Special Feature - Toymaster

The future is bright for indies

It’s been a challenging year for toy retailers, but, true to form, the British indie sector has enjoyed another strong trading period – in part due to the help and support offered by the hardworking team at Toymaster. In this piece, the buying group outlines what membership offers independent retailers, from access to its branded and themed window programme to its standout central invoicing system.

“The past year has been a challenging one for Toymaster members,” notes Brian McLaughlin, Toymaster development manager. “It started off with a lockdown which affected the majority of stores and lasted until April, or May for those in Ireland, but despite this, our members found ways to keep trading. This ensured that their customers knew they were still there, ready for when they reopened, and those customers have continued to shop with them since.”

An adaptable, passionate and dedicated bunch, Toymaster’s members have worked incredibly hard over the past couple of years to both retain existing customers and attract new ones, and the buying group says many of its indies are now seeing their efforts pay off. Despite the supply chain and cost challenges all retailers (and suppliers) have been facing, Toymaster stores have still had plenty of stock filling the shelves and sales in the second half of the year were strong.

Brian adds: “Like its members, Toymaster worked hard throughout 2021, ensuring its retailers had the support they needed to trade well. At the heart of our support is communication: talking to our members gave us the understanding of what their needs and priorities were as the retail environment was rapidly evolving. We provide a range of services to help our members and are always looking for new ways we can support them.” Below, Brian outlines what Toymaster membership offers independent retailers and what he feels lies ahead in 2022.

Central invoicing - TIMS

I consider TIMS - which stands for Toymaster Information Management System – to be the biggest benefit of membership. TIMS is an internal portal which manages invoices and payments alongside many other features. The system is updated daily, meaning every supplier invoice we receive is available for our members to view at any time. This keeps all invoicing in one location, cutting out a lot of paperwork and admin hassle. Each month, Toymaster pays all the invoices due to each supplier, while the member just makes one single payment to Toymaster. The intention is to save our members time by making the payment process as simple as possible and keeping all the invoicing information in one place. This saved time can then be used to place orders and serve customers.

TIMS also lets members download data into reports for their own analysis, such as cash flow or purchase reports, which they can then use to help them with their planning and forward ordering. Members can even see what items other members are buying, which may highlight some missed opportunities.

TIMS was introduced over 10 years ago and has been updated over that time with new features suggested by our members, making it simpler and easier to use. Some of our members even give TIMS access to their accountants, so they can download the information needed to produce year-end accounts.

The Toymaster team is always looking to add new features to TIMS which will simplify it further and there are plans in the pipeline to make it even more user friendly in 2022. If any independent toy retailer wants to better understand just how beneficial TIMS is, then we recommend they speak to a current Toymaster member – all of them appreciate how much TIMS benefits both them and their businesses.

Access to suppliers

The next key benefit Toymaster offers is access to suppliers. This is often the main reason independent retailers contact us to set up membership in the first place, but the service we provide extends well beyond that. Toymaster has accounts with well over 150 suppliers, meaning our members enjoy the ability to try new ranges from different sources all year round. While it’s important to have in-store presence of all the major brands and licences, independent toy shops are able to differentiate themselves from their major competitors by stocking ranges that wouldn’t normally be found elsewhere. We like to ensure we have a broad selection of suppliers to choose from so our members can offer their customers a really comprehensive and varied range of toys and games.

We also agree payment and terms on behalf of our members as we can negotiate as a group rather than each retailer having to negotiate individually. We usually get better payment terms and dates for our members by doing things this way, although we do offer a discount for early payment. We appreciate that some retailers prefer to pay their invoices month by month to help manage their cashflow.

Information

Our relationship with Toymaster suppliers doesn’t end there. The Toymaster team is on hand to make sure its members have the very latest information available to them and don’t have to spend time chasing salespeople. Last year we introduced a new feature on our internal website called the Product Hub. This is where we store the latest updates from suppliers, including range and marketing presentations, product videos and the latest order forms. By collating all this information into one location, our members can easily access what they need to place an order simply by looking down the menu for the supplier they’re after.

The Product Hub was originally intended as a replacement information service following the cancellation of the London Toy Fair and May Toymaster Show. However, based on the positive feedback we had in 2021, we’re keeping the Product Hub as a feature.

Marketing

Toymaster members also enjoy great marketing support. Perhaps the most obvious examples of this are our catalogue and promotional flyers, which are available free of charge to Toymaster members and allow them to showcase all their key brands and products to their local customers. New for 2022, we’re now giving members the opportunity to have their own store brand feature more prominently on the front cover, making the catalogue more relevant to their local customers.

The same applies to our window feature programme, which is also free to our members. The programme means retailers can opt to take a new display which showcases new ranges and the best-selling brands every 4-5 weeks. The displays are colourful and eye-catching, and they help shop windows to really stand out in the local area. This attracts more passers-by into stores. Our members tell us they simply wouldn’t have the time to produce their own displays, and that they therefore really appreciate the fact Toymaster does all the work for them.

All our services are optional, so Toymaster members can pick and choose which ones to participate in depending on what works best for them and their store. However, the group encourages them to take advantage of as much of its marketing support as much as possible. Everything we provide is designed to help drive footfall to our members’ stores and websites.

Support and Advice

Toymaster members receive unparalleled support, both from the team at the office and the network of group retailers. We’ve spoken about this before, but it’s worth reiterating: our members love to help each other out by sharing success stories and offering solutions to the challenges they face. It really is a bit like a family.

The team at Toymaster is on hand to offer help and advice, and we’re always speaking to our members and sharing ideas. However, it’s important to us that each Toymaster member retains their independence. At the end of the day, they decide what ranges to stock and how to present their store, because they know their customers and what works best for them in their local area.

We also use committees to help make central decisions which affect all members, such as cata logues and marketing initiatives, so that there will always be a retailer perspective.

The year ahead

We also look forward to the return of the Toymaster May Show, which will be held as usual at The Majestic hotel in Harrogate from 17-19th May. We’ve missed the show these past two years: it really brings our members and the wider industry together and demonstrates just how vital the independent sector is to the UK & Ireland toy markets. The show is open to all independent bricks & mortar toy retailers, not just Toymaster members, and we’re always happy to speak to independents who would like to know more about the benefits of joining Toymaster. We’re confident Toymaster can save them both time and money and help their business to thrive.

Looking ahead, many challenges remain for independent retailers. The sector is doing its best to compete with major retailers as many of the current issues, such as rising costs and supply chain delays, are expected to continue for a while. However, there are also many positives to look forward to – there are lots of new ranges to get excited about and a busy schedule of movies throughout the year with good toy ranges behind them. Consumers have embraced shopping locally over the past two years. Toymaster members have helped to drive that within their towns and are benefitting from having gained new customers that continue to shop with them.

Any independents wanting to find out more about the services and benefits available to Toymaster members can contact Brian at brian.mclaughlin@toymaster.co.uk or call the office on 01604 674 477.