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Workers at an Amazon.com distribution center in France are packing unsold toys that were to be donated to a charity last month. (Guillaume Souvant / AFP / Getty Images)
Amazon.com relies on brilliance and nostalgia to attract buyers with its first catalog of toys, in a new brick-and-mortar strategy aimed at capturing its share of holiday toy sales.
When the former giant Toys R Us shut down its last stores earlier this year, it started struggling with giants such as Walmart, Target and Kohl's, as well as online engines like Amazon, which all a $ 3.3 billion market.
(The chief executive of Amazon, Jeffrey P. Bezos, is owner of the Washington Post.)
[Welcome to the first holiday season without Toys R Us]
"Amazon is excited to offer customers a new way to buy toys this holiday season," the company said in a statement to the Post Office.
"Holiday of Play" echoes the familiar style of Toys R Us holiday catalogs, but with some modern flourishes. You will not find any prices on its pages; Buyers must log in to find out how much the products cost. Instead, a QR code scan places the item in the buyer's online basket, taking it from the page to purchase within seconds. The digital versions of the catalog are available on Kindle and in PDF format online.
The catalog is a weapon in Amazon's holiday arsenal, as well as its free delivery for all customers during the holidays, with no minimum purchase required. The absence of explicit pricing is intentional, leaving Amazon free to alter its prices to remain competitive as the season warms, said Linda Bolton Weiser, an analyst at D.A. Davidson.
[This 6-year-old ordered $350 worth of Barbies from Amazon. Here’s what her parents did with them.]
"During the holidays, retailers try to act with prices," said Weiser. "This allows them to be flexible if they want to be strategic, in which case you do not want to print the price in the catalog."
Bolton Weiser pointed out that the products in the catalog are essentially from the list of flagship toys of the year and famous toy brands such as Barbie, Fischer Price and Lego. No risky and unknown element is presented.
"If you're looking for a share of the market, you're doing it with classic brands that will be very much bought during the holidays," said Bolton Weiser. "It benefits manufacturers of major brands that have these great classic brands and disadvantages smaller toy companies."
Even though they may seem out of date, the catalogs remain a surprisingly effective marketing tool, according to studies by the Data & Marketing Association, which revealed that more than 100 million American adults had bought a catalog in 2016. They are particularly popular with millennials, who now have the greatest purchasing power in retail.
Other retailers are proposing big changes to show their commitment to selling holiday toys. Walmart has beefed up its "Top Rated By Kids" program and is working with a group of 25 "kidinfluencers" to create a list of the most in-demand toys of the season. The company is increasing its in-store sales of toys by 30% and online articles by 40%. And it also hosts about 2,000 events to promote new products. Target is also expanding, almost doubling the number of new exclusive toys compared to the previous year. He expanded his toy sections and renovated 100 stores.
Meanwhile, Toys R Us is still drinking, even beyond the grave. Last week, the Kroger supermarket chain announced the organization of ephemeral mini-toy stores called "Geoffrey's Toy Box" in nearly 600 Kroger stores, in partnership with Toys R Us during the holidays. Geoffrey the Giraffe was the mascot of Toys R Us.
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