5 minute read
BabyStyle
Going From Strength to Strength…in the weakest of times
Whereas most of the world is strolling back towards the way things were, life at BabyStyle HQ has remained ‘normal’ throughout the last 18 months.
Sure, a lot of day-to-day processes have had to be adapted to protect team members and visitors, but the entrepreneurial spirit and gritty determination at BabyStyle to keep on pushing the boundaries of innovation and service has remained staunch throughout.
You’ll be able to see some of the results of this at Harrogate, but we’ll get to that shortly…
Whilst the government saw our industry as ‘non-essential’ last year, we all know the reality of having to work through the various lockdowns to keep the flow of essential products moving - ladies were unable to furlough their pregnancies after all!
When everything got turned upside down in March 2020, Andy Crane and his senior managers rolled up their sleeves and took to the phones and warehouse after sending all of their other team members home.
Consumers were still needing their products; stores needed the stock to fulfil their orders so the flow needed as little disruption as possible. Every week saw the challenge grow harder and harder though as transport and port delays began to bite.
The exponential rise in energy required to offer a baseline level of service became a multi-dimensional challenge after the first few months. As well as fire-fighting against the supply and transport issues, momentum needed to be maintained on major development projects that were already underway.
egg2 still needed to hatch and it was all hands to the pump, with some team members working from home and others returning to the office when it was safe to do so, to make sure that the 2020 launch became a reality.
That milestone was hit and egg2 has become the fastest selling stroller in the history of the company and the team is working overtime (on top of overtime) to maintain a flow of stock as much as possible. This is harder and harder to do due to backlogs at factories, shipping container shortages, delivery driver issues and all of the other Brexit and COVID compounded hurdles that have to be jumped over…but as we all know by now, BabyStyle is not a company to shrink in the face of adversity!
Resting on laurels has never been their style, and the development cycle has continued relentlessly. 2021 has already seen the launch of the Oyster Zero Gravity and the first of their seasonal indie exclusive Oyster 3 fashions, Vanilla, as well as four other new colourways across the Oyster range.
The heritage of the brand was revisited with another evolution of Prestige this year already and the furniture range was further bolstered with the arrival of the Monte Carlo three-piece set.
Usually arriving with less of a fanfare are the smaller updates to existing products, but these often deserve celebration on their own and a standout amongst 2021’s rolling programme of updates and enhancements is the magnetic buckle upgrade for Oyster3.
First to the UK market with this simple yet brilliant function, the magnetic buckle has removed a lot of the toddler-wrestling that can occur when strapping an infant in and has clearly made a parent friendly stroller even friendlier and existing Oyster3 parents are clamouring for it.
A special mention also needs to be made for the excellent digital support that BabyStyle has provided for customers and pregnant couples during the last couple of years. Leveraging their brand assets and customer service through a well co-ordinated and consistent social media presence across all of the main platforms, including a fresh forage into Tik-Tok, has been a real boon for the BabyStyle and egg brands. This activity continues at pace and they are setting a very high standard for other brands to follow and are continually reaping the positive benefits of it.
What’s in store for visitors to the BabyStyle stand at Harrogate…
BabyStyle will be present in Hall G at the Harrogate Nursery Fair later this month and this comes as no surprise as they are part of a very small handful of brands who have never ceased to support the show. With all eyes on Harrogate as the current torch bearer for trade shows in 2021/22, we were curious to see if Andy Crane would give us the inside track on what everyone will be able to see on their stand as it has now been over two years since we managed to gather together like this!
Cards were kept close to his chest, but there was a mention of ‘mini-eggs’ and while we initially thought that some chocolate was being offered it actually transpired that a new concept second stage egg stroller is going to be unveiled to the world and from the pictures we have seen it looks very, very appealing.
The Vancouver nursery furniture set will be on physical display for the first time, and this Autumn addition to the Charnwood Collection perfectly coincides with Harrogate this year.
New fashions for Oyster3 and egg2 will also be able to view, including the latest seasonal indie exclusive Oyster3 edition, the stunning Graphite.
And if that wasn’t enough already, we are delighted to break the news that there will be a very, very exciting product that is being revealed to selected stand visitors in a secret room!
We couldn’t get any more information out of Andy, but we love a secret room at a trade show and we get the feeling that this is going to be something completely unexpected from the brand.
There has clearly been a lot of hard work coming out of Leicestershire over the last 18 months and while every part of the global supply chain has been unwillingly working against individual brands, BabyStyle has kept the pedal pushed hard to the floor and managed to continue to travel from strength to strength.
Tel: 01509 816444 Email: info@babystyle.co.uk www.babystyle.co.uk
