Victoria's Secret’s senior leadership team shared the company's long-term strategic growth plan on 12 October, concentrating on enhancing business performance in North American stores and its digital presence. Key areas of focus include:
- Brand & customer: Developing customer-centric brand strategies.
- Product: Expanding product offerings to cater to various women's style needs.
- Go to market: Amplifying cultural connections and expanding product launches.
- Customer experience: Leveraging customer insights for improved shopping experiences.
At last year's Victoria's Secret Investor, the company shared its goal to become the world's leading fashion retailer of intimate apparel and declared three strategic priorities designed to support its goal: Strengthen Our Core, Ignite Growth, and Transform the Foundation.
During this year's event the leadership team discussed plans to expand the company's global footprint and share insights on capitalising on the growth opportunities presented by the Adore Me brand.
CEO Martin Waters commented: “Our strategic initiatives to ignite growth are tracking well ahead of our plan as evidenced by significant growth in our international business and the acquisition of the Adore Me brand, which is also expanding and presenting synergy opportunities for VS&Co."
Waters said that efforts to transform the Victoria's Secret foundation are on track as it optimises cost structures and enhances efficiency.
Its focus on strengthening its core business in North America has faced challenges, but Waters added that the company has made significant strides in improving its merchandising, digital capabilities, and customer experience.
Sales in North America were particularly strained during it the second-quarter after it had acquired the Adore Me brand.
Waters continued: "Our brand revolution and strategy are a continuous journey, and we've only been a standalone public company for just over two years. We remain optimistic about realising the full potential of Victoria's Secret and Pink."
Third-quarter and full-year 2023 financial outlook
Waters provided insights into the company's third-quarter performance and stated Victoria's Secret’s international sales were exceeding expectations and its sales in North America have shown consistent improvement.
“August was better than the second quarter, September was better than August, and our early October results have positioned us for our best month of the third quarter,” he said.
As Victoria's Secret heads into the crucial holiday season, it is encouraged by its October results and believes this positions it for a strong third quarter.
The brand now estimates an adjusted operating loss for the third quarter of 2023 in the range of $45m to $65m, compared to the previous guidance range of $45m to $75m.
The adjusted net loss for the third quarter is expected to be in the range of $0.70 to $0.90 per share, compared to the previous guidance of $0.70 to $1.00 per share.
Victoria's Secret said in a statement that this adjusted operating loss and adjusted loss per share guidance is based on an expected net sales decline of 3% to 5% in the third quarter of 2023, compared to the previous guidance of a net sales decline in the low- to mid-single digit range compared to the third quarter of the previous year.
The company has reaffirmed its full-year 2023 guidance, forecasting a low-single-digit decline in net sales compared to the previous year and an adjusted operating income rate in the range of 5% to 6% of net sales.
