With both beauty standards and how we shop undergoing massive transformations, it's been a rocky few years for brands that relied heavily on older models.
Victoria's Secret (VSCO), which what was once considered to be the brand of women's lingerie, has had a particularly rocky few years.
After receiving heavy criticism for excluding larger and disabled bodies while oversexualizing thin ones, the company scrapped its annual Angels runway show in 2019 (it was eventually brought back minus the models) and promised to forge a new path as more inclusive and modern company.
At that point, the brand was losing not only viewership but also market share to newer lingerie companies. Coresight Research found that Victoria's Secret market share fell from 31.7% in 2013 to 28% in 2018.
The Road Toward Inclusivity Goes Through Amazon?
While not all have been equally popular, Victoria's Secret has taken a number of steps to craft its new image as a more "inclusive" brand since going public in August 2021.
From playing around with body-positive advertising to launching an underwear line for preteen girls via marketing material of girls with determined faces sitting in nature, which is practically a cliché.
The brand's latest move veers away turns away from marketing and toward how it sells its products.
As of April 29, over 121 of Victoria's Secret beauty and wellness products will be sold on Amazon (AMZN) in a dedicated Victoria's Secret online store.
Beauty Products Only (For Now)
These include branded fragrances.
Millennials of a certain generation will remember spraying themselves with those on a Friday trip to the mall, mists, lotions, body scrubs, and body washes.
The brand's Amazon store is currently limited to VS Beauty products but will continue to add new products as it evaluates consumer interest.
In other words, that means that the bras, nightgowns and activewear could also appear on Jeff Bezos' platform at some point in the future.
"This is a natural channel extension for us to continue growing our beauty business and meet customers where they are with the products they love," Greg Unis, chief executive officer of Beauty at VS&Co, said in a statement.
Will Amazon Help Save Victoria's Secret?
While Victoria's Secret's earlier attempts at transformation were geared toward a more in-your-face, "look at how inclusive we are!" style of marketing, a different way of selling may go much farther to help it get and retain buyers.
Changing beauty standards aside, another reason for Victoria Secret's past struggles also have a lot to do with its business model.
For years, the majority of its sales came from its shopping mall locations. As the retail apocalypse set in and hundreds of malls closed across the country, it was not able to pivot online as fast as some competitors.
The turn toward Amazon is a major move as it gives a brand access to the platform's massive audience but can also drive users away from its own platform and provide Amazon with valuable data about sales that could potentially be used for competing products.
Nike (NKE), which started partnering with Amazon in 2017, eventually pulled its products off the platform by 2019.
"Ultimately, the program didn't provide Nike command over the marketplace or, most importantly, their own products," Forbes contributor Ben Zimmerman wrote at the time. "Decreasing third-party sales doesn't guarantee an increase in first-party sales."
