Assignment 1: Favourite Store (Nafisah)

The first shop that hit me upon reading the entry was VICTORIA’S SECRETS. It is not exactly situated in Singapore, but it is still the shop that I bothered to observe and I can actually call my favourite. More accurately, it is a chain of shops, but since I went to a few outlets (around 4 or 5 in 2 weeks), I could come to a conclusion that the service offered at the stores are all similar and of matching standards. So what makes is tick? It is almost everything from the service, to the products, the interior and exterior and well basically the name just screams “EXCLUSIVELY, WOMEN’S SHOPPING HAVEN” (to me at least).

From the moment you step into the majestically designed pink doors and well lit room, you are greeted by the cheerful all-female staff. The interior is a mix of cute teeny bopper feel mixed with a romantic feeling from the shades of pink. And if you are wondering whether they would be going around creeping behind you or constantly suspecting that you are going to shoplift something out of the shop, they do not. In fact, the staff are more of personal shopping assistants- they help you find your size, advise you on the latest fashion and what would suit you best, make known to you the OFFERS they are having and probably throw in a thing or two on how great you look- which is a far cry from the sales assistants here in Singapore.

The thing that attracts me most are definitely the products itself and the packaging. In every Victoria’s Secrets bag, they put this pink crepe paper before putting in the products. It actually cushions the products, but more importantly, it makes the paper bag look very princess like and filled with expensive things. The bags also comes in two sizes, sweet and small, and glamourously huge which I like because I can either feel comfortable bringing the small one or stuff my other shopping bags into the big one. Amazingly, the whole packaging makes me think I have done a good deal of shopping and feel very feminine. The best catch is the products are affordable. Most of the undergarments fall below S$10 and are fashionable with varied designs. Not only that, they also have a variety of make-up and perfumes which are below S$20. And they actually last!

Contrary to popular belief, not only women come to the store. Men too come to shop. I suspect there are only two reasons why a guy would go to the shop.

1) He is trying to get something for his girlfriend or wife

And the more popular reason:
2) He is dragged into the shop by his girlfriend/girl friends/wife

Well of course the majority of the customers are female and around 40% are women while the other 60% are teenagers and young adults. Quite often I observe tourists visiting the shop, Middle Eastern and Japanese ladies amongst the more popular. Furthermore, even though its shops are only located across America, it was obvious that most girls around the age of 16-19 knew of its existence. I came to this conclusion as most of the girls (around 200) from my conference group in America, would have spotted a Victoria Secret’s shopping bag at least once. Since these girls came from almost everywhere- Asia, North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, etc- I can safely guess that they attract a wide variety of people. These girls are probably attracted to the shop, just like me, due to the affordable prices, nice packaging, good quality of the products and the necessity of the products sold at the shop. Age is also apparently not a barrier in the shop’s pool of consumers. During my visits, I saw women from 13 to 60 years of age.

What contributed their success? I would say advertising, period. They have gorgeous models whose physiques would appeal to men and lead them persuade their girlfriend/ girl friends/ wife to buy the products or convince women to think that we will look better in their products. Even if your size is not 0 to 4, there is no worry, because they cater to a variety of sizes, some that do not even exist in Singapore. The next best thing would be in their designs. From the packaging, such as the shopping bags and decor, to the tops and undergarments, they have something distinctive: feminine touch and sophistication.

Service wise, they did meet my expectations and maintaining that kind of service would be great. It would be great if they had the make-up section done up with professionals giving tips on applying make-up and a place where women can deposit their other shopping or grocery bags. One thing they could improve on is to probably have the clothes, undergarments and the other products under one shop as now, Victoria’s Secrets is separated into two types of shops, lingerie and beauty. Also I would be glad if they open their flagship store in Singapore!

okay i hope i didnt come across as overly EXAGGERATING. :P