news newsanalysis:
Here comes Easter... Toy World editor Tom Roberts talks to toy retailers to fi nd out about their preparations and expectations for this year’s Easter trading period.
Once Christmas is over, toy retailers turn to Easter as the next major trading period. This year sees the Easter holiday fall almost three weeks later in the calendar than it did in
2013.Mark Buschaus of Toy Barnhaus believes this will help enormously: “With Easter three weeks later it means that sales results are likely to be stronger. And don’t forget, May is when Toymaster members start buying in Christmas stock at the show, so April is when our rest-of-year strategy is formulated.” Bhav Patel of Toy Galaxy said: “Easter is an
important time, allowing us to gauge what products and categories are more sought after than others. We’re all still a long way away from the main trading season but the increase in sales always helps the buying process for the second half.”
The Entertainer’s Stuart Grant commented:
“April is often our biggest sales month until October, and is a signifi cant month in the retail year as a whole, because of its use as an indicator for the year’s progress. Now more than ever the strength of sales will be down to good price promotion and taking Easter’s sales performance on board when deciding your rest-of-year plan.” So what sort of products will the retailers be stocking up on in anticipation of the Easter trading period? Stuart Grant said: “The period is traditionally a big pocket money toy event and we usually see a big spike in collectables too. Lego Minifi gures have already started selling like hot cakes, thanks largely to the movie, and we predict this will continue well beyond Easter. Cra-Z-Looms are already gathering momentum, so we’ll stay stocked up with them until Character’s TV support kicks in. The new Spider-man movie is released over Easter, so our in-store displays will be geared to take advantage of this. Figure sales for Spider-man will kick off when the movie launches, with role-play items gathering pace towards Christmas. We will also be running a variety of Easter-themed events across the stores, from product demonstrations to activity events.” Mark Buschaus commented that Toy Barnhaus too would be getting in a “ton of pocket money toys”, especially brown bouncy eggs and squeaky chicks, adding: “Considering how well we did with them in 2013, if the good weather does come that little bit early we will be getting paddling pools in again. Event-wise we’re working with Epoch Making Toys, starting on the 17th April. The rabbits and other characters will be in the mall entertaining the children and whipping up excitement around Sylvanian Families and driving people to the shop. Our last competition with Epoch in February was extremely successful with over 468 entries, so we’re really looking forward to the next one.” Bhav Patel mentioned that Toy Galaxy will be making sure it has a large number of activity and craft toys in stock, explaining that “Easter always proves a challenge for parents to keep children occupied, so we have a large range of activity products to keep young minds busy. We have also found that games sell quite well in the lead up to the Easter period. Be it travel games or board games, there always is a slight increase in sales around that time of the year. Last year, the weeks preceding Easter were quite warm so we hope the same follows this year which will see outdoor products starting to move.” Bhav added that there will be in-store activity in conjunction with brands such as Nerf, Hama beads and Dobble, as well as a live magician at one of the stores which will be aired on TV later on in the year. Summing up the aim of all toy retailers across Easter, Bhav said: “All in all, we want local children to enjoy their visit to our stores and to keep them entertained over the holiday period.”
10 Toyworld
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K’Nex launches dedicated UK website
In line with the company’s affi rmation ‘Building Worlds Kids Love’, the
www.knex.co.uk website marks a key step in the K’Nex re-launch, providing a hub for consumers to engage with the brand. Alison Hubbard, head of
marketing, said: “We are really excited about the launch of our new website as it will provide an essential digital platform to support a number of our key marketing initiatives, along with the re-launch of K’Nex back into the UK. This new site will enable children to explore the world of K’Nex whilst having fun checking out the latest news and videos.” With entertaining and engaging content that will constantly be updated, the
website will encourage deeper engagement with the brand. Children can visit the website to share their experiences, constructions and photos and to fi nd out more about the story behind the creation of the brand, including how the sets are produced. It will also provide consumer support offering building tips, information regarding how to request spare parts, video demonstrations of the sets, as well as downloadable instructions for additional models.
Toy Essentials launches
Toy Essentials, headed up by Robin Bennett, is the new retail arm of Education Essentials, a business founded by Robin which has served the educational sector with quality play opportunities and equipment since 1999. Toy Essentials will launch with a focused range with direct relevance to the retail sector. Brands will include Dunecraft, Wedgits, the Plasmacar ride-on, magnetic toys from Plastwood, and the Hoberman Spheres collection. Robin Bennett commented: “Educational Essentials has been a real success
story. We have built a strong reputation within the educational sector and have secured exclusive distribution rights for a number of high profi le brands. With the launch of Toy Essentials, we are now in a position to offer our customers the benefi t of our many years of retail experience as well as the opportunity to further expand our UK distribution channels.” The sales and marketing for the new business will be headed up by Sandra
Cambridge (formerly Treasure Trove Toys and Alyss Toys) with support from Amy Matthews and team. Further developments, including the appointment of key regional sales agents, will be announced soon.
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