NEWS & OPINION NEWS
The Entertainer introduces 90- minute deliveries
Retailer partners with Shutl to rollout fast-track service this month
Counter Insurgent
This month, our mystery toy retailer recounts some of their favourite silly customer questions of 2012 which raised spirits during a slow Christmas period
HERE WE are again, getting ready for Toy Fair. I’m writing this in the big week before
December 25th – so allow me to quickly reflect on how Christmas has gone so far.
Other than the
purchasing getting later and later, the average spend seems to be well down – we’re rarely selling products priced over £50.
by Dominic Sacco and Lewis Tyler
CUSTOMERS will soon be able to order toys from The Entertainer’s website and have them delivered within a couple of hours. The 90-minute delivery service – provided by Shutl – will launch in mid- January. Shoppers can pay an extra fee to get a product delivered to their home during a one-hour time slot of their choice. The Entertainer’s director of multichannel Duncan Grant told ToyNews: “[When shopping on the High Street], if you add up the cost of petrol, parking, getting a
Starbucks and buying the product you want, it probably adds up to the same [as using Shutl]. “You can get home from work, order the product from Shutl, start dinner, and by the time you’re washing up, you’ll have the product in your hands.” Shutl founder and CEO Tom Allason added: “We
80 February
believe there is a huge opportunity within the toy retailing space. Young families with children are increasingly time-strapped and unable to make it to the store – so Shutl delivery allows customers to shop on their own terms. “We want to give toy retailers a competitive advantage over their pureplay competitors like Amazon and eBay.
“2013 is a landmark year for Shutl as we will be launching the service in the US, initially in New York and San Francisco, followed by a phase two rollout to ten more cities. “In the UK we have a host of major High Street names planning to launch the service, alongside significant improvements to existing
implementations. Watch this space.”
Argos, Maplin, Oasis and other stores already use the Shutl service. The Entertainer: 01494 737000 Shutl: 01245 584570
Certainly there didn’t seem to be the usual hysteria. If something is out of stock, most customers accept it with a shrug of the shoulders and, in one case, with a comment that the children ‘will get what they’re given’.
The silly season, as I like to call it, finally got underway. And some of the toy prices were just plain daft.
I found it ironic that on the weekend Furby’s price was heavily discounted, the toy exploded into action and sold out. I’m just glad I wasn’t one of those indies who cancelled their orders. LeapFrog and VTech also suffered as the big multiples
engaged in a war of kids tablets with some very crazy below-cost prices. It is hard not to laugh when you get asked a stupid question by customers. But
sometimes it’s all that keeps me going – it gives me a smile when I need it. Here are a few of the best from 2012.
n While looking at the six different coloured Furbies, and after being
This month Counter Insurgent filled a big order to Barry Island...
told for the third time that they were the ONLY six colours available, a lady asked: “Do you have one in a lighter green?” I just did what most shoe sales people are trained to do: smile.
n “Is it possible to put different darts in a Nerf gun? The cat next door keeps waking me at night.”
n One customer, who was standing at the bottom of a staircase, asked: “How do I get upstairs?”
n One man complained about Scalextric cars always flying off the track. After I told him to slow them down a little, he replied: “That’s what they kept telling me at the speed awareness course I was on this morning.” Cripes.
n “How sharp is the needle?” (when asking about a needle in a sewing kit)
n “What is the best thing to pick up Hama Beads with?” Apart from your
hands, you mean? I suggested a hoover but she wanted to re-use them.
n “Are these face paints suitable for hands?”
n “Do you have to go and collect the Estes Rocket after you fire it?”
Apart from those, my favourite enquiry has to be the lady calling with a really thick Welsh accent asking us about our delivery details.
As the staff couldn’t work out what she was saying, they handed the phone call to me.
When I was asked, “do you ship to Barry?”, it was hard not to laugh, as I live with a lot of Gavin and Staceyaddicts. At first I was unsure if it was a wind-up, but it actually turned out to be a very nice order.
So hopefully we are all still here to enjoy Toy Fair. With even more suppliers to see, three days could make it tough to finish, but better that way than a dead final afternoon.
www.toynews-online.biz
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