Toy Store-y 2 and A Half: Pokemonium

Selling to Kids, Dec 8, 1999

While you were sleeping off your turkey hangover the Friday after Thanksgiving, thousands of grim-faced, coffee-craving combat shoppers were queuing up - some as early as 5 a.m. - in front of toy stores around the country. To catch 'em all, retailers baited the hook with Poke-anything and other specials available only in the wee hours.

S2K woke up early to observe the scene at four stores in Maryland, and we're here to confirm that advertising works. Last Thursday, many retailers also confirmed it when they released their November sales results: Increased numbers of shoppers saw the ads and answered their call, according to the figures of many stores.

Shoppers saw the benefit of leaving their beds, despite the opportunity to place online orders from home. Some of the brick-store shoppers we talked to also Web-shopped - or would've if online-store prices or merchandise had matched those within the bricks.

Wal-Mart reported a 10% gain in sales for Friday over last year and 6.4% more for the month for stores open at least a year. Company spokesman Tom Williams said toys were the second-best-selling category after electronics. The top four best-sellers within that category for the day were Amazing Ally, Pokemon (anything), Toy Story 2's horse and Chuck the Talking Truck.

Wal-Mart's gains are in line with a study conducted by Deloitte & Touche and the National Retail Federation. The Consumer and Retailer Mood Survey predicted a 6- to 6-1/2% hike in combined sales for November and December over last year. Deloitte's Ed Carey, global practice director, credits confidence in jobs and the economy for the increase.

But as the lure of online stores becomes more powerful, it'll become tougher to motivate parents to leave their houses to support land-based stores, especially if the retail experience fails to thrill them. Even this year, despite increased traffic on the day that retailers refer to as "Black Friday," some stores reported sales that fell short when compared with the same day last year.

K-B Toys in Lake Forest Mall in Gaithersburg, Md., is one such store. "We were down Friday from last year" despite more customers in the store, said Marcia Sheppard, training store manager, in a conversation last Tuesday. And parent company Consolidated Stores reported November sales for K-B stores overall dropped by 1.5% compared with last years'. With all the Poke-hype, how is that possible? She speculates it's because last year's "gotta-have" - the $40 Furby - cost more than a lot of the Pokemon stuff. You can get a card pack for $4 or $5, she said.

What Consumers Want

S2K chatted up early-morn shoppers at four stores to find out what they want from retailers. and what ticks them off. The main lessons from our observations of retail toy stores at their peak of busy-ness: You can fool some of the people with offers that look better on paper than in reality, but probably only once.

Stock enough of what you've advertised to handle traffic, don't mislead the public, open on time and offer to match other store's coupons. easily. That last tactic shouldn't be too costly because retailers keep close tabs on each other. A Toys 'R' Us employee saw us taking notes and asked if we were spying, which happens a lot, he said.

Another tip and marketing opp: Of the stores we visited that opened early, none offered coffee and donuts or arranged with coffee shops in the same block to open early. Imagine your product's logo on coffee cups . surely an opportunity for a smart marketer to offer to sponsor one of the most-needed coffee breaks of the year.

'Is That It?'

Among 100 shoppers who lined up for the 6 a.m. opening at a Toys 'R'Us in Rockville, Md., we heard plenty of grumblings when they saw the reward for being one of the first 500 customers. In the newspaper ad, the free "exclusive Pokemon trading card game, two-sided playmat with an exclusive game coin" looked much more impressive - like a game board - than it did in reality - like a folded up poster.

The "coin" was made of cardboard. "Pokemon cards sold separately" disclaimed the supplement. Of course, even at 6 a.m., there weren't any to sell in this store.

Retailers and manufacturers also have plenty of room for improvement on fulfilling promises. Sherry Rodgers, like other customers we talked to, learned not to expect to find what was advertised. We caught up with her at Zany Brainy, although she started the day at K-B Toys in Wheaton to get an advertised toy that "of course they didn't have. another ploy, like used cars."

At Zany Brainy, "where's the Electronic Media Trolley?" some customers wanted to know. The store didn't have any, and would make up for it with $10 off anything over $30, said an employee. But, complained a mother in line with a filled cart, the store's never had the toy, despite having advertised it at least three times. She said that a manager told her not to expect it by Christmas.

Smart Shoppers

Parents showed they're smart and they're doing their homework to balance the "needs" of the kids against the realities of the budget. They use supplements like guidebooks so it pays to make them clear, and easy to write on (avoid gloss-coated stock). "I mapped my strategy out last night," said Reese Moone of Rockville who spent $232.95 at TRU. Her strategy paid off. "The clerk told me I saved $155."