Retail Profile - Moonpig

Making it personal with Moonpig

In mid-September, Moonpig and The Entertainer revealed details of a new partnership that will introduce The Entertainer’s Toy Box – Total Retail Solution to the personalised greetings card specialist’s business as it seeks to become the ‘ultimate gifting companion’. Rachael Simpson-Jones sat down with Moonpig’s general manager, David Rimmer, to find out how the partnership will benefit both parties - and what it means for consumers seeking the perfect gift for a loved one.

According to David, Moonpig has aspired to become the go-to platform for every occasion for quite a while now - the online retailer people turn to whenever they have a gifting need, whether the occasion is a birthday, anniversary, graduation or the arrival of a new baby. The retailer already has a superb reputation as a trusted seller of personalised cards that provide memorable moments - I’m sure many readers will have either sent or received a Moonpig card over the years - and has bolstered this with its (incredibly helpful) reminders system. This means it’s a natural next step for Moonpig to focus on enhancing its gift offering by giving shoppers the option to add the perfect toy or game to their order, quickly and easily.

Enter The Entertainer. Hot off the heels of its successful roll-out at Tesco stores nationwide, The Entertainer and Moonpig have unveiled a new partnership which will see a curated selection of The Entertainer and Early Learning Centre products available to buy alongside Moonpig’s vast range of personalised cards.

“We can deliver personalised cards like no one else can, thanks to our range, our data and our design system, and over the years it’s become clear that our customers want to send gifts to loved ones, safe in the knowledge that what they send will be just as well received,” explains David. “We needed to partner with the best toy purveyor in its field, a business which is known and trusted in households all across the country. That’s why The Entertainer and ELC were the obvious choice, top of the list. We’re not experts in toys – not yet, anyway - but we want to be able to bring our customer an unrivalled gift assortment, so partnering with a retailer that is an expert makes huge sense.”

The curated range of highly giftable toys for kids from 0-8-years-old has been selected to fit in perfectly with what Moonpig calls its ‘mission-based shopping experience’. Visitors to the site will be able to choose from a selection of toys with a particular focus on licensed options. Indeed, Moonpig has been building out its licensed card portfolio for several years; it includes Bluey, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, Star Wars, Minions, Frozen, Marvel, Winnie the Pooh and much more. To this end, shoppers can now browse carefully selected licensed toys that complement the licensed card they have chosen, which David says is one of the standout benefits of the partnership.

The offering will also include plenty from ELC for those looking to celebrate the birth of a new baby, something David says Moonpig customers love to do, as well as non-licensed toys and products from The Entertainer’s Addo Play brand.

“We are a 365-day business, so we obviously understand the importance of Christmas (especially when it comes to toys), but primarily we’re in the birthday business, and birthdays happen every single day of the year,” David adds. “As we move forward with the partnership, both Moonpig and The Entertainer will be focused on how we can celebrate those milestones all year round.”

Moonpig is a hugely data-driven business, which collects and analyses insights into the types of cards shoppers buy, the occasions they celebrate most and the characters they send their loved ones. While news of the partnership was officially broken on 16th September, seeding of select products had been taking place for several weeks beforehand, allowing the website’s algorithms to do their work. This means consumers will now be presented with toys and gifts from The Entertainer and ELC based on their individual shopping mission. It’s interesting to note that, according to David, a grandparent shopping for their seven-year-old grandson will be presented with a completely different selection of toys from The Entertainer versus someone looking on behalf of their new baby cousin, say, precisely because of those algorithms and all that data. It’s all part of a personalised shopping experience that’s helped Moonpig cement its place among the most trusted gifting retailers in the UK.

“We just want to make this simple for our customers,” David says. “If you know your loved one is a fan of Peppa Pig, then here’s a range of Peppa Pig cards, here’s a selection of great Peppa Pig toys, and your job is done. You can tick that task off your list and feel 100% sure your gift is a great one.”

