Bath & Body Works, LLC, was founded in 1990. The retailer was originated in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Bath & Body Works, LLC is a part of Limited L Brands, Inc. It operates stores in the United States, Canada, Chile, and Peru. It offers body and bath products like scented hand soaps and washes, wellness products like waterless sanitizers, and items for the body like hand lotions and creams. Scented soaps like body washes and shower gels. They also offer products to get your skin feeling like you just went to the spa like scrubs and exfoliants. Not only does it cater to women, but the company provides to men as well. There are numerous products for men such as men's shower and grooming, lotions, creams, butters, foot creams and treatments, and fragrances.
The company provides beauty products, including skin care, aromatherapy products, spa products, creams, lotions, and sprays. It also offers accessories, such as bath and shower, blankets, cases, cosmetic bags and mirrors, home and candle products, including candles, decorative accessories, oils and warmers, plug in fragrances, portable fragrances, reed diffusers, and room sprays and mists. In addition, the company provides kid’s products, such as anti-bacterial, body care, hair care, robes and socks, and shower sponges; and gifts.
The parent company of Bath and Body Works is L Brands, Inc. formerly known as Limited Brands Inc. which is an American fashion retailer crafted in Columbus, Ohio. The L Brands currently operates Victoria’s Secret, Pink; which is also sold through Victoria Secrets, Bath and Body Works, La Senza, and Henri Bendel, which has an expected closing date of January 2019.
Unfortunately, there is competition when in a market economy such as ours. Their competition is in personal care and beauty care. Zigu, from mbaskool.com (2018) says that “there are three competitors which is Avon Products Inc., The Body Shop, and Procter and Gamble.” In addition to Ulta, Macys, and Sephora. These stores do not sell the same exact product but could also satisfy the customer. All of these retailers are in the personal care market.
However, Bath and Body Works remains on top because of their prices, variety in products, and their customer service. There extremely affordable prices are one of the best perks of shopping at Bath and Body Works. The retailer always has coupons and deals like $10 off of $30. Not to mention, Bath and Body Works also has an annual and semiannual sale that goes on twice a year. One in the summer and another in the winter, closer to the holiday season. Bath and Body Works constantly works to have wide varieties of personal and beauty care products
Their variety in products is another advantage of the retailer. Bath and Body Works sells products that can be used for everyone. With its variation of smells to match the season, as well as the old products that they sell occasionally, there is not a scent that an individual cannot find pleasing. Lastly, their customer service is crucial on keeping their customers coming back for more. From personal experience, when I walk into the building, there is a floor associate waiting to greet you at the door and sometimes with a bag to hold your items that you purchase. The bag is also a way to persuade the customers to buy more items. They also show great customer service through their emails by giving out coupons and sending seasonal messages.
Comparing Avon to Bath and Body Works, Avon is well known and is broader than Bath and Body Works. Avon sells more than just cosmetics, they also sell clothing, jewelry, and wellness products as well which as an advantage over BBW. Avon also has specific items for kids, unlike my selected retailer.
The Body Shop and Bath and Body Works has similar characteristics to them. They both sell the same products. The advantage that Bath and Body Works has is the locations. Focusing on North America only, according to The Body Shop website, the retailer has 293 locations where the product is being sold compared to Bath and Body Works’ 1,672 stores, according to Statista.com.
Proctor and Gamble is a different retailer from the ones mentioned previously. They are Bath and Body Works’ indirect competition as well. Their focus is not only on beauty or cosmetic products. Instead they sell wellness products like diapers, skin care and personal care. When customers want scented skin care products, they will be more than willing to go to Bath and Body Works because of the advertisements, sales, coupons, etc.
Bath and Body Works’ target audience are average ages 18- 55. Their demographics are women and men, mostly catering to beauty conscious women. Bloom Berg’s Snapshot Numerator (2018) indicates the majority of Bath and Body Work customers are African American and Hispanic. The average time of day customers make their purchase is the afternoon at 46% and the evening at 26%.
