Online4Baby

from Nursery Today December 2022

Car Seats & Accessories

Here at HQ, it’s been a busy month with planning for Black Friday and the Christmas period! We’ve been out and about a lot more than last year and have had some great meetings with suppliers and industry specialists at various trade shows and awards. November has been a good trading period and we’re now shifting focus to 2023 and beyond!

At Online4baby, one of our key product categories is Car Seats. We have a large range with great brands and designs for parents to choose from. We offer price points from value car seats, all the way through to the luxury brands and most sought-after seats. Customers want to feel confident in the car seat they are choosing, whether it be for a newborn, toddler, or an older child. Consumers seek a lot of information before purchasing, such as suitability for different cars, which car seat is going to be most suitable for their required height/age group, safety information, fitting instructions, and guides. We pride ourselves on our customer service, and we are passionate about giving our customers the best advice and are always striving to build on this and grow for the future.

When looking for car seats, customers’ key requirements are comfort, and the main one, safety. Looking at sales, and feedback from customers – one of the most popular car seat groups is Group 0+123 / 40-150cm. Customers are choosing this category as it gives them peace of mind knowing they have a safe and secure car seat which will see them from their child’s first use when they are a newborn, to being a wriggling toddler, all the way up to 12 years old. It also helps to know that in the future you won’t have to splash out on another car seat, as we all know how times are hard at the minute.

At the moment, when looking at colour choices of car seats, there are a lot of new options coming onto the market. Pink, blues and bold patterns have been introduced and they are a great option for children, keeping them entertained whilst in the car and also encouraging them to sit in the car seat. The simple classic car seat colours such as Black and Grey still overtake the bold colour options and storm ahead to the top spots. Grey and black will always be the customers top choice, but black pips grey to the post and is still the top selling colour for us.

A huge factor when customers are choosing their car seat is the safety regulations that they conform to. We believe that there is going to be a big change in the next 1 to 2 years from the R44 Safety Testing on the R129 i-Size. As the safety testing of car seats is something which customers are

Retail matters

This month Online4Baby’s Managing Director Christy Foster is taking a look at car seats, their importance to nursery retailers and of course the consumer and how this particular category performs for the business.

starting to compare, the i-Size car seats that we have available are becoming the most popular as customers want to ensure maximum safety of their children whilst in vehicles.

Big brands like Maxi Cosi, Joie and Cybex all have a large catalogue of i-Size and higher regulated car seats, however, the price to purchase them has increased significantly, and can be up to £100 more than an R44. We do believe that with the recession and cost of living crisis at the minute, these car seats will struggle to reach the top due to their price points. That being said, we are seeing more product development in this area, and, as such, hopefully retail will improve allowing a faster changeover to i-Size. While people will want to save money, many customers will not sacrifice safety over price and will be happy to invest in i-Size seat.

Here at Online4baby, we pride ourselves on our Sales and Customer Service teams who have extraordinary knowledge within this category. We provide new and returning customers with help and advice, ensuring they choose the correct car seat for them, especially those who need a little bit of extra support. Some of our car seats are showcased on our Social Media Platforms which are run by our Social Media Executive, Chloe. This gives customers another view of the car seats from different angles, ensuring they can see exactly what they are purchasing and have peace of mind that they have made the right choice.

We are constantly investing in our platforms and our goal for the future is to continue offering great service, advice and build our community of parents.