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Why should banks invest in small business?02 Feb 2012 Was anyone listening to Radio 5 this morning? Wake up to Money had Adam Posen sounding off about the banks not lending to small business. Adam Posen is a member of the banks monetary committee, who a year ago predicted slow down and risk of unemployment. You can listen to the programme here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01bb9sy but he describes bankers as risk averse jerks which made me laugh He thinks that banks have over-reacted and cut back on small business lending to mend their balance sheets I so agree with this that if I hadn't been so warm in bed I would have stood up and cheered. A year ago we approached our friendly and accessible bank manager to raise money to support our growth. We have to pay our fair trade suppliers when we place our orders so growing as quickly as we are causes us some problems. Our lovely bank manager agreed in principal and then fed all the information in to Head Office. The result? Yes we could borrow what we wanted and more but at a 11% interest rate, with our homes put up as surety and a £2000 admin fee. We're not stupid, and these terms were too silly to consider so we didn't proceed. This is just one story from a soft toy wholesaler, but how often has this story been repeated in the last 12 months? How many more of us could be growing and creating jobs and wealth if we had investment? The Prince of Wales' Duchy food range is a great example of how accessing finance can make a huge difference to a busines. In 2010 sales of organic food fell by 10% but Duchy Originals's sales jumped from £1.23m to £2.37m and the company turned a loss of £537,000 into a profit of £2.25m in the year to March 2011. How did they do this? Waitrose invested money in to the brand and its range and the rewards are obvious. They were able to grow the business as they had the finance to introduce new products and market their brand However good your business, brand or product is you need investment to grow otherwise you get caught in what we call the Elves and the Shoemaker trap. Make one pair of shoes at a time and wait to sell them before you can buy the raw material to make another. Not the best way to run a company So heres a big cheer for Adam Posen. Hopefully people will start to listen to him and the UK's small companies can start pulling the economy in the right direction What do you think? Comment on our Facebook page
How much are you paying for credit card fees?02 Feb 2012 I don't have any hard proof but I am pretty sure that we must have been one of the first wholesalers to accept payments through our website as we have been processing almost since the first day we set up 10 years ago. When we first set the website up our website developer recommended Worldpay and we were happy to follow their recommendation. We have never really had any issues with them except a lurking suspicion that we were paying too much in credit card fees and that waiting 7-10 days for the money to be transferred to us was a bit long. However just before Xmas we applied to Worldpay to accept Swedish Krona ready for Formex and in response, with no communication at all, they took £1000 from the monies owed to us and kept it as a "deposit" So finally we have been given the push to look at alternatives to Worldpay and as per usual I will blog about our progress. I have no idea whether we will have the courage to move. The idea of something going wrong and being left without the facility to take credit cards quite frankly terrifies me! But we will do the preparation so at least we can make an informed decision Costs Worldpay charge us £160 per year service charge, 3.25% on all credit card transactions and 37p for debit cards. If we were to change we would need to be dealing with 2 companies, one to manage the website side and the other to provide our Merchant ID Payment providers are companies such as Secure Trading, Ogone and Sage all of which who charge approx £20 per month Merchant ID are the banks. Since we bank with Lloyds we asked them and they are quoting 1.5% for credit cards and 25p for debit cards plus £5 per month service charge. So we could end up paying £10 per month more in charges but our credit card fees will plummet. On these figures we currently pay £8.12 for a carriage paid order paid for by credit card and this will reduce to £3.75 so we will be even after just 2 orders Thats the first part of the investigation completed. Now we have to look at how much work will be involved in integrating the new system in to our website, and how much it will cost. Please let us know what you think, and if you have any recommendations, on our Facebook page
Is there such a thing as a free lunch?01 Feb 2012 After 10 years of being a soft toy wholesaler we have, unfortunately become a little cynical, especially in regards to trade shows. You will be promised everything before you sign up but promises and the reality are rarely the same thing. To use a well known phrase we we now believe that theres no such thing as a free lunch. However there is one trade show we exhibit at which does a lot to restore our faith and that is the Independent Childrenswear show in Coventry It is organised by the AIS buying group but you do not need to be a member to attend. It is a not for profit show and as organisers AIS cannot do enough to make the show enjoyable for exhibitors. However, although I am sure that you are pleased we enjoy the show, I am also sure that is not the primary reason why you would want to attend. The reasons we think you should give this show a go are
