Industry Roundtable

FROM THE HIGH STREET

PPS invites four indie retailers from the preschool sector - Julie Logan, owner, The Olive Branch Toy Shop; Susannah Irving, associate director, Bumpstart Baby Shop; Caroline Pizzey, owner of Little Poppets and Yas Ali, director of Babyland Fife – to discuss how 2022 is going so far, finding the balance between online and instore, what’s driving consumers’ purchasing decisions and their hopes for the remainder of the year.

Julie Logan

Caroline Pizzey Susannah Irving

Yas Ali

HOW HAS 2022 BEEN FOR YOU SO FAR?

Yas: “2022 thus far has been a mixed bag. Different obviously compared to the last couple of years; we've seen a return to 'normality' and I'm not sure I like it.” Julie: “We are pleased to welcome in a more ‘normal’ spring in the shop with steady sales, returning to pre-pandemic levels. Online sales have been more patchy, but we remain optimistic that upgrades to our website over the spring months will put us in a great position for later in the year. It’s tough for small businesses at present and we are truly grateful to our loyal customers and those who actively seek out local, independent stores. We really do dance a happy dance at the end of a great day.”

Below: The Olive Branch has seen a growing trend for multi sensory toys for preschool children. Susannah: “We’ve had a good first quarter, appointments are still popular at weekends but we are also taking walk-ins now which is really boosting sales.” Caroline: “We have had a great 2022 so far. We have noticed that we haven’t had the same peaks and troughs like previous years but more of a steady constant flow which has been great.”

ARE YOU FINDING THAT CONSUMERS ARE NOW RETURNING TO STORES, OR IS THE LOCKDOWN TREND FOR ONLINE SHOPPING CONTINUING?

Caroline: “We have luckily not had any problems with customers ‘disappearing’ during the pandemic as our customers continued to support the store via virtual appointments and purchasing direct from the website. Since the store has re-opened completely we have continued to grow.” Susannah: “We’re definitely seeing people return to in-store shopping en masse. Internet sales continue to tick along, but the in-store experience wins for our customers on the whole.” Yas: “Again a mixed bag, people look online then come in-store; we are a large destination store so it’s always about getting feet through the door for us. People craved the in-store shopping

experience and I think it’s appreciated more. Saturdays have gone back to being busy, whereas the last few years had seen the week quite level and weekends just being another day.” Julie: “Our website continues to take orders both for local collection and UK wide delivery although we have noticed a trend towards in-store shopping once more. Being located in the heart of a thriving village community, we really missed chatting to people, face-to-face. Now, we are delighted to be catching up on everybody’s news and meeting new arrivals. We know that our customers are all at a different point with Covid confidence so as staff, we have made the decision to keep wearing our visors, making hand sanitiser available and using a screen at the check-out to reassure our visitors.”

DID THE EASTER BREAK PROVIDE A BOOST FOR SALES?

Julie: “Easter has been a mixed offering for us. Some products have certainly been popular including Easter themed books and activities plus gifts for inspiring outdoor play and exploring in nature. But with varied school holidays in the local area and a general feeling of pressure on the cost of living over the last month or so, the Easter period has been quite unpredictable.” Caroline: “We decided to close for the Easter Weekend as we spent the four days in Disneyland with our three young boys and let the staff do the same with their families. Over that weekend we launched our exclusive egg2 colourway ‘Stealth’ which as you can imagine caused a huge stir on our social media and website.” Yas: “Easter break was not great for sales, people who have been desperate to get away, got away and we cannot blame them. The weather was nice and it was chill.” Susannah: “Yes, we’ve had a couple of good weeks while people have been off work and taking holiday. It has been lovely to have a bit more of a buzz about the place during the weekdays.”

WITH BUDGETS UNDER CONTINUING PRESSURE, ARE YOU FINDING THAT PRICE IS BECOMING MORE OF A KEY CONSIDERATION WHEN YOU’RE SELECTING PRODUCTS AND FOR CONSUMERS WHEN CHOOSING ITEMS?

