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23.01.2018 // The future of retailing: pioneers forging new paths to profitability

A future of retailing that envisions physical retail shopping, paired with an insatiable consumer passion for innovation. A vision that focuses on retail spaces embracing tactile and in-person experiences to delight shoppers, and products that are integral to solidifying that sensation of discovery.

There are some positive examples of brick-and-mortar retailers that have provided welcome experiences for consumers and received both encouraging customer support AND money in their cash registers. This is a profitable sign that the brick-and-mortar retail trend focus can be a working model, for retailers who are willing to shake things up.

Listen to your customers

Never say never. Listen to your customer’s requests and meet their needs. The TrendWatching team has reported that Everlane, a prominent online fashion retailer has just opened a flagship retail fashion outlet in New York City, in December 2017. The brand, who originally stated over five years ago that they would NEVER open a retail outlet, has listened to their consumer base, and met their high-touch demands for a store where they could touch and feel the fashions, and a place where they could return merchandise in-store.

This launch store location does combine online shopper profiles, linked to their POS (point-of-sale) in-store retail experience, by requiring their customers to link the two, before leaving the retail location, providing a seamless shopping footprint.

Combine offline and online shopping

Even Amazon, the largest online retailer, has invested in physical retail. Amazon recently purchased the Whole Foods grocery chain, for $13.4 Billion US dollars. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s contrary founder, has placed a stake in the ground for expansion into brick-and mortar retailing, and plans on reaching new consumers, through physical retail stores, combined with online ordering and delivery systems. Click-and-collect retail shopping is not a new trend. Yet if managed correctly, it can be an enhanced benefit to some consumers, especially millennials, who value convenience and time-saving features, yet demand quality goods, and eco-friendly and organic options.

Provide a homey atmosphere

Embrace your authentic atmosphere and make local a prominent feature. Stores that reflect their local community and offer local artists and makers a chance to shine, provide a true compass for both local shoppers and tourists. This unique approach to honoring your differences can provide a fresh face to your retail location, and invite repeat sales.

The Village Toys shop in Incline Village, on the shores of Lake Tahoe, California, offers a nostalgic feel for their customers, with a combination toyshop and ice cream parlor. This approach encourages cross-over sales for the huge Fourth of July visitor crowd swelling the town’s population seven-fold on this popular Holiday as a destination location. And year-round, the owners keep their finger on the pulse, rotating in new merchandise (such as jumping on fidget spinners, early in 2017), combined with classic toys and games.

Create a new retail model

Be the new retail model that makes sense, to consumers and manufacturers. At the recent Digital Kids Summit, held in Austin, Texas, in end of September 2017, a new store concept, B8ta, was the focus of an evening field-trip for conference attendees. The revolutionary retail store boasts new technology and demos for consumers, seeking the latest in tech and gadgetry for kids and adults.

One of the store co-founders of this San-Francisco based chain of 10 locations, Vibhu Norby explained their store concept charges manufacturers for the privilege of being featured in their high-tech, high touch stores. Products are demonstrated by associates, who are NOT pressured to sell the merchandise, but are tasked with showing the product features to the customers who enter the store, based on the customer interests.

This shift in thinking about the consumer experience has raised 19.5 Million US dollars in investments, and challenges how physical retail space can be monetized differently. Recently, B8ta announced that their smart-home-focused B8ta products will be featured in 70 nationwide USA Lowe’s DIY home improvement stores, and that selected Macy’s flagship locations will also feature B8ta in-store boutiques.

Surprise and delight your customers

Retailers who can provide a compelling destination for their customers, and a unique reason for consumers to choose them, over other alternatives, have a chance at surviving the “retail apocalypse” that has plagued many less-than-innovative retail chains. Many started out fresh and different, and then became tired, and less exclusive.

Surprise and delight your customers, be the source of expert recommendations and demonstrations, and your customers will not only become loyal patrons, but they will broadcast your message through word-of-mouth and social media.

17.01.2018 // January 17: Fun Holiday – Kid Inventors' Day

January 17 is Kid Inventors’ Day (KID), a day to encourage all the children in your life to think outside the box and invent something.

The unofficial holiday commemorates the birthday of all-around genius and kid inventor, Benjamin Franklin, and celebrates kid inventors around the world. It also aims to encourage children to be curious about the world around them and to be creative when solving problems.

