FROM THE COAL FACE

Right: Natural Baby Shower explains that consumers feel they might miss out on the perfect stroller when looking online, so often come into store hoping the nursery specialists can provide this.

Below: White Farm

Baby Barn says a car seat that swivels is key for today’s consumer.

It’s been a turbulent few years for retail to say the least, but with babies still being born and new parents needing to kit themselves out, they have adapted and found new ways of supporting consumers, and are now emerging stronger than ever before. The current situation across all industries is creating challenges with selling big ticket items like travel systems and car seats, and as such price was the word on everyone’s lips when we spoke to retailers. Yas Ali, director of Babyland Fife, comments: “The main challenges we are seeing in-store at the moment is a mixture of misinformation and unrealistic expectations. Times are hard and getting harder, prices going up not down, but so many consumers seem to be perhaps looking at second hand pricing and now older pricing and are getting a bit of a shock when they come in store.” Claire Caborn, owner of Daisy Tree Baby Boutique, agrees: “I think pricing can be a problem as everyone always wants a deal and I’m not sure what the answer is. I like to think that the customer service

As the experts in the travel system and car seats market, retailers are the link between new parents and the nursery industry, and provide invaluable insight into buying habits, key considerations and the challenges in selling to new parents. Progressive Preschool sits down with some key indies to find out the current situation. customers receive in-store is worth more than saving a few pounds.” That customer service is something that has been in abundance over recent years, and continues to be key. During lockdowns, nursery retailers employed a range of innovative methods to support consumers. Tom Fotheringham, cmo at Online4Baby, explains: “As a business we had to adapt quickly to make sure we could satisfy customer demand and continue our exceptional customer care levels. We transformed our store into a studio and held daily live streams showcasing product. They were also able to interact with our amazing sales team, who could offer personalised advice.. “Video content, high quality photography, and insightful copy and

coal face From the Compatibility One of the main challenges for Natural Baby Shower when selling car seats and travel systems is compatibility. Lydia Clark, social media and marketing manager, tells us: “For us, its our customers understanding that different brands are compatible. They may prefer one car seat to another, but they are buying a particular stroller so they assume they have to get the matching branded car seat. “It would be brilliant if suppliers could raise awareness and produce content about compatibility, instead of having a somewhat hidden area about it and adapters available etc.”

product descriptions are all key when selling online.” While online was key for survival during the pandemic, retailers are seeing customers returning to stores. Abbie Hubbard, co-owner of Whites Farm Baby Barn, says: “We are 100% seeing customers returning to in-store shopping; in January 2022, 91% of our customers were brand new into us and that number is holding steady. “We feel after two years of not being able to go out and see/ touch/ experience anything, people are ready for their baby shopping to become a memorable experience once again, rather than the removed click and purchase of a webpage.” Others are seeing a mixed bag, as Jo Studholme, director of Pushchair Expert, comments: “There is still a real mixture of preferences from customers. We encourage our local parents to come into the store where possible and those that are not local we still encourage a video appointment with one of our car seats specialists. Online continues to be very strong for us.” Retailers have a clear idea of what they are looking for in a car seat. Claire says: “Our focus for car seats is safety, but also choice. We have to respect that some parents will choose to face their children forwards before the recommended age of four years minimum, so we work to ensure they are doing this in the safest way possible and look carefully at our car seat choices to ensure that we have something suitable for every car and child.” Jo echoes the emphasis on safety: “We always try and encourage our customers to consider carefully the car seat they are purchasing especially when as a travel system, as at times these can be quite basic seats. We love the fact that manufacturers are beginning to move towards including iSize seats in their bundles.” And for travel systems, ease of use is key. Sara Hubbard, co-owner of Whites Farm Baby Barn, explains: “We think that often manufacturers/ suppliers forget that the person using this pushchair every day for three years or more isn’t the young, well rested design assistant, but rather a sleep deprived, stressed out new parent who needs things to work seamlessly. “Fancy fabrics and beautiful components obviously make a difference, but if the base product is impossible to get your head round, what’s the point?” Consensus among retailers was that suppliers could help support them by supplying extra materials. Claire summarises: “More POS would be good. I’d love some brand/lifestyle shot posters to pop up as they take no floor space up at all.” While retail continues to prove challenging, it’s clear suppliers and retailers alike are overcoming issues and continuing to provide outstanding customer service with a wide range of cutting edge products. Yas concludes: “Retail is not easy at any time; it’s hard especially just now given what’s going on all over the world and effects it has on our industry. We have to, now more than ever, ensure our customers are making informed, sensible choices that will see them through the toddler years and beyond – if we can get that right, we’ve sussed it.”

Adapting needs

For both car seats and travel systems, Tom believes adaptability is a key selling point.

He explains: “With rising household costs and the increasing pressures on cost of goods as we move out of lockdown, now more than ever, consumers are wanting their hard-earned money to stretch even further. With both travel systems and car seats, functionality is key – what age does it go up to? Is it adaptable from newborn to toddler? Is it suitable for travel and the home environment?”

Inset: Daisy Tree Baby boutique is the car seat specialist in Aberdeenshire and focuses on safety and choice.

Below White Farm Baby Barn always tries to ensure it provides clear, helpful, unbiased advice.

Above: Many customers will compromise on their ideal lightweight travel system when the benefits of different wheel types, suspension and overall use is explained in-store.