Victoria’s Secret is often the go-to store for those looking for high-quality lingerie.
Although the brand sells things besides lingerie, the clothing item remains one of its main attractions.
However, when shopping at the store, you’ll find that the average price for most of their items lingers around $44.
Depending on what you’re buying, that could be quite expensive compared to the prices on the same item at different stores.
Here are 10 reasons Victoria’s Secret is expensive.
Why Is Victoria’s Secret So Expensive? (Top 10 Reasons)
1. Increased Prices
One of the reasons that Victoria’s Secret is expensive is because they recently increased their prices.
The company was struggling financially before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
They ran frequent discounts and sales which were impacting their profits.
Most stores do this when they’re trying to clear unwanted inventory.
The problem with running so many discounts, besides the loss in profit, is that customers become used to them.
They learn to wait to buy anything until it goes on sale.
If the store does sales and discounts often enough, then customers can usually predict when the item they want is going to go on sale.
As a result, the store misses out on earning the maximum profit that they could earn.
To make up for some of the profit that they’ve been losing, Victoria’s Secret changed tactics.
Since the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic ended, the company has raised its prices and limited the number of sales that they run.
Their prices have increased by 83%.
For those who rely on the sales and low prices of some of Victoria’s Secret’s products, the sudden price increase may come as a shock.
Victoria’s Secret is expensive because the company raised prices to boost floundering profits caused by running too many sales and discount campaigns.
2. Marketing Costs
Another reason Victoria’s Secret is expensive is the cost of operations brought on by their marketing costs.
As a store that sells clothing, lingerie, and other similar products, the company has a lot of competition.
There are plenty of other lingerie stores out there looking to take its place.
To stay ahead of those competitors, Victoria’s Secret has to continue to remind its customers why they’re the best.
They have to keep their customers interested in shopping at their stores and no one else’s.
The best way to do that is through marketing.
Victoria’s Secrets spends around $100 million on advertising and marketing each year.
Most of these ad campaigns revolve around showing celebrities wearing their products.
That sort of ad doesn’t come cheap.
When you use high-profile celebrities or supermodels in your ad campaigns, then you’re going to be spending a lot of money on them.
Big-name celebrities don’t come cheap.
They know their star power and how they can influence a business’s success.
They charge accordingly.
Victoria’s Secret also spends a lot of money on the quality of its ads and marketing campaigns.
Having a celebrity won’t mean too much if the rest of the commercial or magazine ad doesn’t look great.
Since many consider Victoria’s Secret a luxury brand, the company has to present that in their ads.
That means they need a certain amount of polish in their ads.
Marketing is expensive for big-name brands that are trying to outdo their competitors.
It’s also a cost that they have to pay each year.
Since it adds a significant cost to their operations, they need revenue to cover those costs and remain operational.
As prices for marketing increase, the company also needs to increase its prices to keep generating the same amount of profit.
Victoria’s Secret is expensive because of the amount of money that they spend on its marketing.
3. Fashion Shows
Every year, Victoria’s Secret hosts a major fashion show.
The show features famous, and up-and-coming, supermodels who wear the latest products from Victoria’s Secret.
Not only is it a way for the company to show off their latest designs coming to stores, but it’s also a great marketing tool.
The problem with their fashion show is that it costs around $22 million each year to make and broadcast.
Much of that money goes towards paying the expensive models and other crew members who make the show possible.
The rest of the money goes towards promoting the fashion show.
TV ads, billboards, radio announcements, and internet ads are all the go-to expenses for their marketing.
It’s not uncommon for celebrities to attend the fashion show, too.
Some might come because they’re invited while others might come because they received a paycheck.
There are often musical performances that run throughout the show to keep the energy alive and audiences entertained.
After all, the show isn’t just for those at the venue personally, it’s also aired on TV.
To keep audiences engaged, the company has big-name musical artists play at their shows.
Once the performance is over, the next batch of supermodels walks out.
The entire production is expensive and made to look expensive.
The fashion show reinforces that the brand is a luxury one.
While the company does earn some money through ads run during the show, they have to use their revenue to put the show on each year.
If things are tight for a particular year, then they may need to raise their prices to fund their annual fashion show.
Victoria’s Secret is expensive because of how costly their annual fashion show is to run.
4. Sustainable Man-Made Cellulosic Fibers
For a while, Victoria’s Secret was under fire for using materials that came from questionable sources.
Whether it was due to cheap labor claims or working with suppliers who practiced deforestation, customers weren’t pleased with some of the company’s suppliers.
