face-to-face
Let’s be Direct
Andrea Gornall, Senior Buyer for Toys at Shop Direct, spoke to Toy World about her role, Shop Direct’s future, and what toys mean to the business. John Baulch reports.
the last three years with
Very.co.uk and isme.
Did Shop Direct’s experience in the mail order business make it easier to adapt to doing business in the online world? Shop Direct’s history as a mail order retailer means that we have considerable size and scale in terms of both our customer base and our logistics expertise in delivering all over the UK. It also means that we understand our five million customers’ behaviour and
How long have you worked for Shop Direct? I’ve worked at Shop Direct, the UK’s leading digital department store, for the last 22 years as senior buyer for toys. My remit covers everything from Arts & Crafts, through to Pre-school and Girls’ toys, and I love that no two days are ever the same.
How did you originally get into buying toys? I was originally employed as a toy merchandiser for Index stores, what feels like a million years ago. But, as I have a real passion for product, I knew my future lay in buying, so I switched functions.
What changes to the Shop Direct organisation have you seen since you joined? In my 22 years experience of the retail industry I’ve seen the transition from traditional mail order catalogue shopping to online purchasing, and today’s advancing mobile technologies. Now, more than 75% of Shop Direct’s £1.7b annual sales are online and 20% of those take place on mobile devices. Our retail fascias today now cross a wide range of customer demographics. Our family brand remains Littlewoods, whilst our younger, fashion-conscious customers shop with us at
Very.co.uk, and women facing their fifties with enthusiasm and confidence via isme.
Did you ever worry that Mail Order had had its day? Since 2005, we have transformed and modernised the entire business. Instead of allowing ourselves to become outdated we realised we were ideally placed to take advantage of the internet revolution. We sold our high street Littlewoods and Index stores and merged the home shopping giants Great Universal and Littlewoods to create Shop Direct as the UK’s leading online and home shopping retailer. Innovation now runs through our veins, and we have brought two totally new brands to market in
50 Toyworld
requirements better than anyone due to our unrivalled data and capabilities. All of that means that we are uniquely placed to continue to thrive in the online world as new technologies come to the fore.
How has 2012’s trading been? For us, 2012 has been consistently strong. Despite the poor weather throughout the Summer we still managed to see growth from our outdoor toys range. Autumn/Winter has again seen another record performance as we have increased awareness of our offer through our TV and press campaigns fronted by our celebrity brand ambassadors Myleene Klass, Fearne Cotton, Holly Willoughby and Lynda Bellingham.
How important is the toy market to Shop Direct? Toys are a category we’ve been focused on developing for several years, but I’ve been amazed at the success we’ve seen this Christmas. Our customers are clearly telling us that they love these products and that they want more! You can see how much this category means to us
through our growing market share figures, initiatives such as our Facebook TV show Littlewoods Live, and our increased marketing spend on TV and press campaigns with toys at the heart.
What have been your key lines throughout the year, and in the run-up to Christmas? In the Pre-shool category, core brands such as VTech, Fisher Price, Leapfrog and Ladybird have continued to be key, and strong licenses such as Jake the Neverland Pirate, Imaginext, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse continue to grow. Children’s tablets – InnoTab and LeapPad – have been best sellers for us as the whole family buys into the tablet revolution. Jake and the Neverland Pirate Ship Bucky, Imaginext Batcave and Master Moves Mickey have also been key lines.
In Girls toys, Fashion dolls and collectables have lead the way all year, with brands like Monster High, Moshi Monsters and Lego Friends continuing to drive demand. However, large feature dolls and Furby have been strong in the run up to Christmas. Key lines have included Monster High core dolls, Lego Friends Olivia’s house, Cabbage Patch dolls, Baby Born, Lalaloopsy large dolls, and Furby. For Boys and Construction, Lego has been outstanding all year. Well-established licenses have been key to driving demand in a difficult category, with licenses like Ben 10, Power Rangers and Spiderman, and the new Trashies and Turtles selling well. Key lines have been Ben 10 action figures, Trashies garbage truck, Lego superheroes, Turtles play set and Web Shooting Spiderman. The Electronic category has seen significant
growth this year. This has been driven by the tablet market; key lines have been the 7” Kurio, Moshi Monsters and Hello Kitty tablets, but Twister Dance and Karaoke machines have also performed well. Stunt Scooters have been the key new trend for us in Outdoor, with key brands and lines from Stunted and Razor driving demand in this area.
Which channel do you see providing your biggest competition going forward? We see every channel as competition. As more and more traditional high street retailers move into an online space, we never rest on our laurels in our ambition to create a world-class digital department store for our customers.
What stands Shop Direct out against the growing number of online retailers? As a leading online retailer, we have our own research and development team constantly working on the latest technology such as smartphone applications and social media advancements. We also have an outstanding USP in our financial
services operation. Our brands are known for making big brand names and the latest trends affordable to everyone. Our customers can pay in bite-sized amounts each month, and that provides them with a real sense of empowerment.
How do you react when other toy retailers start discounting heavily? We have a robust trading plan that includes both new-in and trend-led activity alongside promotions. Whilst we are aware of toy retailers attacking price, we are not a discount retailer.
What do you see as your biggest challenges for 2013? Our biggest challenges for 2013 are the current economic climate and what that means for customers and the trade in general. Having said that, we’ve had six years of continued growth and predict that that will continue.
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