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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Analysis.......................................................................................................................................................3
Prepurchase.............................................................................................................................................3
Purchase stage.........................................................................................................................................5
Post-purchase..........................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
References...................................................................................................................................................9
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Introduction

The paper seeks to examine how organisations use Instagram and their websites to influence

consumer buying experience. It will focus on strategies employed by Victoria secret and Pull

& Bear. An analysis of the social media networking of the two companies will be conducted.

Victoria’s Secret is one of the most popular brands globally. The company is a leader in

womenswear, lingerie, and beauty products. The organisation has been able to transfer its

brand into a compelling customer experience over the years, making people want to get the

most recent items from the company.

On the other hand, Pull & Bear is a clothing and accessories retailer whose

headquarters is in Spain. The company was formed in 1991 and is part of the Inditex Group,

one of the leading fashion groups worldwide. It operates more than 900 stores in 70 different

markets. Pull & Bear was established to sell clothes to young people who reject stereotypes

by dressing casually and needing to feel comfortable.

Victoria’s Secret and Pull & Bear are the ideal organisations for this project due to

their popularity. Victoria’s Secrets has dominated social media platforms and especially

Instagram. Most people have named Pull & Bear as one of the most popular clothing brands

(Nedra, Hadhri, and Mezrani, 2019 pp. 25). This report will incorporate the ideas of an online

consumer purchasing model together with the multichannel perspective to discuss the

customer experience journey in Victoria’s Secret and Pull & Bear.

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Analysis
Pre-purchase

The customer experience process starts from pre-purchase to purchase and ends with

post-purchase (Lemon and Verhoef, pp 75-76). In pre-purchase, both Victoria’s Secret and

Pull & Bear has positioned themselves for customers to access them easily. Laudon and

Traver (2009) argue that if customers lack enough information, they can use online channels

to search. Both Victoria’s Secret and Pull & Bear have a vast online presence, owning

websites and social media platforms. The companies have are active online, leading to

consumer need recognition and awareness, especially through Facebook, Instagram, and

Twitter. Johnsen (2019) notes that many brands are heavily depending on Instagram to boost

their marketing strategies. Victoria's Secret and Pull and Bear are examples of brands that

have used Instagram to achieve the necessary momentum to capture the market interested in

their products. Instagram is supported by the android system and Apple, making it easy for

users to access it globally. As a result, the organisations have used the platform to expand

their products and exposure to the users. Luttrell (2018) states that Victoria’s Secret has

accumulated millions of enthusiasts through using images to showcase products to their

followers. Currently, Victoria’s Secret has 68.9m followers on Instagram (Instagram, 2020).

The company posts frequently, and most posts receive hundreds of likes a few hours after

posting, as demonstrated below. Similarly, Pull & Bear has garnered many followers in the

recent past, and they have 7.1 m followers on Instagram (Instagram, 2020).

Instagram involves visual appeal to convey messages and is free from any language

barriers, helping Victoria’s Secret and Pull & Bear to connect with many people. Visuals are

not easily forgotten, and hence marketing through powerful imagery communicates a lot of
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information within a short time. Boone, Kurtz, and Berston (2019) claim that Instagram

continues to provide brands a way to promote their brands, including the “Instagram Stories”

that disappear after 24hours. Furthermore, the authors note that Instagram offers ads that

blend videos and product catalogs. The advantage of using this tool for brands such as

Victoria’s Secret and Pull & Bear is that consumers can buy products inside the app without

leaving.

Notably, the lines between influencers and brands continue to blur. Consequently,

there has been an increase in Instagram sales. Victoria’s Secrets appreciates the role of

influencers in promoting a brand. The company has used models for decades, including

launching a lingerie line called Angels in an advert featuring some of the most popular models

(Hultén, 2020 pp. 80).

It is interesting to note that Victoria’s Secrets engages with top comments and replies

to some. However, Pull & Bear takes its time to reply to almost all comments. Pull & Bear

also respond in a fun way, mostly using emojis to reach their market segment, usually young

people. Victoria’s Secrets tend to have a lot of likes and comments just a few hours after

posting and probably explains why it is difficult to reply to all comments.

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Purchase stage

Lemon and Verhoef (2016) state that the purchase stage involves customer

interactions with the brand and is characterized by behaviors such as choice, ordering, and

payment. For e-commerce, developing websites is essential for organisations. Demangeot and

Broderick (2016) argue that a retail website provides a critical touchpoint, and first navigation

can influence the future of a client’s relationship with retailers and their products. Exploring

the websites of both companies, there is a big difference. On Victoria’s Secret website, it is

easy to navigate, and also, one can contact customer care with just a click for assistance. The

company is also offering some festive season discounts, which can influence potential

customers from buying some items. Victoria’s Secret provides various products, and one can

easily access them for viewing online. Pull & Bear’s website features models with street-

inspired casualwear attractive to pull the target segment. A client who is in a hurry may

experience difficulties in accessing some things on the site. One can easily view the payment
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options, which are a variety, making it simpler to purchase Pull & Bear products. The

company offers a 10% discount to clients to subscribe to their newsletter, which is not

common with many companies. Santini et al. (2015) claim that sales promotions lead to the

sales increase, which occurs in the short term as they act on the mind of a consumer hence

producing a consumer behavior. The authors conclude that sales promotion has a positive

impact on purchase intention. Therefore, Victoria’s Secret and Pull & Bear’s strategies to

offer discounts can attract customers and make them buy the products.
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Post-purchase

The product is an important touchpoint after the purchase has been made. Like the pre-

purchase phase, this stage can be temporal or extend for a client’s lifetime (Lemon and

Verhoef 2016). Aftersale services are crucial for building a good relationship with clients.

