Retail Profile - Very

Toys & Games stand out at Very

Despite a challenging year for the industry, online retailer Very entered 2024 off the back of a very strong Christmas performance which saw Toys & Games once again play a pivotal role in driving sales over the peak period. With consumers and suppliers alike facing another tough year, Toy World sat down with Nicole Sweeney, category manager – Boys & Outdoor Toys, to find out how Very is approaching 2024 and what makes it a retailer of choice among spending-savvy parents.

In early January, The Very Group announced its Christmas and Black Friday period results. Despite incredibly challenging conditions in the marketplace, with financial pressures putting the squeeze on families across the UK, Very UK retail managed to grow its sales +3.4% YOY, supporting group retail sales

growth of +2.1% YOY. This deeply impressive performance bucked the overall UK online non-food retail market trend and represented growth in market share during the period, much to the delight of Nicole Sweeney.

“Toys, Electricals, Gifts and Beauty were the standout performers for us over the peak period, with Toys growing +8% and outpacing a really tough retail landscape,” she enthuses. “It’s worth noting that that growth was off the back of double-digit growth in 2023: when you’re going up against such big numbers you can’t help but be pleased with that kind of performance.”

The reasons behind this performance are varied. Firstly, the retailer invested heavily in Q4 stock and ensured it arrived earlier than usual, guaranteeing its customers would be able to get their hands on the toys and games they really wanted for Christmas. Very also collaborated closely with its suppliers to curate assortments they knew would sell through strongly, particularly at sub-£20 price points, meaning it has come into Q1 with very clean stock levels.

Unsurprisingly, Barbie was a massive brand for Very, with the big-ticket Dreamhouse a standout best-seller. Nicole says Very over-indexed not just on the Dreamhouse but on the wider doll assortment too, a strategy that proved invaluable. Lego, too, was ‘phenomenal’ once again, with double-digit growth year after year cementing its place as a go-to brand among Very’s customers long ago. The licensed Harry Potter range continues to enchant Lego fans, with the Hogwarts Castle and Grounds and Dobby the House Elf sets - both of which carry markedly different price tags –both bringing the magic to homes across the UK.

“We backed Bitzee and Furby heavily for Christmas and it paid off,” adds Nicole. “Family Games was another success for us. Interestingly, it’s a major category for Very year-round, not just in autumn/winter. This is yet another category we’ve seen double-digit growth from the past few years. Pokémon and trading card games in general really drive the category for us, and we’ve also enjoyed great sales of Hasbro’s Twister Air, exceeding all our expectations.

Heading into autumn/winter this year, we expect big things from the Games category.”

Q1 2024 has got off to a great start for Very, according to Nicole, who explains that Very customers tend to react very positively to early-year product launches. Lego’s Q1 launches have been particularly impressive in terms of their variety, and new Pokémon launches are appealing strongly to kids and kidults alike.

The Very Group also bagged its third consecutive Online Excellence Award at January’s Toy Industry Awards. Nicole and her team, which includes Anne-Marie Edwards, category manager – Girls & Pre-School Toys, were visibly over the moon to once again be taking to the stage to collect their trophy. According to Nicole, it’s taken ‘no shortage of hard work’ to secure the win once again. Curating the right assortment, devising innovative marketing strategies and campaigns, building and nurturing relationships with suppliers: it all takes a lot of time and effort.

She explains: “The award is great recognition, not just for Very’s Toys category but for the wider business and everyone else that’s been involved in keeping Very at the forefront of online retail over the past few years. The Toy category has really been elevated for us as a business, both internally and externally, but we’re an ambitious team and we want to continue pushing forward – and hopefully win that award for a fourth, fifth, maybe even sixth year in a row? Far from taking our foot off the gas, it’s almost as if there’s even more pressure on us with each and every accolade – but pressure just makes us work even harder.”

As the retailer approaches the Easter period, customers can look forward to a raft of deals across all categories suited for indoor play – and hopefully some better weather as we officially enter spring, if the Outdoor Toys category Nicole oversees is to fare slightly better than it did in 2023. Warm, dry weather is sorely needed this year: Outdoor took a bit of a battering in 2023 thanks to a very wet summer that left kids stuck indoors for much of their holidays, peering out glumly at the rain.

“Summers seem to be getting later,” observes Nicole. “We’re getting nicer weather in September and October than we used to. That said, our Outdoor stock is in the warehouse and ready to go, and whether we sell it during the front or back end doesn’t really matter – but those unknowns do require buyers to hold their nerve.” She also notes that the situation in the Red Sea continues to evolve and that no one yet knows when it will all settle down. However, Very is continuing to liaise closely with its suppliers and carriers with a view to making sure its customers have access to the very best toys and games.

