RETAIL INTERVIEW
IDEAL WORLD
Ideal World comes of age
TnP chats to Lesley Williams, toy buyer of Ideal World: the flagship free-to-view TV shopping channel owned by Ideal Shopping Direct What’s your background? I’ve spent the past 11 years with Ideal World as a buyer for the toys and homes & interiors categories. Before joining Ideal World, I had a variety of roles with FMCG and discount retail brands.
Tell us about Ideal World. Ideal World launched in 2000 and this year is our 21st birthday! Based in Peterborough, Ideal World combines a live TV model with a strong online presence designed to bring customers a truly dynamic, entertaining and engaging shopping experience. We sell into millions of homes in the UK via our shopping channels which broadcast 24/7 across Sky,
Virgin, Freeview and Freesat, delivering more than 18 live hours of live TV shopping every day. Additionally, we have an arrangement with ITV for Ideal World whereby we broadcast from midnight until 3am, and we broadcast additional hours on our sister channel, Ideal Extra. Online we have thousands of followers across our dynamic platforms who enjoy our inspirational features, access-all-areas YouTube channel, and Facebook and Instagram communities, while the Ideal World website enables live viewing for customers around the globe.
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We’re constantly extending our supplier and brand portfolio in the toy category
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Did you know? Ideal Shopping Direct is one of the UK’s leading multichannel home shopping retailers, selling via its TV channels and the internet. The company sells a range of general merchandise from products for the home and garden to health, beauty and craft buys. Its flagship TV channel is Ideal World (Sky, Virgin, Freeview, Freesat), which is supported by three sister channels: Create and Craft (Sky, Freeview and Freesat), Ideal Extra and Create and Craft Extra (Sky/Freesat)
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Retail Interview Ideal World.indd 1
When did Ideal World move into toy retailing? We entered the toy market more than 10 years ago when we trialled a range of demonstrable toys on air. This was a big hit with customers, who would have only seen toys demonstrated this way if they visited a large London toy store. Over the years we have built on this success, extending our range of exciting, demonstrable toys and games and bringing the fun of the big toy stores into our customers’ homes. While it’s currently one of our smaller categories, it’s growing - and we’re seeing double-digit growth year on year. As you would expect, the percentage is highest in Q4 as we approach Christmas.
How would you describe your range? Dynamic, demonstrable, unique and excellent value for money. Our key categories are drones, remote control toys such as cars, and animated and interactive toys. We deal with suppliers such as Lexibook, Marvin’s Magic, Bladez Toys, The Source, Peak Developments, A.B.Gee, Wow! Stuff, PlayShifu, RDM Creations, and Coastal Products - plus we have extensive own-label ranges. But our brand selection is ever
toysnplaythings.media 06/07/2021 12:49