Susannah: “100%. We’ve always strived to cater to most budgets, but now we are really focussed on expanding our offer at more affordable price points. We will also continue to offer additional value through offering payment plans, storage, delivery and more.“ Julie: “We are very aware of the rising costs and the squeezing of family budgets at the moment. Sales of higher value items have definitely slowed down, average spend per person has reduced and our customers are increasingly looking for great value in the gifts they choose. We endeavour to keep our prices as low as possible to help our customers, but it is inevitable that costs across the board are rising. As such, we continue to work closely with our trusted suppliers to create collections with plenty of choice at lower and medium price points.” Caroline: “We are very lucky to be within an affluent area so this hasn’t yet affected us with having to look at pricing, however we have seen a huge increase in customers wanting to purchase ‘bundles’. So we have had to do package prices as they want one price for everything needed.” Yas: “Pricing has always been a key consideration, none of the current events and situations have made it any worse, it was always the prime factor. This may be different in largely affluent areas, but for our customers its always been about getting as much as possible for their money - we try our best to secure the best deals and run as competitive prices as we can to accommodate this.”

IS THE SUSTAINABILITY OF PRODUCTS BECOMING MORE IMPORTANT FOR CONSUMERS WHEN MAKING BUYING DECISIONS?

Yas: “Nothing is more important than the Benjamins [cost].” Julie: “Sustainability continues to be a buzz word for us. Our customers increasingly seek out products

Above: Bumpstart Baby is responding to the increasing pressure on budgets by increasing its offer at more affordable price points.

made in eco-friendly, responsible and ethical ways. But equally, the prices of many sustainable products have also risen, in some cases by as much as 15-20%. Finding an ‘ethically sourced’ toy that is also sustainable in terms of its durability and price, whilst still packing in plenty of great play opportunities is becoming quite a challenge. And that’s where our team of dedicated, knowledgeable and fun-loving staff step in to source and test brilliant eco-friendly toys at affordable prices.” Susannah: “We are pleased to see the brands we work with introducing more sustainably sourced and recycled materials to their products. Concepts like reduced and recyclable packaging, product recycling schemes are a great step forward for the industry, and our customers definitely want to know about them.

“Whether these credentials would be the leading factor in a buying decision on the most part is arguable, but we are recognising our customers are certainly more sustainably conscious than they have been in the past.” Caroline: “Although the industry is moving towards more sustainable practices, I have not yet had this as a buying decision from a consumer as of yet.”

WHAT ARE THE KEY TRENDS IN PRESCHOOL AT THE MOMENT?

Susannah: “It’s holiday season, and hence we are seeing an uplift in travel and compact strollers and hot weather accessories.” Yas: “Nice fabrics and wholesome colouring seems to be quite a thing just now, with splashes of colour really becoming quite popular too.” Julie: “We are noticing a growing trend for multi-sensory toys in the pre-school sector. This generation of children were born into lockdown and the extent of the impact of restrictions on early years development is now being recognised. Parents are looking for toys that will help encourage the development of social skills, communication, speech and self-confidence. Toys that respond to children’s actions and encourage them to interact in different ways are popular. Open-ended play and a “child-centred” approach here will be key.” Yas: “Consistency would be great, a level playing field - the hardest thing is competing with our suppliers, retailers such as myself are making big decisions about who stays and goes on our shop floors, because it’s not a level playing field by any means. Brands are not known because of social media and influencers alone, they need shop floors - too many have forgotten that, and I expect I'll be taking with my shop floor with regards to who that is. The prayer is the end of hostilities in the world, as the ripple effects spare no one and it’s only going to get tighter for us and of course the end consumer.” Julie: “We are glad to be moving towards more in-store shopping once again and have worked hard to upgrade our website to provide the same great shopping experience online as we strive for in our Castle Donington store. However, we are still living in very challenging times and although those challenges may now be changing and evolving, there will still be significant hurdles to cross. The uncertainty of energy costs going forward, particularly in the autumn with Christmas shopping on the horizon, will be a worry. We will have to be very selective in our product range going forward with affordability, sustainability and developmental-value foremost in our minds. We are here to serve our customers, our local and online communities and we will always strive to do our best.” Susannah: “We hope to continue to be busy in-store, though we are sensitive to the fact that people’s budgets are being tested at the moment, so we need to be adapting and catering quickly for whatever the rest of the year may bring.”

WHAT ARE YOUR HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE YEAR?

Caroline: “My hopes for the next year are that Covid doesn’t affect the containers arriving in, as we have seen an increase in pregnancies and this was a huge issue over the last couple of years. This year we have a lot of new products we are launching as a store, including our own special editions with the support of leading brands, so we are hoping this can be one of our best years yet.”

Inset: Caroline has seen a huge rise in consumers wanting to buy bundles over recent months.

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