don't mind ads because they're usually pretty creative and funny.

It's no wonder the lingerie company is reuniting their Angel's skin with pigskin. Victoria's Secret's sales have been down and the last time they ran a Super Bowl spot, 1.2 million people visited its website before the game had a winner. Oh, and let's not forget Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

Besides suffering sales, the company is facing increased competition. There's a new slew of hot bods following the as-much-skin-as-possible formula that is Abercrombie and Fitch. A and F's new concept is called Gilly Hicks, and its landing page reads: "Are you old enough? Our site shows a lot of skin. Therefore, you must be at least 18-years-old to enter this site."

Besides its younger shoppers, I'm not sure that Victoria's Secret has much to worry about in terms of lacy competition from Gilly Hicks. However, Victoria's Secret has its defense up with new and old competition alike. Jill Beraud, chief marketing officer of Victoria's Secret, talked about their gameplan when she said,"The more we see promotions out there, the more we believe we need to continue to build our brand and reinforce the notion of what is sexy."

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Last Minute Shoppers Should Wait Three More Days

SavvySugar — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:30:51 -0800

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, but there's one more shopping holiday before the official days of merriment arrive. Thursday, December 18, is the first ever FreeShipping day, organized by the website FreeShipping.org. While we're usually punished with premium shipping fees when we procrastinate, dozens of retailers have agreed to waive shipping fees when you shop online this Thursday.

Stores like Macy’s, Nordstrom, Crate & Barrel, Bloomingdale’s, and Victoria’s Secret are participating in the offer, and a spokesman for the website said specific details will be available on FreeShipping.org and the retailers' respective websites. Orders placed on the 18th are guaranteed to make it by Christmas.

Would You Rather Pay For Shipping Than Drive to the Mall?

SavvySugar — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:31:53 -0700

It takes only one look at the double-digit increases in online sales for companies like Gap, Victoria's Secret, and J.C. Penney to know that more shoppers are going online than out to stores. Online retailers know that most customers are innately adverse to shipping costs, and have been able to capitalize on that knowledge by offering free shipping when the total purchase reached a certain dollar amount.

Now that $4 gas is old news and $5 per gallon is expected, I'm wondering if we'll see less of these shipping offers as customers continue to weigh the cost of shipping against the price of gas. Sure, we'd all love a little free shipping, but would you rather pay those extra fees than hop in the car?

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