So please come and see us at Cranmore Park. We are sure that you will find it very useful For more information please click here Pretty in Pink25 Jan 2012 Unusually for a soft toy or baby toy wholesaler we are more well known for boys toys than for our girls'ranges I thought therefore that I should point out that we have some fabulous ranges for girls including blankets, hats, toys and rattles and here are just a few of them
Which is your favourite? Please comment on our facebook page Something for the boys25 Jan 2012 We have always been very strong in boys toys, driven firstly by the iconic knitted T Rex, but it doesn't stop there as we now have an extensive range of toys that boys will love, and heres just a few
Which is your favourite? Please comment on our facebook page Price Increases, Good news and Bad04 Jan 2012 The bad news is that having managed to hold the prices of our knitted toys for 2 years now (despite the factory price increasing steadily over this time) the prices of all our knitted toys will all increase on 14th Feb 2012. The good news is that the increase is only 3%! Our cotton toys from Sril Lanka are also going up by an average of 50p per unit, but the large elephant will go up by more due to the volume of cotton involved in the toy. The toys with the largest increase will be the Peruvian organic knitted toys. We will try to minimise the increase but it is going to be double figures % Our Pebble toys will not be increasing in the 1st half of the year so overall we think that there is definitely more good news than bad. For more information please email gaynor@bestyears.co.uk
Do you make hand made knitted toys? In Indonesia?04 Jan 2012 I was recently sent an email from someone i think was called Simon, who lived, I think in Indonesia However I deleted the message by accident before replying. Was that you? If so please, please email again because we are interested! Do you still remember? A list of retailers who have disappeared from the High St.03 Jan 2012 As the latest casualties of poor Xmas trading lapse in to administration I thought I would stir some memories of retailers who have disappeared just over the last 2 years. La Senza, Past Times, Tobar, D2, Barratts shoes, Alexon, Habitat, Alworths, Walmsley, TJ Hughes, Jane Norman, Officers Club, Focus DIY, Oddbins, Floors 2 Go, Borders, Confetti, Faith Shoes, Adams Childrenswear, Principles, Sofa Workshop, Allied Carpets, Dewhursts Admit it, how many had you already forgotten? To put things in perspective here are the numbers 2007 - 25 retailers in administration with a total of 2600 outlets 2008 - 54 retailers go with a total of 5793 outlets 2009 - 37 retailers with 6536 outlets 2010 - 26 retailers with 944 outlets 2011 - 31 retailers with 2469 outlets Reading that you wouldn't think there were that many left to go but the newspapers are already speculating about Peacocks, HMV and Clintons Cards. As a toy wholesaler we wish all you independent retailers a successful and profitable 2012. We certainly are looking forward to the year and only really miss those retailers who didn't create their turnover by discounting
New Years Resolutions31 Dec 2011 Do you make New Years Resolutions? Last year Best Years made one simple resolution and that was World Domination. There were some who thought this might be a bit ambitious, but if you have product ranges as good as ours then why not aim high? So how have we got on? Well in a year when Russ Berrie, TP Toys, Corinthinan, and more recently, and very sadly, Tobar have gone in to administration, our sales have boomed. But although our sales have been great much of our time has been spent on much more mundane things As Abraham Lincoln said “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening my ax” Well we have spent a lot of time sharpening our axe. We have moved our warehousing, moved our administrative systems on to The Cloud and built up stocks so that we can bring our service levels up. We have upgraded our website and our accounts system so that our backroom can keep up with our increased sales. We have starting working with new fair trade suppliers and new factories in China so that we can offer a diverse range of hand made toys. Its been a lot of work but will undoubtedly be invaluable as we expand. So to use another quote, this time from Bonaparte “Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.” We are now ready to take on the world. We start with trade shows in London and Stockholm and aim to be in Paris for the summer. We very much hope that you will be able to join us Top Drawer Spring 15th - 17th Jan, stand G18 Formex, Stockholm, 19th - 22nd Jan, stand A45:14 Bubble London, 29th - 3oth Jan, stand B25
Please let us know what your New Years Resolutions are on our Facebook page
Interview with Samantha Morshed by Trendhunter31 Dec 2011 Heres an interview with Samantha who is the founder and inspiration behind Pebble toys
