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How to use aspirational products to drive growth
Aspirational shopping. Oh so specific.
Firstly, how you can follow Victoria's Secret strategy of aspirational products to drive growth for your fashion brand or brands.
We all have aspirations, we're only human, and one brand to make the most use of aspirational shopping is Victoria's Secret.
They really sell the dream of us all walking the streets in our angel wings and diamond-encrusted lingerie. The lingerie line is very aspirational but interestingly the biggest sales contributor is in fact not the lingerie, it's the cosmetics, fragrances and body lotions area.
The lingerie line is very aspirational but interestingly the biggest sales contributor is in fact not the lingerie it's the cosmetics, fragrances and body lotions area.
This really surprised me until I thought through the mechanics of it a little more.
It was something that I also noticed in my time as Director of Planning at Australia's largest online fashion retailer. We would see customers come onto the site searching aspirational products from Marc Jacobs, Moschino and Versace. But, they would be converting at more accessible price points on the labels like Zalora and Atmos & Here. This demonstrates that there is a lot to be said for tailoring your product range to the price points that are in higher demand by your customers.
... searching aspirational products from Marc Jacobs, Moschino and Versace...but converting at more accessible price points on the labels like Zalora and Atmos & Here.
Analysing Aspirational Price Bands
Below, is an example of a customer of ours who recently analysed their price brackets.
The demand curve indicates the customer's demand (in units) for each price band and the supply curve indicates the brand's supply in units of each price band. You can see from the graph the demand curve is indicating much a higher desire in the $100 to $250 price point. This brand, therefore, has the opportunity within this sweet spot to increase investment or number of products at these prices.
You will also notice a slightly elevated demand in their $1000+ price point. This is great because it's indicating more opportunities to add a few more aspirational products too!
By analysing your price bracketing & understanding where your customer demand is you can continue to range your aspirational products.
By analysing your price bracketing & understanding where your customer demand is you can continue to range your aspirational products. This will keep driving the traffic coming in. However, by identifying your highest demand price points you can also cater your range perfectly to your customer's demand.
Now just watch your conversion rate, markdowns and sell through all improve, it's as simple as that!
How to use aspirational products
The quick steps to calculate your demand if you're not using software:
- Decide on price bands that suit your business
- Do this for topline business and by category, as every category is different
- Complete analysis using full-priced sales only, as markdowns tend to skew performance
- Measure performance in units
- Target between 2-10% of your range in aspirational price points
The recent news of Victoria's Secret sale by its parent company to private-equity firm Sycamore Partners highlights the need to continually analyse your product range to make sure you're catering to your customers demand. This recent Business Insider article by Mary Hanbury pinpoints the strategic shift to focus solely on lingerie as a key reason for a decline in sales.
...pinpoints the strategic shift to focus solely on lingerie as a key reason for a decline in sales.
Also key to growth for fashion brands is the need to continually monitor and react to how your customer is responding to your product range. So, in my next article, I will cover this essential driver via an understanding of your customer's Geo-locational Preferences.
Style Arcade is a software company servicing fashion companies to make the right product decisions through analytics and range planning.
