ela Inspiration Works
said: “While the iPad is a business tool for adults that kids can use, Kurio is a tablet built specifically for kids that adults can use. It has comprehensive parental control features, which are a very important selling point, and a wide range of preloaded content available when it is first purchased. All in all there’s around £200 worth of fully preloaded games and e-books on Kurio when it’s bought. In a category like this the strongest do survive, and at present Kurio is the brand-leading Android tablet for children.”
All in the label Character-licensed products feature heavily in a lot of the toy categories out there, whether it be the familiar evergreens or new licences making their first moves into the toy trade. But with so many new properties launching each year, it can sometimes be hard for retailers to decide what to stock. The Electronic Learning category is no different, as Dave Martin pointed out. He said that Inspiration Works’ licensed products were “performing strongly”, but also added that, when it comes to predicting which licences will do well in today’s market, “you’re better off asking how long a piece of string is”. He said: “Our licensed programme includes key licences such as Peppa Pig and Fireman Sam, with both delivering well for us. Our private label programme is also strong, and we fill a nice gap in retail offerings with it. For example, most of those particular products available in the Early Learning Centre are ours.” Graham Canning commented that 2013 in
general looks to be a very positive year, with licensed products continuing to grow and make an impact in many market places, but that “traditional evergreens such as Thomas and Friends and Peppa Pig will take the lion’s share of sales”. Matthew Tomlinson added that Ingo’s use of licences allows kids to more openly engage with tablets. He said: “We have three new tablets available from July featuring Moshi Monsters, Hello Kitty,
68 Toyworld
and Monster High. The tablets are branded and come preloaded with wallpapers, activities and content for kids to use. For retailers tablets offer a growing sales area, but it’s a very competitive market.” He went on to explain that fresh out the box, kids can play and engage immediately with their favourite characters. For instance, the Moshi tablet comes preloaded with Moshi music videos, wallpapers, Rox (in- game currency), and the Moshi Monsters Village App. He said: “We worked closely
with Mind Candy to ensure that the game was fully tested on our tablet to ensure full compatibility and that no problems would be encountered.” Matthew added that all Ingo’s tablets use the Google Play app store, and that this has really helped to provide reliable service to the end users. He said: “Some tablet companies have tried to create their own stores, but using the Google Play store means it’s updated regularly, it’s a trusted world leading platform, and people can use it very easily. All of our tablets also benefit from full technical support, and we are proud of our record in being able to have sorted the vast majority of issues that people ring in to tell us about. This is part of our promise to our customers: once one of our tablets has been bought you have access to fully-staffed technical support available 9-5 every day.” Looking to the future of the category, Chris
Spalding said that greater product innovation is of paramount importance to ensure that Electronic Learning products continue to engage with children and reassure parents that this category has a valuable role to play in their development and education. He said: “This covers both hardware, like LeapPad2, but just as importantly, content, as it is this that really helps children.” And what about the future? Chris commented that he expected to see “continued growth in the app sector” as parents look to refresh existing purchases to ensure ongoing engagement, education and entertainment for their children, adding that “making sure retailers have supplies of app cards is really important” and that more exciting licensed properties will become available throughout the year to help keep customers coming back to store.
At retail Graham Canning
Vtech
commented that because this sector is doing so well right now, it presents a great opportunity for retailers, and that they should seriously look at the space they devote to the category on their shelves. He said: “Consumers are looking for quality, educational value and add-on purchases like software, something we aim to continue providing. As for the future, well, we have some exciting plans but haven’t unveiled them yet as it is such a competitive market.” Chris Spalding mentioned that he considered
Electronic Learning toys a 365-day-a-year category and not just a Christmas gift, commenting that the category is actively being sought out by parents who are keen for their children to learn outside of school whilst having fun. He said: “Retailers can maximise the impact of electronic learning toys by giving them more prominence and space in the retail aisles, which will in turn incentivise parents and children to come into stores. Many of our key electronic learning hardware products do not represent just one sale for the retailer, families keep coming back to the store to purchase the latest software titles after that initial sale. Therefore, it’s important that retailers stock a range of hardware and software to capitalise on these repeat sales and consumer loyalty.” Matthew Tomlinson commented that with his company’s range of products, it’s about picking the right licence that works for an individual shop. He said: “If you have kids regularly coming into your shop for Moshi products, then the Moshi branded tablet is the one to stock. We’re also finding that the Monster High tablet works extremely well when coupled with the Monster High online content, and the fashion appeal of tablets fits perfectly with this massive fashion doll brand.” Summing it up nicely, David Martin of Inspiration
Works said that his advice to retailers would be “that technology is getting better every day, and it’s important to buy into this category, and give more shelf space over to it because consumers want it.”
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