As retailers continue to wait for a magic bullet to kickstart sales, there are some interesting retail developments to keep your eye on. I mentioned the imminent changes at the Toys R Us UK operation in last week’s Blog, although there have been a couple of additional twists since I wrote that piece – the most intriguing of which revolves around the future of Toys R Us’ online presence in the UK.
All of the initial press releases and comments referred to an impending switch to a ‘non-transactional website’, which seems pretty clear cut – however, I received a phone call soon after the Blog landed, which muddied the waters somewhat. Because talks are ongoing, I don’t want to say anything which might impact negotiations – all I can say is that it appears to be true that WHSmith isn’t interested in continuing with a transactional Toys R Us branded website. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that someone else isn’t interested, nor that there is a possibility that the website and store concessions will be run separately by different organisations… watch this space.
This week also saw the announcement that specialist eCommerce toy retailer Booghe is looking to open its first physical flagship store in Birmingham later this year. Booghe has been trading for eight years and has built a strong foundation in terms of its turnover and relationships with toy companies – and a move into brick and mortar may open the door to extending its partnerships with toy suppliers even further. The plans I’ve seen certainly look impressive, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the store looks when it opens. You certainly have to admire any business with the confidence to expand into physical retail right now.
It will also be interesting to see how the physical store builds on Booghe’s online offering and where it diverges – because I suspect there are significant differences between what works in the respective channels. One of the critiques I have heard of the TRU UK online operation was that the buyers who were working on it came predominantly from a physical retail background, rather than having specialist eCommerce knowledge. Whether that was a contributory factor in the website’s performance is not for me to say, but there are definitely those who believe it was inhibited from the start, and that buying for an eCommerce audience and establishing a strong online presence is a specific skillset in itself.
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