In addition to unavoidable challenges, this year presents a number of major opportunities too. Following the Christmas success of Bitzee and Furby, Nicole says that she and her team have seen more great innovation in recent months in the digital and interactive pet space, as well as a notable leap forward in terms of the technology between the September LA preview and London Toy Fair in January. The excitement for launches within this space is palpable. She’s also got high hopes for food- and confectionerythemed toys and games, a trend she says really stood out at the shows.

She adds “Of course, the ever-evolving Kidult category is a massive opportunity for us, with kidult spenders already driving sales of Lego and Pokémon toys, as well as anything based on anime or Star Wars. We’re already a go-to destination among kidults but the category is growing all the time and we’ll be looking to tap into that even more during the coming months.”

One of the myriad reasons Very is a go-to site for online shoppers is its Very Pay platform, which gives customers the option to pay immediately, pay in three (interest free) instalments, buy now pay later, or pay monthly according to their needs. Nicole feels Very Pay will remain an attractive proposition throughout 2024, which is likely to be another difficult year for many families. The continued impact of inflation and the cost of living looks set to be one of the biggest challenges facing retailers this year, but Nicole is confident that The Very Group’s adaptable, multi-category business model - and the inherently resilient nature of the toy industryplaces the retailer in a strong position to weather whatever lies ahead. Of course, Very’s value-offering ties into this, allowing households mindful of their stretched budgets to buy into lower-priced toy and game ranges that provide excellent value for money.

Gaining and retaining new customers is crucial to the retailer and remaining competitive for those customers is important, explains Nicole, who notes that market aggression is becoming commonplace, especially in the run up to peak season.

The team works hard to build promotional brand plans with its strategic partners and suppliers, but flexibility is required at all times: plans may change due to stock availability and movement, pricing activity and so on. “There’s no ‘one-sizefits-all’ solution in this space,” Nicole says.

Even though it is a multi-category retailer, as Nicole says, Very has honed in on the Toys & Games category to ensure it both stands out and competes alongside other major online retailers. This is because its customers are predominantly families with children: the range is therefore built with their needs in mind, to offer all the best-selling brands on the market. Very also goes above and beyond to support what it calls the ‘moments that matter’ throughout the year with custom assortments too, from Easter and Mother’s Day to the bigger events in families’ lives, such as Black Friday and Christmas. Very also strives to provide an accessible and simplistic shopping experience that presents customers with clear choices from top brands, and nothing else.

Nicole has worked for The Very Group for 12 years, seven of which have been spent overseeing the Boys & Outdoor Toys categories. She understands the marketplace and the importance of strong supplier relationships. Innovation and collaboration has ensured the retailer’s suppliers understand Very’s customer base as well as Very itself does, with both parties aligned on delivering what shoppers need. And as a retail partner, Very prides itself on providing toy companies with a platform on which they can really showcase their new brands, in addition to standout marketing campaigns delivered via both on- and off-site creative.

“Our overall proposition – the depth and breadth of category space, our credit offering – taps toy companies into new customer demographics,” Nicole says. “We’ve built up a really strong team of buyers and suppliers over the years that has worked exceptionally hard on delivering the strategic plan behind our success: it’s not solely our plan, it’s not solely the suppliers’ plan - it’s a joint plan, delivered jointly, to the benefit of all parties.”

Looking ahead to Q3/4, Nicole is very excited about the launches coming down the line. We’ve heard some discussion this year regarding whether 2024 innovation is enough of an evolution from 2023, or whether toy companies are playing it too safe by remaining safely within existing brands. While Nicole agrees with the latter statement to an extent, she also feels there is enough brandnew IP and innovation to keep kids engaged and parents buying.

However, she also tells us that launches seem to be being pushed later on in the year: “A couple of suppliers I’ve spoken to, which would usually be launching new toys and games in spring/summer or Q3 have pushed them out to October, While understandable, that could present a challenge in terms of sales during the earlier part of the year.”

Very’s 2023 Christmas campaign, ‘Let’s Make It Sparkle’, introduced an interesting choice of festive character to proceedings – flamingos called Kerry, Terry and Cherry – but was well received by customers who found the flamingos both fun and relatable. Nicole says the flamingos are here to stay and will feature in ad campaigns throughout the year. Peak planning is already underway, which Nicole says will deliver new and exciting Christmas campaigns, but until then, the retailer will simply continue to engage with customers throughout the year, with plenty of activity seen across bank holiday events, the summer holidays and Black Friday.

“We’re really proud of Very’s performance over last few years and, as a team, we’re not slowing down,” finishes Nicole. “We’ve got some really ambitious plans in place coming into autumn, despite the uncertain market, and amazing support from our partners which we believe sets us up for another excellent year.”