This year’s Toy Sale battle amongst the retail giants is epic. Really, really epic. And it helps that it is supported by the release of Toy Story 3 (which, in case you didn’t know, is a 90 minute advertisement for the toy industry).
I’m not talking about the prices, which show absolutely beautiful finesse in procurement for toy retailing (and that deserves its own blog entry), but the boundaries they have pushed to be the leader in the pack by:
- Purpose-built catalogue designs
- Adding the internet to their deck of cards
I pay particular attention to Kmart and Big W, with other retailers in the race being Toys R Us and Myer. And I must stress that when it feels that Toys R Us are not on top of their game for what is essentially their specialty, something definitely will be changing in the company over the next few months if they are going to stay alive.
The July school holidays is marked on the calendar of every person who works in the toy industry. Children are going to be out shopping with their parents, and toys need to be around to try to win their hearts. It is also the start of the 6 month stretch towards Christmas, the time of the year the industry champions and relies on for its bread and butter. I am more inclined to believe that Christmas was invented by the toy industry, like how Valentine’s Day was invented by the gift industry.
What prompted me to write about this were two things, one Kmart’s way and one Big W’s way, which will keep them competitive and dominate this year’s toy sale. And this plays further testament to the idea that it doesn’t take much to make a huge impact.
Plasmo and the Infinite Sadness 