Compared to previous years, retailers this year appear to have placed greater emphasis on the promotion of toys during the Black Friday through Cyber Monday period. The demise of Toys “R” Us has opened up additional sales opportunities for retailers who stock toys, resulting in dedicated homepage banners during the promotional event. Let’s explore the pricing tactics retailers applied during the holiday period and how stock availability may have affected sales.
On 14 November, nine days before Black Friday, the Toy Retailers Association (TRA) revealed its prediction for the top toys this Christmas. The TRA’s DreamToys top 12 for 2018 includes two of the toys also available in the Hamleys’ list; the ‘Boxer Robot’ and the ‘L.O.L. Surprise Eye Spy Under Wraps’. Both baskets also include a Harry Potter Lego item and a Monopoly game, as well as a slime-based item and a two player pack of toy laser guns, albeit differently branded.
Parents who had not yet catered for their kids’ Christmas wishes may have waited those nine extra days until Black Friday, hoping to grab a good deal on one of the toys predicted to be the most popular this year. What did our toy shoppers experience when comparing price and how did availability affect their ultimate choice of retailer?
DreamToys: Who sold at a dream price?
As we also observed with the Hamleys’ list, Amazon and Argos stocked all the items in the DreamToys list on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, except for the ‘Fingerlings Untamed Jailbreak Playset T-Rex Dinosaur’. Smyths Toys and Very also stocked all but one of the toys. Tesco, on the other hand, only listed one of the 12 toys – the ‘L.O.L. Surprise Eye Spy Under Wrap’.
The Entertainer (thetoyshop.com), which is in pole position with Smyths Toys to capitalise on the demise of Toys “R” Us, did not list three of the DreamToys items and was also the most expensive retailer, solely or conjointly, on more than half of the toys it stocked.
Amazon, on the other hand, had the cheapest price, alone or conjointly, on all the toys it listed. The Barbie listing was the only exception, with the cheapest price (£39.99) being offered by John Lewis and The Entertainer, although it was out of stock on The Entertainer on both days (and it was also out of stock on Amazon on Cyber Monday).
Pricing tactics during Black Friday frenzy
When comparing the prices seen on Cyber Monday to those observed on Black Friday for the toys in the DreamToys list, only Argos and Amazon have made some price reductions between the two days. Argos reduced the price of the ‘Harry Potter Wand’, down from £24.99 to match Amazon and Smyths Toys price at £19.99 and Amazon reduced that of the ‘Poopsie Slime Surprise’ by 2.6 percent in the days in between.
Although there were no significant price changes between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, some retailers reduced their prices in the week running up to Black Friday. Argos and John Lewis, for example, reduced the price of a third of their listings during that week, and The Entertainer and Very also reduced the price of some of the toys they listed. Smyths Toys, on the other hand, increased the price of four of the 11 toys it listed, but reduced the price of the ‘Boxer Robot’ on Black Friday day.