Phil Geary is Marketing and Ecommerce Director at The Entertainer, the UK’s biggest independent toy retailer. He talks to Figaro Digital about the brand’s recent partnership with SmartFocus and recreating the wonder of a toyshop online
Can you tell us a little about the work you’re doing with SmartFocus and what you’re hoping to achieve?
We’re really targeting the single customer view, as most retailers are. We’re driving forward our ability to deliver a personalised service across all of our consumers and touch points. The example I always use is Star Wars. When selling Star Wars Lego, you have two very different customer groups. You have people buying it for their children and you have collectors. Currently, on a day-to-day basis, we don’t know who that person is. You could be a 40-year old collector and we could be assuming you’re an eight-year old child, so at the moment we email you or alter your web experience accordingly.
The work we’re doing with SmartFocus gives us the ability to really drill down to individual purchase patterns and talk to people with far more relevance. That’s what we’re hoping to achieve. In terms of benefit, we’re naturally looking to increase the basket value but also the frequency of visits—both to stores and the site—and generally increase the life-time value of the consumer by keeping them better engaged.
The traditional toyshop idea is all about imagination and immersion. How can you recreate this online?
The wonder of going into toy stores never grows old. We offer that in-store and we offer outstanding value to replicate that in an online experience. Nevertheless, there’s always going to be the challenge that children don’t get to play with the toys and interact.
We’re pushing hard on our online content—particularly our video content—to try and bring that experience to life somewhat. We’re trying to make this relevant to individual customers’ previous purchase history. We’re also looking at offering the ability to talk to our service agents here.
The wonder of going into a toyshop—it’s very difficult to replicate in an online environment.
In the online space, you can’t market directly to children. How does this affect your communications?
The main groups buying from us are mums, dads, ‘gifters’ and collectors. We don’t communicate directly to children. We create groups. Frozen would be a great example, which is the biggest toy franchise at the moment. They were absolute winners last year. We’ve created Frozen groups. We take the customers’ details and send them priority email campaigns when products come into stock. (People are desperate for the latest Lego ice castle, for example). Then we build lists—essentially waiting lists. We don’t yet have the functionality to pre-order but that is currently in testing.
And what about social media?
There’s a two-way strategy there. One is by utilising the customer service opportunities that social sites offer, but secondly, in terms of marketing, we use social to promote competitions, freebies, latest products, and new and exclusive content. We’re talking to mums and dads and ‘gifters’, in a very similar way to how we communicate directly (telling them what’s new, what value we’ve got, what competitions we’re running, and what’s new and exciting both in-store and on the web).
Is building a great brand experience more important than pushing products and driving sales online?
Naturally, we’re looking to sell more toys. But with that comes the need to ensure we continue offering outstanding value. When we have specific ranges, when we’re ahead of the game or we’ve got exclusives, then logically we like to talk about it.
But engaging with a brand in a single dimension, just talking about products and promotions, isn’t really going to improve the engagement with your consumer. If that product doesn’t fit in with the right category or isn’t for the correct age group, or it’s not a product they’re collecting, they’ll very quickly turn off.
We tend to try and focus a bit more on streaming video content and talking about what’s happening in the toy industry—what ranges or franchises are going to be new, for example. The toy industry can be driven by movie releases, so we talk a lot about what new content children are going to be getting excited about and how the toys are going to follow through the movie releases.
Ultimately, we’re trying to get people excited about what’s happening in the toy industry.
Consumers are now using multiple channels to engage with brands. What impact do you see this having on the way consumers interact, and how can marketers adapt?
Consumers want more delivery options, more payment options, more pick-up options, and they want it cheaper than they’ve wanted it before. But you can’t get a quart into a pint pot—you’ve got to focus on what’s right for your consumer. We like to ensure that, first and foremost, we are offering outstanding value to the consumer—both in terms of the product they’ve purchased and the advice they’ve received.
In terms of technology advances, the smartphone explosion has paved the way for peoples’ shopping habits. Over 50 per cent of our traffic now comes through our mobile site. Communications need to be mobile optimised, and surfacing the right product for the right customer at the right time is critical on this channel. And it’s only going one way; the penetration of smartphones is only going to get more and more.
Which brands do you admire for their digital marketing strategies and why?
I’m always a big fan of John Lewis. I don’t think you need to look much further than those guys.
Also, I know they have their critics, but I do like Marks & Spencer. The project they did with Oxfam—Schwopping—I thought that was very good in terms of their ethical approach and the way in which consumers engaged. Nothing specific from a technology perspective, I’m just a big fan of their attitude.
Lastly, what do you see as the biggest challenge for online retailers in 2015?
The biggest challenge is going to be making money. I say that flippantly but, as I said before, consumers are becoming ever more demanding. They do want more payment solutions, they want more delivery options, and they want it cheaper and faster than ever before. So, putting money in the right place to ensure that you continue to give your consumer the best experience you can, whilst ensuring you stay one step ahead of the competition, is going to be massively important this year.
In a nutshell, the demanding consumer is going to be the biggest challenge.
Thetoyshop.com
Interview by Estelle Hakner