15.01.2018 // Toy trend 2018: Explore Nature – children conquering nature

Do you still remember the best moments of your childhood? Eating sweets on the sly and hiding the wrappers under the cupboard or using chairs and sheets to make dens. But wasn’t it especially great to return home with twigs in our hair and smiles on our faces having been out playing on a summer’s evening? All that fun climbing trees, building dams, watching ants carry a massive caterpillar, holding snail races and snitching fruit from the neighbour’s garden. Nature offers endless opportunities for play.

Full schedules, the pressure to perform and digital media increasingly dominate the lives of our children nowadays. Outside of school, children spend their time at music classes and private lessons or in front of the television. There’s little time left to play outdoors. Some see nothing beyond their own four walls, school and the supermarket anymore. Many city kids end up believing hens lay colourful eggs. They don’t realise the really exciting adventures awaiting them right outside their front door.

A survey of children aged six to thirteen in 1990 showed that almost three quarters of them spent time outside every day – this figure had dropped to less than 50 percent in 2003. Of 1,000 seven to twelve-year-olds surveyed in the UK, more than 50 percent said they were forbidden from climbing trees or playing in a nearby park on their own.

Toy Trend 2018: Explore Nature
The Explore Nature trend hopes to remind people that the biggest playground and most exciting stories await directly outside our front door. Children should be encouraged to discover nature and its inhabitants for themselves and experience and investigate the world with all of their senses.

Toy Trend 2018: Terra Kids series by Haba
How many legs does a beetle actually have? How does a fish move? What kinds of creatures live on a leaf?

With the beaker magnifier from Haba’s Terra Kids series, kids can use the integrated magnifying glass to marvel at and closely examine beetles, tadpoles, leaves and fossils.

Toy Trend 2018: carving set by Kosmos
Crafty kids aged eight and older can make a little sailing ship with the complete carving set from Kosmos. The set contains a children’s carving knife, lime wood block and detailed instructions.

Besides learning basic cutting techniques and how to work with a natural material like wood, kids also get so much enjoyment out of putting the ship on water for the first time and marvelling at how it stays afloat.

Toy Trend 2018: ladybird products by moses.Verlag
Children can demonstrate their green-fingered skills through play with the ladybird products from moses.Verlag. From a gardening apron, matching gloves and child-friendly gardening tools through to a grow-your-own edible flower set and watering cans, moses offers everything sure to get a little gardener’s heart racing, all with a fun ladybird motif. Children can plant tomatoes, strawberries and nasturtiums, watch them grow and then gobble them up.

03.01.2018 // London Toy Fair 2018

The annual trade fair is back again for 2018, taking place at the end of January at Olympia Grand and West Halls, London.

More than 270 companies are expected to exhibit thousands of products to visitors including retailers, buyers, media and the wider industry.

29.12.2017 // WIT ANNOUNCES 2018 WONDER WOMAN AWARDS FINALISTS

27.12.2017 // 10 predictions for the toy industry in the year 2022

So, before getting into predictions let’s take a look at some of the forces currently in play:

• Bricks and mortar retail is struggling, particularly big box. Toys "R" Us is in bankruptcy and some have concerns about the entire concept of bricks and mortar retailing. Which of the bricks and mortar retailers will be active and to what degree is anyone’s guess.
• E-commerce is on fire and there is no end in sight to Amazon’s almost exponential growth. Ironically, they could be the future of bricks and mortar retailing as they enter the market with new ideas and fresh strategies – like having stores with no employees.
• Consumers, particularly Millennials, are less likely to drive to a store than their Boomer parents and grandparents. Why because they see a previously unrecognized opportunity cost in driving to the store and not finding what was wanted. Simply put, buying on line saves time and is more efficient.
• An online shopper needs credit and access to the Internet and the lowest economic class has neither. It is for that reason that value operators like Dollar General and Family Dollar are bright spots in bricks and mortar. Simply put, they are the place to go for the digitally and economically disenfranchised. These chains are prospering and therefore energizing an already dynamic market for low, low price items offering outsized value to lowest income shoppers.
• China is emerging as a major consumer market for toys. In fact, Euromonitor predicts that China will replace the US as the number one country for toy consumption by 2021.

Based upon that, what is the toy industry going to be like in 2022?

