ThirdLove Expects to Keep the Customers Victoria’s Secret Lost

When Heidi Zak and husband David Spector started ThirdLove in 2013, their ambition was to be “the antithesis of Victoria’s Secret,” seizing what they saw as an opportunity to build a brand focused on speaking directly to women in a way that was realistic about what they look like.

Eight years later, ThirdLove’s way of thinking seems to have won the day in the intimates category, with Zak telling PYMNTS that “inclusivity is table stakes, and you can’t build a brand if it’s not inclusive today, even in the bra space.”

In the past several months, even Victoria’s Secret itself has embraced inclusivity, charting an almost completely new path for its brands as it breaks away from Bath & Body Works and former parent L Brands. Executives have admitted that they got it wrong in years past and lost relevance with the modern woman, which led to lost market share and opportunity for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands like ThirdLove.

To reorient, Victoria’s Secret has launched the VS Collective, a partnership with several high-profile women who will appear in advertising and advise the company. It has also introduced a new maternity line, relaunched its swimwear line and changed the way it brands and markets itself.

Related: Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works Chart Separate Paths on Similar Trends

From Zak’s point of view, the question remains whether this is a long-term strategy for Victoria’s Secret, or just a bid to latch onto trends amid a high-profile relaunch. She added that it remains to be seen how the new Victoria’s Secret will resonate with women.

“The switching costs of bra brands, in particular, is high,” Zak said. “I don’t think women easily change from one brand to another,” meaning that regaining market share may prove difficult for Victoria’s Secret. “If women have changed to brands that they love with products they love, I think it’s hard to get somebody to come back.”

Still, ThirdLove is looking to make itself stand out so that it doesn’t fall out of favor with women, especially as consumers prepare themselves for a “new normal” after COVID-19. Zak said ThirdLove’s new focus is about “how women feel in a great pair of bra and underwear, and really that feeling of confidence.” The brand has introduced a brighter color palette for some of its products, and has gone from offering one wireless bra to almost 30 in the span of a year.

“For us, it’s really been about category expansion throughout the pandemic, with a continued focus on our customers,” Zak said.

A Crowded D2C Community

Another challenge ThirdLove is up against is the growth of D2C, with Zak noting that nowadays, “there’s direct-to-consumer everything.”

“When ThirdLove started in 2013, D2C wasn’t a term – it hadn’t even been classified as a microcosm of industry,” Zak said. “And now there’s D2C everything across the board, beyond apparel … so it’s become a lot more crowded” and harder to break through to the customer.

According to research conducted by PYMNTS in collaboration with sticky.io, nearly 55% of consumers have used D2C channels to buy consumer packaged goods (CPG), including 67% of millennials and 62% of Generation Zers. Almost 36% of consumers reported using D2C channels to buy clothing and accessories.

Read more: Direct-to-Consumer CPG Sales Are Going Mainstream

Amazon and Walmart may also be falling victim to the rise in D2C for clothing and accessories, with both retailers seeing shares of apparel sales fall for the first two quarters of this year. Amazon, which had over 18% of the apparel market in the final quarter of 2020, now has just over 13%, while Walmart has slid from about 8% to 6.5%.

See: Amazon, Walmart See Sliding Shares of Apparel as Style Returns to the Forefront

The reason D2C is so appealing is clear, according to Zak. ThirdLove, for example, can have better relationships with its customers, who often are more loyal and passionate than those who frequent traditional store-based sellers. This in turn provides ThirdLove with more feedback and data, especially through the brand’s fitting room feature, which has provided sizing data on millions of women.

“Obviously, you need to be able to use the data appropriately, so I think there’s having data and then there’s leveraging it,” Zak noted, adding that “there’s a wealth of knowledge that can be leveraged.”