8 minute read
Trade Talk – suppliers look at the growth areas in retail
TRADE OPINION Trade talk
Calling all suppliers and distributors! We’d love to hear your views. Get in touch with Clare@lemapublishing.co.uk to have your say!
This month we check in with suppliers to chat retail. We find out about their predicted areas of growth and ask what steps they are taking to support their customer base
NICKY THOMAS-DAVIES
Board Game Sales and Marketing Manager Thames & Kosmos
Where are your products performing well at retail?
Our Exit range has continued to be a best seller around the world. We were particularly thrilled that our Exit Advent Calendar became a must-have for gamers and sold out by the end of October! Needless to say, we have high hopes for the success of the follow up Advent – The Hunt for the Golden Book.
We are also expanding our children and family range this year with eye-catching fun games such as Dodo, Karak and our new ‘Open and Play’ range of easy-to-learn games such as My Gold Mine and Monster 12.
Do you expect there to be any areas of growth for retail this year?
The success of the film ‘Don’t Look Up’ certainly sparked the curiosity of stargazers and we expect that to continue.
We have restocked our phenomenally successful My
Discovery Telescope and these are already winging their way out to stores. We also have a larger size “The eco- telescope arriving later this year for more friendly wave serious astronomers. continues, The eco-friendly wave continues, and and we have responded with we have responded with changes to our games such as changing our inserts from plastic to cardboard and removing plastic changes to our wrap in some of our games. We had games” already taken this step for many of our science kits and are constantly looking at ways that we can protect our planet through changes in our production and distribution.
How do you support retailers?
We offer hi-resolution photos and links to reviews and product videos for our retailers to use on their websites or advertising. We also send out a newsletter with details of upcoming games and general company information that may be helpful.
ANTHONY MARKS
Managing Director Fanattik
Where are your products performing well at retail?
Fanattik has found a home within the TCG (trading card games) area. We are a licensee for Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dungeons & Dragons, with more related licences on the way. The pandemic saw a massive rise in the popularity of this area, and we are not seeing any slowdown in demand as we enter 2022. It does take a little longer to develop product for this area compared with our film or video game licences; the fans are so invested in the titles that you really need to do a deep dive into the brand to create product they will appreciate.
Do you expect there to be any areas of growth for retail this year?
Yes, with kidult-related product. The growth of this area is not just with the specialist retailers that we have traditionally supplied, or just in the UK market. We are a pan-European licensee for all the iconic brands in our portfolio, and every one of our customers is reporting the same thing. When retailers such as Toys R Us in Spain are telling us it’s a major growth area for them, then we know the category - which we have worked on for so many years - is now finally getting the attention it deserves.
How do you support retailers?
First, we create exclusive product for them. It is so competitive out there, so for a retailer to be able to offer something exclusively gives them a major advantage. Second, we offer major social media support, not just from us, but from our brand partners as well.
A Willy Wonka piece we created for one retailer sold out in a few days when it was featured on a website where it received more than 100,000 Facebook likes. We co-ordinate social coverage between our brand and retail partners, as well as influencers.
GUY ROONEY
UK Sales Director Zapf Creation
Where are your products performing well at retail?
As we continue to transition into a more structured way of trading, we were thrilled to see the reopening of stores in 2021. The move led to our key retail partners delivering both a strong in-store and online customer offering across all our ranges, and as a company we also experienced great growth in the independent and grocery sectors as well as significant improvement for online retail.
In Autumn 2021 we introduced a variety of new accessories and saw them launch successfully in the market, especially towards the tail end of the year with customers wanting to go ‘all out’ in the search for a normal Christmas. It was rewarding for us to see the demand for these accessories, which support our ever-popular dolls and help to expand play possibilities.
Overall, it’s been fantastic seeing our retailers experiencing an upswing in sales and, closer to home, our Baby Annabell and BABY born brands maintained the number one and number two positions in the UK nurturing doll category throughout 2021. We also continue to dominate the top 10 items in this category and are looking forward to growing this even further in 2022.
Do you expect there to be any areas of growth for retail this year?
I believe all retail growth areas stem from businesses listening to and adopting consumers’ preferences and demands that ultimately influence their buying decisions.
One area where this is evident is in the growing call for environmentally-conscious options in the toy market. We’ve already seen a huge shift in sales towards sustainability and are certain this will be even more of a focus in 2022.
To meet this demand, last year Zapf Creation introduced a plastic-free packaging initiative, with the aim to have every product in plastic-free packaging by the end of this year. To date we’ve saved over 40 tons of single-use plastic and are well on the way to fulfilling this requirement.
As an industry I’m sure we are all looking forward to the retail environment getting back to a healthy level of growth due to increased footfall on the high street as Covid restrictions come to an end.
How do you support retailers?
POS is also really important to us, and we’re fully invested in not only growing our visibility online with retailers but also in their stores. We therefore work closely with all of our retail partners’ buyers and marketing teams - be it grocers, independents or specialists - to regularly shape partnerships and develop in-store activations across our Baby Annabell and BABY born brands. “There is a We also ensure that every aspect of our 360 growing call for marketing and PR plans link to retail to drive further environmentallyconscious options engagement, including heavy investment in TV, social media and paid media ads. Building on this, we have several exciting campaigns in the toy market” in the works for 2022 from our marketing team, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing them come to life! We also have a strong PR team who are driving brand awareness with customers by continually linking back any activity or press to retail, creating that full 360 approach. On a personal note, I have just completed my first preview season with the team. It’s been great to meet all our retailers face-to-face where possible, and I’m really looking forward to pushing these brands and supporting our retailers in 2022 and beyond.
SIMON PREST
Sales Director Orchard Toys
Where are your products performing well at retail?
Learning Made Fun sits at the heart of all our products - it means our games and jigsaws are interactive, fun, and appealing, and enhance learning and educational development. With a variety of themes, ages, and price points, it’s a winning combination for parents (and kids), and that consumer demand makes them appealing to retailers. Parents buy into Orchard Toys from an early age and stay loyal as their children grow. It’s why our preschool games perform so well, and why we’re confident that our new launches such as Dress Up Nelly (a colourmatching game) will do well at retail.
Do you expect there to be any areas of growth for retail this year?
In a world full of electronics, parents and children still enjoy simple, fun ‘traditional’ products. A good idea for a game will always be a good idea - get it right and it’ll sell! Our educational games and puzzles support parents, who love and trust Orchard Toys, and their demand for our products continues to grow, which is good news for retailers.
How do you support retailers?
In addition to great products with customer appeal, we offer retailers extensive point of sale support, from display banners and headers to shelf strips, product barcode booklets and in-store merchandising support to help increase brand awareness and sales. Plus, our regular e-shots give retailers news, offers and materials, such as activity sheets and posters, to help with in-store promotions.