To become more sustainable and win back their customers’ loyalty, Victoria’s Secret switched suppliers.
They now list where they get their materials from and the type of materials that they no longer use.
One of the materials that they now get from new suppliers is man-made cellulosic fibers.
These fibers are essential for many of their products.
The reason it makes Victoria’s Secret more expensive is the process of making those fibers is more expensive.
A lot of vetting goes into choosing a supplier.
The company has to make sure that its supplier is compliant with its standards and policies against deforestation and other unsustainable practices.
Not all suppliers follow those standards or practices because it costs them money to do so.
Those who are only focused on profits will try to cut costs anywhere that they can.
Those who are doing sustainable practices usually have to take on a few more costs to remain sustainable.
Since they have more costs, they have to sell their materials at higher prices.
As a result, Victoria’s Secret has to raise its prices to cover its own costs of buying those materials.
Victoria’s Secret claims that it sources its man-made cellulosic fibers from suppliers who have certification from the Forest Stewardship Council.
It isn’t easy to receive that sort of certification, and it usually means the supplier has more expensive materials as a result.
For one, the supplier is aware that companies are more willing to pay higher prices for their materials because they’re small in number.
There aren’t that many who jump through the hoops and make the needed changes to gain certification from the Forest Stewardship Council.
Their small number enables them to set higher prices.
Victoria’s Secret must then place higher prices on their own products.
The company is expensive because of its careful selection of man-made cellulosic fiber suppliers.
5. Renewed Cotton Policies
To ensure that Victoria’s Secret was using cotton from sustainable farmers, they made their cotton supply chain transparent.
They wanted to show their customers where their cotton was coming from and that they were doing everything in their power to ensure the cotton was both sustainably sourced and processed by adults and not children.
This meant that they had to change suppliers and require them to provide a transparent log of where they were getting their cotton from and who was handling it.
Every year, the company uses Independent Production Services to perform an audit on their cotton suppliers.
This audit looks into the source of cotton and how the suppliers processed it.
If a supplier is in violation of Victoria’s Secret’s policies, then they’re removed as a supplier for the company.
This is a costly venture for both Victoria’s Secret and its suppliers.
For one, it requires the suppliers to take on more costs to ensure that they’re following the company’s policies.
They might have to implement an audit system to ensure that the suppliers they get cotton from remain compliant.
That’s an added cost to them.
They may need to invest in qualified workers or better machines.
Since their costs become higher, they also sell their cotton at higher prices.
Victoria’s Secret also has to spend money to ensure that its suppliers remain compliant.
It needs to pay for the auditing services for each supplier that it has.
That can become expensive.
The company also has to pay for the higher-priced cotton.
Since their operational costs have become higher, they also need to sell at higher prices.
Victoria’s Secret is expensive because of its focus on buying from certain suppliers who follow their strict sourcing and processing policies.
6. Conflict Minerals Policy Costs
Victoria’s Secret also adds to its cost of operations by having to source certain minerals from more expensive sources.
In particular, they don’t allow their suppliers to get tin, tungsten, tantalum, or gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo or its nine allies.
This is part of a wider trade embargo to keep money from flowing to non-state armed groups.
The groups can sell these particular minerals cheaper because they often use cheap labor to harvest them.
Since they sell at cheaper prices, it saves the supplier and Victoria’s Secret money.
However, since Victoria’s Secret is attempting to steer away from its controversial past, it has since ceased doing business with any suppliers who receive minerals from those groups.
Instead, the company regularly audits and investigates suppliers to determine where they source their minerals.
In particular, they run a Country of Origin investigation into any new suppliers to determine their sourcing locations.
Victoria’s Secret then makes its investigation known by filing with the SEC.
All these factors cost money.
Whether it’s buying the more expensive materials from suppliers who follow their policies or performing the investigation and audits, following this policy adds to Victoria’s Secret’s operating costs.
To cover those costs of operation, they need higher prices on their products.
Victoria’s Secret is expensive because of its focus on banning minerals from countries of conflict.
7. High-Quality Nylon
When it comes to materials, one of the driving forces behind Victoria’s Secret’s higher costs is its use of nylon.
In particular, Victoria’s Secret uses Nylon 6.6 which is one of the best kinds of nylon on the market.
Not only is it extremely soft against the skin, which is important for lingerie, but it also holds up well.
This means that lingerie wearers can get a lot of use out of their garment before it starts to fall apart.
