Victoria's Secret is abandoning the hottest lingerie trend - and it's a brilliant maneuver
"Bralettes trend up and down and we'll have them," CEO Jan Singer told analysts on a conference call, as reported by the New York Post. "But we make constructed bras best and anyone can make bralettes. We get paid for construction."
Bralettes are typically less padded than the push-up bras that put Victoria's Secret on the map.
They're also cheaper, which could be eroding margins - the company typically charges $25 for a bralette and $50 for a bra.
Selling more of its classic products would help differentiate Victoria's Secret from competitors like Aerie.
Victoria's Secret sales are down despite an overall surge in the lingerie market. Shares of its parent company, Limited Brands, have been falling on the news.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley think recent panic about the state of Victoria's Secret's business is overblown.
"We acknowledge the Victoria's Secret turnaround is taking longer than we or the market anticipated, but the stock is trading like a business in structural decline, which we disagree with for several key reasons," the analysts write in a note to clients.
The analysts write that Victoria's Secret still controls 27% of the lingerie market and is largely protected from e-commerce competitors because customers prefer to be fitted in person.
Morgan Stanley does suggest one way Victoria's Secret could improve: by bringing back swimwear online.
The online swimwear business was worth a reported $500 million when Victoria's Secret shut it down last year.
- In second consecutive week of decline, forex kitty drops $2.28 bn to $640.33 bn
- SBI Life Q4 profit rises 4% to ₹811 crore
- IMD predicts severe heatwave conditions over East, South Peninsular India for next five days
- COVID lockdown-related school disruptions will continue to worsen students’ exam results into the 2030s: study
- India legend Yuvraj Singh named ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 ambassador
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market