Victoria’s Secrets offers “Free Returns” for online purchases, and it is valid for orders shipped

within the United States only. Furthermore, the company makes it possible to exchange items

for buyers in the United States. All that customers need to do is make a call and have a new

order placed and shipped at no cost. Similarly, Pull & Bear offers a return policy within 30

days after purchase. The company has an advantage over Victoria’s Secret as the return policy

is not limited to those in the United States. Offering online discounts is not sufficient to earn

customer loyalty. Lvovskaya, Tan, and Zhong (2012) find that customers who get online

discounts during and influences them to make a purchasing decision may consider service,
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quality, and price for potential repurchase. Hence, a brand needs to take into account all the

elements of a product, from design to its price, to develop a long-term relationship with

customers.

Applying the multichannel perspective, Victoria’s Secret has been conscious about

customers' needs to shop online rather than going to the store, especially when it comes to

intimate garments. Jette (2005) states that according to Victoria’s Secret executive, customers

who buy products from their different channels are their most valuable customers. The author

insists that it is significant for brands to be consistent both online and in-store. The locations

of physical stores are found on both Victoria’s secret and Pull & Bear websites, making it

possible for clients who wish to visit them before purchasing.

Conclusion

Victoria’s Secret and Pull & Bear have created a strong online presence and have a

large following, especially on Instagram. The companies have designed powerful websites

that have enabled customers to locate and purchase products online. However, Victoria’s

Secret website seems easy to navigate as compared to Pull & Bear’s. Both companies can

effectively administer to test-customers to assess their websites’ ability to promote customer

engagement.
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References

Boone, L.E., Kurtz, D.L. and Berston, S., 2019. Contemporary business. John Wiley

& Sons. (Accessed 10 December 2020). Available from http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?

newwindow=&mode=1002&itemId=0470531290&action=login&productId=CL_EWSTU084

78_S&bcsId=5819&destinationURL=%2Fhigheredbcs%2Flegacy%2Fcollege%2Fboone

%2FCL_EWSTU08478_S%2Fsg

%2Fch01.pdf&keyRegcode1=&keyRegcode2=&keyRegcode3=&keyRegcode4=

Demangeot, C. and Broderick, A.J., 2016. Engaging customers during a website visit:

a model of website customer engagement. International Journal of Retail & Distribution

Management.

Hultén, B., 2020. Sensory Marketing: An Introduction. SAGE Publications Limited.

Instagram., 2020. Victoria’s Secret. [ONLINE] (Accessed 13 December 2020).

Available at: https://www.instagram.com/victoriassecret/

Instagram., 2020. Pull & Bear. [ONLINE]. (Accessed 13 December 2020). Available

from https://www.instagram.com/pullandbear/

Jette, J., 2005. Prosper with Multi-Channel Retailing. April, 18, 2005. (Accessed 13

December 2020) Available from https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/prosper-with-multi-channel-

retailing

Johnsen, M., 2017. The future of Artificial Intelligence in Digital Marketing: The next

big technological break. Maria Johnsen.

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Laudon, K.C. and Traver, C.G., 2009. E-commerce business models and concepts. sl:

Prentice Hall, a divison of Pearson Education, Inc, pp.63-115.

Lemon, K.N. and Verhoef, P.C., 2016. Understanding customer experience throughout

the customer journey. Journal of marketing, 80(6), pp.69-96.

Luttrell, R., 2018. Social media: How to engage, share, and connect. Rowman &

Littlefield. (Accessed 11 December 2020). Available from https://books.google.co.ke/books?

id=ZN1iDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA129&dq=victoria+secret+is+the+most+liked+brand+in+facebo

ok&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD2ZW5u8rtAhUPDmMBHaidCRwQ6AEwAnoECAAQ

Ag#v=onepage&q=victoria%20secret%20is%20the%20most%20liked%20brand%20in

%20facebook&f=false

Lvovskaya, Y., Tan, S. and Zhong, C., 2012. Online discount coupon promotions &

repurchasing behaviors: The groupon case. (Accessed 10 December 2020). Available

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:535745/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Nedra, B.A., Hadhri, W. and Mezrani, M., 2019. Determinants of customers'

intentions to use hedonic networks: The case of Instagram. Journal of Retailing and

Consumer Services, 46, pp.21-32.

Santini, F.D.O., Sampaio, C.H., Perin, M.G. and Vieira, V.A., 2015. An analysis of

the influence of discount sales promotion in consumer buying intent and the moderating

effects of attractiveness. Revista de Administração (São Paulo), 50(4), pp.416-431.

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