It’s also more breathable, which only further adds to its comfort.
Since Nylon 6.6 is top quality, it’s also more expensive.
It costs more to produce that type of nylon.
It also requires high-quality material to begin with, which is also more expensive.
Since Victoria’s Secret uses a lot of nylon in their lingerie, they also spend a lot of money on nylon.
That sort of cost requires them to put higher price tags on the lingerie sets that use a lot of Nylon 6.6.
Those that use a lower quality of nylon are going to be a bit cheaper.
If you see expensive lingerie set at Victoria’s Secret, then there’s a good chance it’s because it uses high-quality nylon in its design.
8. Luxurious Stores
When you go inside a Victoria’s Secret store, it’s unlike any other kind of store.
You’ll usually find rich, dark wood and decadent decorations.
The mood lighting and everything about the store essentially encourages you to indulge and live in the moment.
That sort of store display doesn’t come cheap.
Victoria’s Secret has more than 800 stores located throughout the country.
While the specific décor may vary here and there, they’re all designed to look like a classy boudoir.
That’s the sort of atmosphere and theme that they want to promote.
They’ve shifted from being erotic to being classy and sexy.
This comes as the company tries to rebrand itself.
Instead of being a place where men buy sexy clothes for their partners, the company is selling itself as a place where women buy clothes for themselves to feel empowered.
By making their stores look classier and feel decadent, that only further sells their new brand appearance.
One of the other common features of the store is its dressing rooms.
Many of them had dimmers that allow you to change the lighting in the room to see the lingerie in different shades of light.
They also have a few different shirts in each room that let you see what the lingerie looks like beneath clothes.
Some even have buttons that let you summon a worker to help you get new sizes or just for help.
All these features look to make your visit to Victoria’s Secret more enjoyable and luxurious.
The company wants you to feel as though you’re cared for.
Those sorts of features also come with costs.
Dark, rich wood is expensive.
Putting in dimmers for each dressing room is another cost.
Having large dressing rooms also means there’s less space on the floor to sell merchandise.
That also impacts their revenue.
Since these factors influence how expensive it is to run a Victoria’s Secret store, the price tags have to match.
Victoria’s Secret is expensive because of its luxury-focused stores.
9. Fragrances
Victoria's Secret Pure Seduction Body Mist, Perfume with Notes of Juiced Plum and Crushed Freesia, Womens Body Spray, All Night Long Women’s Fragrance - 250 ml / 8.4 oz
While Victoria’s Secret has a reputation for selling high-quality lingerie, it also has its name on a fragrance line.
With fragrances like, “Tease Rebel,” “Crush,” and its cornerstone fragrance, “Bombshell,” you’ll quickly discover that their fragrances lean towards the expensive side.
There are a few reasons behind the higher prices.
The first is that some of the fragrances use high-quality materials to make their scents.
Certain ingredients like white leather and Ashok flower and others add to the expense of the production of each bottle.
There’s also the bottle design that adds to the cost.
Besides the design itself, fragrance collectors love to collect certain bottles over others due to their designs.
Finally, the brand name increases the cost of the fragrance.
People are willing to pay more for a fragrance with the Victoria’s Secret name attached to it than one without it.
That’s because the brand has a reputation for being sexy, and in some situations, that’s exactly the sort of mood someone is trying to inspire when using the fragrance.
Victoria’s Secret is expensive because of the ingredients, bottle design, and brand name used in its fragrances.
10. Luxury Brand
A final reason that Victoria’s Secret is expensive has to do with the simple fact that it’s a luxury brand.
While it does have some cheaper bras and other pieces of lingerie available, most of its stock is expensive.
That’s because Victoria’s Secret caters to those who want to indulge themselves.
They’re not a company selling everyday bras and underwear.
Their products are for special occasions or for when you want to feel empowered.
Thanks to their investment in supermodels who often wear their products, there’s also an implication that if you buy their lingerie, you’ll look just like them.
People are willing to pay a good amount of money to make themselves look like supermodels.
It harkens back to their focus on luxury, too.
If celebrities and supermodels wear their products, then the products are worth the money.
That’s the idea that they’re selling and have the price tags to match it.
Victoria’s Secret is expensive because it’s a luxury brand.
Conclusion
Victoria’s Secret has had its share of ups and downs with its customer base.
By changing its sourcing and standards, it has attracted some of its customers back, but it has also made the store more expensive.
With higher material costs and a focus on luxury, buying lingerie at Victoria’s Secret isn’t a cheap venture.
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