Toys ‘R’ Us Teams with Amazon for E-Commerce

Resurrected toy brand Toys ‘R’ Us is teaming with Amazon for e-commerce after ending a partnership with Target, according to Toy Book,

Toys featured on the Toys ‘R’ Us website now have a click-to-buy link to Amazon through the Amazon Associates program. It is unclear whether the current e-commerce deal between the two is a temporary fix or a more permanent solution for the toy company.

“By using the Amazon Associates’ links, Toys ‘R’ Us – in a digital sense – isn’t functioning as a retailer, but rather as a publisher,” says James Zahn, senior editor, Toy Book, in an interview with Forbes. “If the company is able to scale itself again following the pandemic, they will need a distribution and fulfillment infrastructure, a role that Target was said to be performing.”

The original partnership with Target came to an end in late July, just nine months after the two signed the initial deal. As part of that partnership, experimental Toys ‘R’ Us stores were promoted by Target in New Jersey and Texas last fall.