3 Questions with Samantha Morshed, Founder of Pebble and CEO of Hathay Bunano 1. How did the idea for the business model come about, and how did you decide to join this sector? For the past couple of decades I had visited Bangladesh and seen donor-funded projects that involved village women making mostly stitched items which, while well-made, had not been geared to a specific market and did not have consistency in their quality. I thought about how I could get involved for many years before finally, for other reasons, my family moved en masse to Bangladesh and it was time for me to put these ideas into practice. I didn’t want to make something that required the creation of a new market because that would be too costly; rather, I wanted to make something that people already wanted to buy, and then to make it rurally and by hand so it would take longer to make and thereby create employment without adding to the ever-growing commercialism in the West. I wanted to make something that would be good quality and well-made and that people would cherish; items that would be handed down from generation to generation that they would value. I learnt to knit when I was three-years-old—before I went to school—and I’ve been knitting and crocheting ever since. So it seemed natural that the product we would make would be knitted and that I would start to teach women how to knit. It was important that the project be sustainable since craft-style projects were no longer popular with the international donor organisations, and since we wouldn’t be able to fund a project for any length of time. It therefore started as something of an experiment. The idea was to demonstrate that with only $500 it would be possible to set up and run a project that would very quickly become sustainable, and with the proceeds, further expansion would be possible. I wanted to demonstrate that it is possible to create good quality employment for rural women who may be illiterate or semi-literate, and that this could be a viable business model that would hopefully encourage others to follow. In 2004, when Hathay Bunano started, social business was in its infancy and so this wasn’t an influence on the model we created; rather, it was a movement that we found we fit into as time went on. 2. How do you get your inspiration? Inspiration for products is a process. Pebble isn’t about me being creative and showing the world what I like. When you employ more than 5,000 women you have a sense of responsibility and they must be kept in work because their families depend on that work. Pebble has a colour palette that is consistent, and which I think helps customers recognise our products. Often we take items familiar as childrens toys and then make them knitted. Other times we look for existing gaps in the market and then develop products to fill that gap. We always use customer feedback with samples before moving to production or including a product in our catalogue. We cannot afford to have a product that doesn’t sell, and so we do a lot of customer testing before releasing a product. Once I have an idea of the type of product that we are going to make and I’ve chosen colours, then I sit down and knit or crochet the idea. I always make the first piece without a pattern and then write the pattern afterwards. This gives me the creative freedom to make changes as I work. Knitted and crochet toys are 3D and very tactile and the feel and texture are an important part of the toy. For this reason I think it’s very difficult to follow a traditional product development model with 2D drawings and patterns. It may need several attempts to get the toy right and then once I think I’m happy with it, I like to ‘live’ with it for a while. I have it sitting around my house and look at it as I pass and pick it up and change its position for a few days before sending it to our sample room. 3. How do you reset yourself to be creative? Do you have any rituals? I knit and crochet all the time and one idea tends to lead to another. Often while I’m making something I’ll have several ideas for new pieces I want to make and I list them. This applies both to things I make for myself and my home as well as to toys for Pebble. I started a Brown Owls group in Dhaka (Brown Owls was started in Melbourne by Pip Lincolne) and this is a great way for me to be creative with other people and I really enjoy that. You can follow Samantha on Twitter at @samanthamorshed, Retailers in administration31 Dec 2011 I was really sad to see the news that Tobar have gone in to administration. As a soft toy wholesaler we had some inkling as they are a customer and we had sensed there issues but it is not the loss of a customer which saddens us. There are some retailers which you suspect from the start will struggle - Alworths spring immediately to mind. There are others which you believe may struggle to survive a recession either because their proposition or their customer service are flawed. I don't think that many people would want to invest in HMV right now and I am personally very doubtful Past Times will survive this Xmas. But there are others where the High St will be a poorer place without them. I still miss Borders and Habitat, and Hawkins Bazaar was a great place to shop. As this recession grinds on unfortunately it is likely that more retailers will disappear but we just hope that there will be some inspirational ones coming up to fill the gaps. It appears that design led, niche retailers are trading successfully. They know their customers and their products and so do not need to discount in order to make sales. Companies such as Cath Kidston are proving that you can thrive on the High St even during this recession. Whilst Thorntons are struggling Hotel Chocolate are expanding and their chocolates sell up to £160 a box. As a wholesaler we have learnt that to be successful we need to stick to our knitting. We have discontinued and reduced to clear all products which do not fit in to our niche. Perhaps we may end up with a High St full of thriving, niche, design led retailers instead of the bland multiples we have had lately. That would be the silver lining we need.
