Victoria’s Secret hopes to make a big splash with a new Web application geared to strong swimwear customers.
“We think this could increase online sales by 10%,” says Ken Weil, vice president of new media at Columbus, OH-based Victoria’s Secret.
The application, delivered by Flash technology, lets the Web site visitor dress a mannequin in bikini separates. The idea behind the Bikini Bar is that women’s top and bottom sizes are often not the same.
Visitors are urged to “mix your own,” to help them choose from as many as 100 styles (and endless couplings) of Victoria’s bikini tops and bottoms.
“We could never show you all the possible combinations [with models] on the site,” Weil points out. “So this is a way for the customer to click on all the different styles of tops and bottoms, change the color and size, so we have a better chance of her purchasing the suit.”
The customer can’t manipulate the model to match her own body type, however. “We are not looking for the woman to put in her actual size because we’re an aspirational business — [that’s why] we use supermodels,” Weil explains. “Customers aspire to that look.”
The company planned to broadcast an e-mail blast to its e-mail database a couple of weeks after the 2002 swimsuit portion of the site went live in late February. The message (which wasn’t yet written at press time) will briefly describe the new feature and dish up a link to the Flash area, Weil says.
Depending on the speed of their modems, some people may have to download a Flash player to use the mannequins. For those with fast connections, the feature downloads in about 15 seconds, Weil says.
“All of our e-mails are short and to the point,” he adds, noting that response to the e-mails overall is higher than the industry standard. “We found that they’re most effective when they are focused.”
Although the catalog typically segments its biweekly e-mails for gender, location of purchase and buying history, the Bikini Bar blast went just to women.
Visitors to the home page (www.victoriassecret.com) see the centrally located button, “Dive In,” which takes them directly to the swim area of the site.
A quarter-page promotion in one of the spring swim books will promote the Bikini Bar. Stores won’t advertise the feature because they sell almost no swimwear, Weil says.
Swimsuits sell all year round. The first swim catalog drops in January, followed by one in late February, and one each in March, April and May. Heavy purchasing lasts from January until July.
The site launch aligns with the desires of avid swimsuit shoppers.
“There are people who are aspiring for spring,” Weil indicates. “They are people who are going on warm weather vacations, and people who want to get an early jump on the fashion. So we will sell our most fashionable suits early on.”
The best customers shop all channels: Web site, catalog and stores. “The people who shop multiple channels tend to spend twice as much,” Weil notes.
E-mail is clearly a means to draw all these together. The Flash-technology intro followed a three-week push to gather as many customer e-mail addresses as possible. It wasn’t the only one.
Last year Victoria’s Secret sent out 3 million e-mails. This year there are 4.5 million addresses in the database.
Some 20 million people receive the company’s print catalogs.
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