8 minute read
Trade Talk - suppliers share advice for retailers in light of shortages and price rises
TRADE OPINION Trade talk
Calling all suppliers and distributors! We’d love to hear your views. Get in touch with Clare@lemapublishing.co.uk to have your say!
As we move through autumn, we quiz suppliers on the return to trade shows and ask them to share some advice for retailers in the light of shortages and price rises
STEVE COX
UK Sales Director, Keel Toys
If you have attended trade shows, how has that been?
Autumn Fair and the INDX Toys & Nursery Show [formerly the Independent Toy and Gift Show] were a great success. With the difficulties in supply chain “With the this summer, key customers were keen to book business difficulties in - not only for the last quarter supply chain… but also for S/S22. Moving key customers forward, this could be a trend were keen to and make autumn fairs a book business - more important part of the not only for the buying cycle of the year.
last quarter but How are you supporting retailers in light of shortages also for S/S22” and price rises?
GAYNOR HUMPHREY
Director Best Years
If you have attended trade shows, how has that been for you?
We attended both Harrogate [Home & Gift Buyers Festival] and INDX Toys & Nursery Show [formerly the Independent Toy and Gift Show]. Both were very successful but also very different.
Harrogate was significantly quieter than normal, with key suppliers and retailers choosing to stay away. However, the visitors who did attend came with the objective of stocking up, and we took more orders than we have ever taken at a trade show.
In comparison, INDX Toys was a lot busier than we have normally experienced, with a definite increase in footfall, and this also converted into a lot more orders than we normally take.
In terms of what they were looking for, retailers at Harrogate asked, “what’s new?” but at INDX Toys the emphasis had switched to “what’s in stock?”.
How are you supporting retailers in light of shortages and price rises?
We have started rationing stock where we have issues, to ensure that a wide range of retailers can access the toys rather than two or three larger retailers buying the whole lot.
We source from all around the world - Egypt to China, India to Sri Lanka - so we have been bringing in more toys from producers who are not in lockdown. Ironically, we are in a better position than we could have been, because we helped out a lot of our smaller Fairtrade producers earlier in the year by buying way more stock than we needed. This helped them get back up on their feet and has been a lifesaver for A/W.
Where we have significant logistical issues is with our dinosaur toys, so we are trialling road freight to get our toys in before Christmas. This is more expensive than sea freight, cheaper than air freight and gives us a fighting chance of getting stock in by avoiding the congestion at Felixstowe.
What marketing activity can we expect for Q1?
Keel Toys are supporting retailers with great products, especially Keeleco, which is fast becoming the must-have sustainable soft toy.
What marketing activity can we expect for Q1?
In-store support for the launch of Keeleco Adoptable World.
What toy - new or old - would you like to find under the tree on Christmas morning?
A Space Hopper because I always bounce back! We are struggling to adjust back to pre-pandemic activity when we planned six to 12 months in advance, and now it’s our marketing which is just-in-time rather than our logistics. However, we always try to have something exciting for our independent retailers, so watch this space!
What toy - new or old - would you like to find under the tree on Christmas morning?
Definitely a family game. Our family is eclectic and includes neurodiverse members, so a family game is a great way for us to relax together. Previously we have loved everything from Bop It to Rummikub, so any suggestions for this year’s game would be great!
STEVE ASBEY
UK Sales Manager Cheatwell Games
If you have attended trade shows, how has that been?
Our first show back was Autumn Fair, and it couldn't have been better. The start was like the warm-up in the tunnel before a big match: a few nerves… can I still perform? What if I freeze when I get an opportunity? Should I keep my mask on? However, there were plenty of customers, existing and new, and many of them were placing orders.
By the time I'd paid over £8 for a drink and a chicken caesar wrap with no chicken, it was like we’d never been away. Despite the rising cost of production and shipment, we took the decision to maintain our pricing until 2022 - after all, we’ve seen excellent toy and games sales for the past 18 months. Without a doubt that contributed to our order book being the largest for many years, and most orders were for immediate delivery.
Which of your products have been popular?
Every product launch is filled with a little trepidation - we all know not every game will prove to be a winner. However, early sales reads on our new games are exceptional.
Family Quiz Night combines both junior trivia questions and adult trivia questions on the same card, so anyone in the family from eight years up can play and not feel left out. And, like all Cheatwell quiz games, there are a ton of questions: Family Quiz Night has 1,200 across eight popular categories.
Nostalgia is another new trivia board game which asks questions from the ’60s to the ’90s but there are also specialist categories from those decades. From Mods to punk rockers, Hammer Horror films to blockbusters, historical events to hysterical clothes, there are questions on the weird and wonderful from the final decades of the 20th century.
Spot The Intro is a race to name songs and the artist against the clock. Featuring hits from the past six decades, the mystery songs are uploaded via a QR code straight from the game cards
into your smart phone. And with more than 1,200 classic tracks included, it’s fantastic value for money. Snap Fit card game has been amazing: we sold out in six weeks but have more on the way. It’s an all-action family card game that “Despite the gets you up and active. Be the first rising cost of to spot the matching production and cards and shout shipment, we "Snap Fit!” to win and everyone else must took the decision carry out the crazy to maintain our action shown on the pricing until cards for a count of 2022” 10: jumping, hopping, spinning on the spot and more. Add these and many other new items to an existing portfolio of games such as Tension, Baffled, Race Night, and Eye Spy, and we have something for everyone. And I haven’t even mentioned our 1,000-piece World’s Smallest Jigsaw Puzzles, which are incredibly popular. So much product and not enough space!
How are you supporting retailers in light of shortages?
As a private company, we are able to make decisions very quickly and we made the most important one much earlier in the year, when we hit the ‘manufacture and ship now’ button in order to get product in early. Despite that we are still waiting for a couple of items. But by the end of October, we will have everything we planned to bring in. Great sell-through means we will run out of product, but we cannot do more than plan for sensible growth.
What toy - new or old - would you like to find under the tree on Christmas morning?
My son keeps telling me I need to play Ticket to Ride. But I really can’t see past a shiny new Scalextric set or a pack of Hot Wheels cars and a bit of track.
JO DRAGE
Sales Director, Thames & Kosmos
If you have attended trade shows, how has that been for you?
So far since Covid, we have been at an end-user event and a trade show, and it has been great to connect with people again. Buyers have been keen to see product for the first time in an eternity, and to get out the order book. I think everybody is doing everything that they can to make this Christmas feel ‘normal’ again.
How are you supporting retailers in light of shortages and price rises?
We have been very lucky in that only one SKU has been affected by the shortages so we have, in the main, been able to supply customers with whatever they have wanted. Unfortunately, we had stock on the Ever Given [container ship], so that was late - but that’s the only major drama that we have faced.
As far as price rises are concerned, we have swallowed our cost increases for 2021 and forfeited profit. We had a good 2020, so we can afford to pass on our good fortune to those that didn’t fare so well last year. I think loyalty works both ways, and we need to show our retailer customers that they matter to us.
What marketing activity can we expect for Q1?
We have a new TV campaign, which we will adapt for online marketing in the UK. We will also continue our review programme and social media campaigns.
What toy - new or old - would you like to find under the tree on Christmas morning?
I’d really like a Pac-Man game, or a Space Hopper. I do like a great party game too.