The partnership will be advertised to consumers in all relevant channels and feature prominently in branding across the website, which receives an enormous amount of traffic each day. The homepage has a large banner across it, proudly proclaiming “New kids’ gifts have landed!” and inviting visitors to shop the range. Click on it, and you’re taken to a landing page featuring predominantly licensed plush, dolls and play sets, as well as a healthy range of arts & crafts sets from Addo Play, Make It Real and Spin Master, games from Hasbro and Mattel, and educational early learning products from the likes of VTech. The interface is simple, the pricing clear and the photography shows off the products. For a time-pressured relative unsure of what to buy their Bluey-mad niece, Frozen-loving nephew or creative, artistic grandchild, it’s a dream to navigate.

When asked what it’s been like to work with The Entertainer, David lights up. “It’s been fantastic, and I’m not just saying that,” he enthuses, adding that while Moonpig has enjoyed many partnerships over the years, this latest one has really been something special, with The Entertainer being both flexible and patient with Moonpig as it has got to grips with the ins and outs of the partnership. “We’ve spent some time helping each other understand our differences and similarities, and how we each work as retailers, because at heart we are quite different – yet we have a complementary approach and we’re both here to make people happy. We respect each other’s authority and expertise, and we’re committed to working toward the end goal of providing that total gifting solution.”

A large part of that goal hinges upon Moonpig’s ‘trusted brand strategy’. Some retail brands are instantly recalled and recognised by consumers. Others, not so much. Moonpig and The Entertainer firmly occupy the former camp. Consumers who turn to such brands have, and want to retain, ultimate confidence in their decision to spend with that retailer. When it comes to shopping with Moonpig, that means they want to be completely sure that both the card and gift they send their loved one will be well-received. Maybe they won’t see them on their special day, owing to distance, work commitments or time constraints. If that’s the case, it’s even more important to the gifter that what they’ve chosen to send lives up to their expectations.

The Entertainer’s Moonpig tie-up has been preceded by a very successful concession-model partnership with Tesco, which began on a trial basis before rolling out permanently this year. This time though, both parties have entered into the agreement in the knowledge that this will be a long-term partnership. Indeed, the word partnership is used again and again during my conversation with David. This is because that’s the way Moonpig approaches collaborations with others – it doesn’t view them simply as relationships, but something much more. It’s also not in the business of competing with other toy retailers, instead viewing itself as a complementary platform within the marketplace. David tells me The Entertainer’s Phil Savage got this from the very first meeting. Immediately, he was equally as passionate as David is about making this nothing short of a resounding success on a permanent basis.

Of course, Moonpig already works with a number of toy suppliers, such as Lego. I was keen to know, therefore, what impact the tie-up with The Entertainer and ELC would mean for them – is the partnership a bad sign for their relationships moving forward?

David says no. In fact, to the contrary, he views the partnership as a good thing for the rest of Moonpig’s supplier base. “We’re now able to talk about and look at toys in a way that’s reinforced by the knowledge of The Entertainer. This is a massive growth opportunity for us and I’m not just saying this because it’s what people want to hear: I think our other toy partners genuinely stand to win as a result of this. Where it makes sense, we’ve already agreed with existing partners to keep the direct supply in place, but we are positioning The Entertainer as the go-to toy specialist within the world of Moonpig.”

And while The Entertainer and ELC’s selection of toys and gifts is first and foremost aimed at kids aged 0-8, there’s also scope for Kidults to get in on the action too. After all, a large portion of Moonpig cards are destined for a teenager or adult. David points out that teenage boys can be some of the hardest to shop for when it comes to gifts but that with a toy expert partner on board, there’s now scope for Moonpig to boost its offering for this demographic and, hopefully, offer that bit more choice for customers.

“We can trial and test, and our data systems mean we can upload something in the morning, and see how it’s selling that afternoon,” David adds, highlighting Moonpig’s ability to pivot rapidly according to customer needs. “We’re open to exploring any areas in which our total gifting solution could help shoppers out.”

“We’re very serious about our partnership with The Entertainer, which will be evident from the way we are positioning our messaging and marketing it to consumers,” he finishes. “Moonpig’s partnership with The Entertainer is a good thing for both our customers and the wider toy industry. This should be viewed as another route to market - an additional opportunity for growth and expansion into new channels. Moonpig is business with a growth mindset, and we feel strongly that that growth should encompass all our suppliers and partners.”