Compared to the competition, Avon has a targeted age group 35 and above. The demographics of their targeted audience are African Americans and Caucasians. The average time of day that customers do their shopping is in the Afternoon at 36% and Evening at 23%.
The Body Shop has an average age group of 18-55 with the majority of shoppers being majority African American, Asian, and Hispanic.
A retailers’ image is created from its retail strategy, atmosphere, product, price, its target market, etc. Bath and Body Works is diverse with a positive enthusiastic atmosphere. Bath and Body Works offers affordable products. Bath and Body works is more than a body wash and lotion store. The retailer offers high quality care for the body for a reasonable and affordable price.
Sadly, Bath and Body Works’ advertisements could be marketed better. There is competition in personal and beauty care market. If the retailer can produce more commercials and billboards, their opportunities and sales can expand. Their advertising on social media does make up for their lack of publicizing in some areas. On their website, they do have a "get connected" section. They utilize their social media like Instagram daily and their Twitter every few days. They also do well by advertising in email.
Pricing strategy is their strongest component as their products are affordable. Their product prices do not exceed $30, and that is without coupon. Usually, the retailer hands out weekly deals and promotions like the holiday sale 2/$12 room sprays. Their coupons are also easily accessible. For example, “RetailMeNot” has a list of their coupons to access.
Revenues and Sales are one of the ways to find out how a retailer is doing. Bath and Body Works compared to their competition is imperative to analyze. Comparing Bath and Body Works to Avon, The Body Shop, and their indirect competitor, Ulta will determine how they are doing.
Looking at the company, they have many strengths like utilizing both the web and having a physical store in a variety of locations. Bath and Body Works also has a variety of products which can appeal to most of their customers whether they like soft sweet scents or strong scents. Fortunately, they also have weekly promotions and deals, especially for the holiday seasons. Customer service also ties in as one of their best strengths because they make it their top priority. With these strengths, Bath and Body Works has the opportunity to expand in the years to come and continue making products that everyone loves.
Yet, this retailer still has work to do. Their brand is not animal cruelty free. The retailer does test on animals when “required by law”, Tashina Combs, the author of Is Bath & Body Works Cruelty Free? (2017). The company should also work on how they market and advertise their products. With no television commercials and little to no commercials on other videos. They have to reply on their short videos and commercials from their YouTube videos. Considering their weaknesses, their threats would be competition from other body care shops or personal care stores. Another threat may be slower revenue growth.
While doing research, I found that some of the companies do not have updated data or are on the same quarter month so, I utilized the data from months before. Looking at the revenue from August 2018, L Brands (Bath and Body Works) increases by 8.91% bringing in 2.98 billion. Compared to Macys, a much bigger brand, brings in 5.76 billion, but goes down .78%. Ulta Beauty also brings in 1.49 billion and increases 15.38%. Bath and Body Works is doing well.
The net margin is the percentage of total sales less than the sum of its expenses. If a company has a positive net profit margin, it demonstrates that the company made more during the period of time. L Brands has a net margin of 3.32%. It is the median compared to Macys’ 2.88 at the lowest and Ulta’s 9.97%.
The higher the turnover rate, the higher the sales. L brands is the highest rate at 5.71 compared to Macys’ 2.7 and Ulta’s 3.38. I believe, because L Brands (Bath and Body Works) is so affordable, there are more people who want to buy their products.
The earning growths/projected sales for the next 5 years for Bath and Body Works is +10.00%, meaning that in the next 5 years, Bath and Body Works will expand customers, products, and ideas. Macy’s has a percentage of -1.60% in 5 years. Ulta has a growth rate of 17.00% in the next few years as well.
Overall, Bath and Body Works has done well in the personal care market and will continue to thrive. Bath and Body Works is a great place to find cheap body care products that are long lasting. They show that they really care about their customers from the variety of items they sell and know their customers’ interest.