Feature - Stationery

Back to school at last

Last year the stationery sector’s tentpole Back to School selling opportunity was cancelled, as Covid restrictions meant children were educated at home for large parts of the year. However, the category is looking forward to a brighter year ahead, and Sam Giltrow found out the benefits to toy stores of stocking stationery ranges.

Last year was like no other for stationery sales, as the traditional Back to School surge was curtailed by events beyond everyone’s control. However, many are now looking forward to a bumper Back to School season, with suppliers confident of a much better summer this year.

It certainly wasn’t all doom and gloom for stationery stockists last year: despite not being able to focus on a particular Back to School selling period, retailers saw sales of stationery items boom, as families kitted themselves out for home learning.

Toy retailers have an established consumer base of children and those who buy for them, and many find themselves ideally positioned to range a selection of child-friendly stationery items, supplementing their core toyetic offering.

One company that works with toy retailers is Stabilo, which has a strong focus on targeting parents with useful advice on its products. Stabilo products are a staple of many pencil cases, and the company best-known for its handwriting pens, pencils and highlighters is hopeful that 2021 will be much brighter. “We are anticipating a strong back to school this year as a lot of children have missed so much school over the last year,” says Stabilo’s UK marketing manager Vanya Hunter.

This year the company will be targeting parents of junior school aged children, with a key focus on the Stabilo Easyoriginal handwriting pen, which is available for left or right handers. There will also be a number of blogs to help parents prepare their kids for going back to school and tips to help incorporate writing in activities during the school holidays.

Stabilo’s back to school promotion is running from now until the end of September, and all key products are included, including the Easy range of handwriting products, which have been designed by scientists, Stabilo point 88 fineliners and the Stabilo Boss Original highlighter which comes in 23 colours and celebrates its 50th birthday this year. “We also have POS available to bring some instore theatre,” says Vanya.

Commenting on sales over the past year, Vanya says Stabilo saw a growth in some areas of the business during the lockdowns, when there was an increase in sales of colouring and craft products. During the latest lockdown there was an increase in the Stabilo Easy range of products for helping children to learn to write correctly, as parents continued to home school.

“We are feeling optimistic as we come out of the latest lockdown and we are seeing an increase of orders from our customers as the high street starts to open back up,” she says. “We have some new product launches later this year which we are very excited about.”

Many people, having experienced digital fatigue during the pandemic, from endless hours of online home schooling and working from home, have also created sales opportunities for stationery after reaching for something more tangible to communicate with friends and family.

“Whilst orders have fluctuated throughout the pandemic, Back to School is still a key selling season for stationery and we have seen increased appetite for kids and young adult stationery, with back to college emerging trends,” says David Harrison, licensed channel sales controller at IG Design Group.

“We are positive about the future of stationery and stationery arts & crafts, with more opportunities arising to grow space across all formats. Kids are still our core target consumer, but buyers are also keen to embrace our new and innovative ranges for teens and adults, bringing something different to the market.”

Toyshops will be well aware of the potential for add on sales of ranges featuring favourite children’s characters, and IG Design Group boasts a strong licensed portfolio catering for all ages and favourites. The company recently launched a new range of kids’ core stationery for Disney Princess and Marvel’s SpiderMan, as well as a range of PlayStation stationery, from its latest partnership with Sony. It also supplies ranges based on eOne’s Peppa Pig as well as Nickelodeon’s Paw Patrol, and caters for movie-led requirements with properties including Universal’s Minions and Warner Brother’s Batman, both of which have releases in 2022.

From a retail perspective, eye-catching impulse products that grab a customer’s attention as they walk through the store are important, according to the buying director of retail chain Roys, Paul Roy.

The company, which boasts a toy shop - Roys Toys - among its chain of department stores across Norfolk and Suffolk, says it is important to stock the right products. The pandemic forced Roys to assess its stationery offering and look at new ways of freshening up the ranges for when customers could come back into stores and see and feel the products again.

“During the pandemic, we took it upon ourselves to reset expectations around stationery both internally and externally, offering something fresh and different when we reopened,” says Paul, who added that Roys has tried to find a good balance between generic and branded stationery.