Toys 'R' Us lifted the curtain on its plans for the 2014 holiday season during a preview event at its showcase Time's Square store in New York City Wednesday.
Hank Mullany, president of Toys 'R' Us U.S., is expecting a very strong holiday season for licensed brands and highlighted five key properties that the company expects to be juggernauts at retail including Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Paw Patrol, Hasbro's Transformers and Disney's Doc McStuffins and Star Wars Rebels. The company is also bullish on Disney's Frozen and is planning to showcase more than 300 Frozen products across the store.
He also discussed steps the company has taken during the first half of the year to prepare its stores nationwide for the busy shopping season ahead, including building its leadership team, successfully concluding its inventory clearance event to make way for hot new holiday products, significantly improving its in-stock position, strengthening customer relationships with enhanced service offerings and redeploying capital for store maintenance.
Mullany also announced the launch of the company’s new Rewards 'R' Us loyalty program and plans to make it easy and fast for holiday shoppers to find the toys they want through new Here’s What’s Hot and Gift Express in-store shops, as well in-aisle Top Gift suggestions and a curated online Gift Finder.
“We are pleased with our progress and the foundational improvements we’ve made to the business in preparing for the busy months ahead,” says Mullany. “Our focus at Toys 'R' Us for the 2014 holiday season is to make it easy for customers to shop with us both in-store and online. At the same time, we will clearly demonstrate our toy category leadership through our broad product assortment, by having hot toys in-stock when customers want them, and leveraging the expertise of our employees in helping gift-givers select the right toy for the child on their list.”
The more than 18 million existing Rewards 'R' Us members, and those who sign up in-store or online are now able to earn more rewards. The complimentary loyalty program enables members to simply earn one point per dollar spent at Toys 'R' Us or Babies 'R'Us locations. Rewards 'R' Us members who are also 'R' Us credit card holders will earn two points per dollar spent in-store or online.
Toys 'R' Us has also expanded its omni-channel capabilities with the introduction of online layaway, giving customers the ability to create layaway orders online, make payments either in-store or online and choose to pick up their order in a local store or have it delivered right to their home.
Additionally, this fall, the company is introducing new navigational signage in its Toys 'R' Us stores across the U.S. to make it easy and fast for gift-givers to find what they’re looking for.
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The company will also launch two new gift solutions in-store shops located at the front of each store, providing shoppers with easy access to top gifts and helping to eliminate guesswork.
The Here’s What’s Hot shop showcases new product arrivals and top trending toys for children of all ages. Featured products will change on a monthly basis. For grab-and-go shoppers, a curated assortment of top items available for $30 or less is presented in the Gift Express shop. And to further assist holiday shoppers select a gift sure to please, the company’s team of merchandising experts have chosen 16 Top Gift suggestions to showcase through in-aisle presentations.
The company will continue to offer exclusive products through partnerships with branded vendors, including new and upcoming introductions such as the LEGO Fusion segment and Barbie Malibu House. Plus, Toys 'R' Us continues to invest in its own private brand lines including Journey Girls, You & Me, The Home Depot, Animal Planet and EduScience.
