August Newsletter

• Editorial
  - Counting down till kick-off,
• The Baby Boutique
  - Trends for Little Feet.
• Buy Baby Buy
  - Retail Buying Tips
• Accessorise Me
  - Jewellery and Fashion Accessory Speak
• Sharpen Up
  - Leading Trends in Kitchen Gadgets and Knives
• Make it a Wrap
  - Wrapping Up the Season Ahead
  

The Baby Boutique

Trends for Little Feet

The baby wares and toy market is one of the fastest-growing areas of the gift industry internationally. Nowadays, the baby sector is trend-driven and sophisticated, with a huge array of toys and apparel on offer to retailers and consumers. However, choosing which baby products to stock in your store does require more than just a few baby steps, say toy specialists.

Bruce Nuttall, director of Baby First, believes baby products and toys have developed greatly over the past five years. “They are moving forward in safety, quality and developmental skills,” he says. “Toy manufacturers are aptly aw are that they need to create toys that are not just a plaything but a product that stimulates and helps babies to develop their senses and cognitive skills.”

This element of productive play resonated at this year’s international New York Toy Fair, where fair organisers promoted the trend of ‘performance play’ to exhibitors and visitors. “The ‘performance play’ trend capitalises on a mounting desire among parents, healthcare officials and the government to get kids up and moving; it also includes play that ‘exercises’ the brain,” says Reyne Rice, toy trends specialist for the US Toy Industry Association. “Brain-challenging toys and role-play products that foster active play and games that incorporate motion-sensor technology were all-pervasive at Toy Fair and will continue to saturate the market in 2011.”

Nuttall has witnessed a similar influence in New Zealand. “One category that is definitely improving, with much focus on it, is the tummytime aspect of play for babies,” he says. “Plunket has always encouraged babies to play on their tummies for developmental purposes, and now there is an increasing array of activity mats and toys coming through that help to encourage and build this developmental stage of learning.” New Zealanders don’t alw ays witness every overseas product or gift trend – our tastes are not always in-line with what’s showcased in Europe or America – but when it comes to baby wares and toys, Kiwi mums and gift buyers are alw ays up with the play, says Nuttall. “New Zealand mums are right up with the mark et, and many follow overseas websites showing the latest products and articles written on child development, ” he says. “We are often asked for toys before they arrive because they have won an aw ard or are featured on a blog somewhere.”

Jo Sutton, director of wholesale baby wares and toys company Molly Jay, agrees. “We used to see New Zealand as a very conservative market, but this is changing very quickly as customers get more web savvy and educated when it comes to emerging fashion/design trends from overseas,” she says. “Especially popular right now are vintage-inspired designs with a strong contemporary edge. Nostalgic childhood memories are being revived with delightful prints and images from the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s. However, consumers still expect their products to be made of the latest materials and to meet the highest safety standards, no matter which genre their purchase is replicating.”

Measuring up to overseas standards is something Dave Austin, director of wholesale company Child’s Play, believes Kiwis do well. “We’re always chasing the latest designs. It’s amazing when one of our suppliers releases something new, we’ll always receive enquiries regarding when it will be in stock for New Zealand customers to purchase,” he says. “If you don’t keep up with what’s happening overseas, you can get left behind very quickly, and it’s a hard road to recover on at present.”

Informative parenting is a huge bonus for the baby industry, says Nuttall, both price and brand wise. “Mums now often come in and look for brands because they’ve been doing their research,” he says. “I think displaying one brand all together creates more impact and looks better, rather than mixing up lots of brands. Doing a few brands well, rather than doing bits of lots of brands, makes a better-looking store too.”

Maximising Profit

The key to maximising profit in your baby area is to keep it fresh and interesting, says Sutton. “By all means, stock up on basic, top-selling lines, but try to limit stock to enough for one to two months of trading. Stock sitting in storage is wasted cashflow,” she says. “Add interest and colour with smaller, affordable items such as rattles, soft toys, face washers, booties etc – these items make great baby-shower gifts.”

For most retailers, stocking products that meet the middle-range price bracket is a must, says Nuttall. “The middle of the market is the strongest market. The top-end market is comparatively small in New Zealand and will be for some time to come.

At the bottom end there isn’t much money to be made – and most mums want the best for their babies anyway – so don’t look there.”

Sutton agrees. “It is really important to stock a wide range of price points but with a strong emphasis on $20 to $50 gifts. Lower priced items – i.e. $15 to $20 – make great add-on gifts but need to be merchandised en masse, such as in a small basket, to prevent the store from looking bitsy and untidy.”

Displays

Creating an eye-catching display requires confident purchasing decisions first and foremost, says Sutton. “A single unit will never merchandise well, and skilled merchandisers will almost always display an odd number of items, e.g. three items,” she advises. “Toys should always be displayed with one model removed from the packaging. We (Molly Jay) always recommend that garments be hung or displayed so that the customer can feel the fabric quality and check the sizing because this can vary greatly between labels.”

Special attention should always be paid to your instore ‘baby area’, says Sutton. “Ensure it’s kept extremely clean and tidy as there is nothing less appealing than a grubby baby product stand! Think pure, clean, simple and beautiful, and your baby area will become one of the most profitable areas of your store.”

Successful selling is often a result of telling a story with your product, says Austin. “We always have our best results when products are displayed by range because it presents a much bigger story to the consumer,” he says. “We also promote a good, better, best policy so three similar items at the three levels are really all that is required.” A bigger issue facing toy retailers beyond what to stock and how to showcase product is the issue of untrained or unskilled staff, says Austin. “You can’t sell products without product knowledge, and nowadays many customers visiting a retail store have already done their product research and have all the information they need at their fingertips via the internet and the like,” he says. “Therefore, the customer will make your average staff member look silly if they don’t know what they are talking about. You don’t have to be everything to everybody – and I don’t think consumers want that – but shoppers do want to be served by someone who absolutely knows what they are talking about, not second guessing.” When in doubt, ask others in the same field for product advice and information, says Sutton. “Don’t hesitate to ask your trusted suppliers for their advice on top-selling lines as this may be entirely different to your expectations. You may be missing out on valuable sales simply because a product isn’t quite to your tastes, or you think you don’t know enough about it to stock it,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to try new products, but don’t go too crazy. Test the market and then increase stock levels if the product sells well.”

Happy baby product stocking and merchandising!