1. Baby Boomers and Generation X'ers will have exited the management ranks with Millennials taking their place. They will change the face of retailing and manufacturing with new ideas unchained to 20th century notions of doing business.
2. China will be the #1 consumer market for toys in the world. Expect to make a lot of trips to China as American toy companies become increasingly invested in the Chinese domestic toy market.
3. Amazon will be the number one toy retailer in the US and much of the world.
4. Toys "R" Us will still be with us but with different owners, fewer and smaller stores and some surprisingly strong competition from independent toy retailers.
5. Independent specialty retail will grow as operators move into zip codes abandoned by Toys “R” Us.
6. There will be a return to pre-self service retailing. Shopping will be far more person-to-person and interactive.
7. 3D Printing will have evolved to the point that it begins to cut into traditional factory based production. We will see this in both digital and physical locations that can supply personalized products on demand.
8. We are already seeing companies like AMC and IMAX offer digital play / entertainment experiences so look for more competition for play dollars to be coming from those who offer an experience you cannot get at home.
9. Licensing will still be highly important but an oversupply of shows (think YouTube, Netflix, Disney Channel, NBC Universal, Nickelodeon and more and more) plus a continuing parade of blockbuster movies will make choosing the right license a losing proposition.
10. License royalty fees will come down for everyone except Disney while the entertainment industry goes through a shakeout.

22.12.2017 // Christmas and New Year's Greetings!

Dear customers! May your Christmas be filled with lots of happiness, peace and love… ooh and lots of presents!

Wishing you  achieving new goals and a  lot of new inspirations in your life! May this Christmas be bright and cheerful and may the New Year begin on a prosperous note!

 With best regards,

Ranok-Creative Team 

19.12.2017 // Super heroes or scary monsters: new dimensions in dressing up

Motto parties, kids' birthday parties and club functions all offer plenty of opportunities to dress up at any time of the year, not just Carnival. Suppliers of fancy dress costumes have an impressive range of costumes and innovations on offer that look more and more like the original.

"I'm sure Batman doesn't moan when he has to do boring homework, he just gets on and does it. After all, he is a super hero." That's the sort of thing children probably think when psychologists put them in Batman costumes to find out what helps children to discipline themselves.

Some studies at any rate indicate just how seriously children take their transformations and that they do actually slip into the roles of their costumes. Suppliers of costumes, make-up, swords and crowns for children can be sure that role play won't go out of fashion too quickly.

When it comes to children's costumes there's plenty of scope for new and original ideas alongside the classics and the current license themes. Disguise Inc., a member of Jakks Pacific Inc. (USA), has announced costumes depicting characters from the "Minecraft" universe whose appearance reflects the design language of the computer game: roughly structured building blocks that can be arranged to form whole buildings and landscapes are also the basic elements of the costume design.

No superhero without a licence

Licences are the big topic when it comes to dressing up. Over past years they have become increasingly popular in the Carnival sector, loved by both children and adults alike.

Rubie´s Costume Co. presented an entire collection of costumes, accessories and masks taken from the world of Wonder Woman. The new film was launched in cinemas this summer and can now be seen on every screen in the world. Rubie´s offers costumes and accessories in children's and adult sizes representing the main characters.

The same company has a surprising offer for dog owners. Rubie´s Pet Shop Boutique has a range of costumes and accessories to transform your four-legged pets into characters from the worlds of Transformers and Hasbro's My Little Pony.

Make-up and accessories for that scary look

Tobar Group Trading Limited from the UK has put together a special Halloween range including socks with skeleton patterns, soap bubbles you can mix yourself in scary colours and lollipops shaped liked ants or mealworms. They also have artificial blood that you can smear directly on the costumes or your skin.

Make-up is an essential component if you want to transform yourself into a zombie. The German company Jofrika has published a make-up book to show you how it's done. With the aid of professional make-up artists, they have developed various masks for children and adults and photographed them step by step. Success is guaranteed, even for amateurs.

Amscan Europe GmbH has all the right accessories for Halloween and also announced a surprising licensing agreement with the LEGO Group. Paper cups, plates, garlands and balloons all come with motifs from The LEGO Batman Movie.

08.12.2017 // Dad's Choice Awards 2017 announced

Spin Master, VTech and Playmobil were among the big winners.

The 'Super Dad Testers' have spent weeks putting 2017's top toys through their paces, putting together their Dad's Choice winners list ahead of the Christmas season.

30.11.2017 // Social media stars to debate celebrity culture at Children's Global Media Summit

McFly's Tom Fletcher and a host of vloggers and influencers will be on hand to discuss the future of celebrity culture.

The Children's Global Media Summit will play host to a panel of vloggers and influencers to discuss the future of celebrity culture, in the 'Celebrities Unleashed' panel.