Have you seen how they make toys in a Chinese factory?15 Dec 2011 As a toy wholesaler we try to give you a lot of information about where our toys are made and who makes them so that you can see that they have been made ethically. We have had a comprehensive overview of our Pebble crochet toys and the organic toys from Peru on the website for a time but having just come back from a trip to China we realised that we have no information about the toys we buy from China. There are thousands and thousands of well managed and ethical factories in China but unfortunately the only time Chinese factories hit the news is when there is a child labour or quality scandal. Like anything you get what you pay for and if you are only looking to pay only the very cheapest price for your products the chances of there being an issue increases. Industry in China has come a long way just in the last 10 years. For instance the majority of workers used to live in factories and only go home at Chinese New Year but now less than half of workers at our factory live in and the rest live locally. Workers salaries have also risen steadily to the point where China is not always the cheapest place to source goods from if you are only after bottom end product. So this is a quick overview of the chinese soft toy company we work with and how a toy from China is manufatured When you first ask for a toy to be sampled the factory will go to a material shop such as this to buy cloth to make up the first sample. Every material you could think of is in the stores, an amazing variety.
Once the sample has been made up and approved the actual production starts. you'll be pleased to know that this is quite a social activity
Once the skins of the toys of the toys have been sewn together the toys are stuffed. Its a bit like Build a Bear but on an industrial scale
Once stuffed the toys are weighed to ensure that the right amount of stuffing has been used
Then the details are hand sewn or glued on to the toys
the biggest safety issue within sewing factories is that a needle piece may break off the machine and inbed itself in to the toy. for this reason the toys are checked via a machine with a large magnet in it for any needles which may have broken off and there is also a needle book where all needles are counted out at the beginning of the day and then counted back in at the end. Broken needles are cellotaped in to the book to ensure all pieces have been found.
One final clean and then off they go!
So what is it that we look for when we go to see a factory? It used to be that we would be looking at how many toilets were provided and how many beds there were to a room but things have changed significantly since those days. There are so many factories that workers vote with their feet if there is an issue. This is true in the areas near cities, which is where our factories are based, but probably more of an issue in more remote areas where employment is not so readily available. Now we check that there is somewhere to eat lunch (and that food is not allowed on to the factory floor!) We also check how clean the floor is, we check their needle book and how many quality check points they have. But the main thing is that we can have a good working relationship with the management team If you have any comments we'd love to hear them on our Facebook page
Saving the High Street, One Independent Shop at a Time13 Dec 2011 The publication of Mary Portas report on how to save the high street seems like a good time to round up on how I did trying to buy all my Xmas gifts from Independent Shops In a word - Great! I have now finished my Xmas shopping, I enjoyed doing my Xmas shopping, I spent what I normally do and with just one exception I had the most fantastic customer service. I also think the gifts I will give this year are the best ever. So a big Thank You to Ginger Fig (@gingerfig, www.gingerfig.co.uk) Amarya (www.amarya.co.uk), Unique Creations (www.uniquecreation.co.uk ) and the other independent shops who I bought from The walk of shame goes to the RSPB who coupled a complete failure to deliver my order with rubbish customer service. I have to admit to cheating a little as we have just come back from a business trip to China where I bought some gifts (from independent shops tho!) I resorted to the multiples just to buy PJs and CDs which I could not find at a price I was prepared to buy in Independents. Do I have any learnings from this exercise? The most important thing is that theres no point in whinging about the collapse of the High Street. We all have responsibility to ensure that our high streets are not swamped by multiple chains. The perceived wisdom is that we will all spend £560 on Xmas this year. If I managed to spend over 80% of my budget in Independent shops then what would be the effect if everyone did something similar? Even if we all spent just 50% of our budget in independent shops the High Street would be thriving. Although I spent a lot of money via the internet it was with shops who had a high street presence as well as an internet shop. The exception to this was Amazon purchases where I most sellers, I think, were internet only However its not just consumers who have responsibility, its also the shops themselves. In the current climate there is no excuse not to have a website. Social media and optimising websites for shopping from mobile phones/Ipads are also becoming increasinly important. You can prosper but it just takes a lot more effort. I like the comment from Lord Harris of Peckham, Chairman of Carpetright, who said that with unprecedented problems in the world's economy he was concentrating on just the opportunities under his direct control right. As small businesses we can't step in to save the Euro but we can make sure that we are doing everything possible to gain all the business we can. What do you think? Please comment on our Facebook page New for Jan 2012 wonderful fair trade hats28 Nov 2011 Just as the weather turns colder we are happy to give you a sneak preview of the wonderful range of fair trade, cotton hats which will be with us in Jan 2012 We will be showing the full range at Top Drawer Spring and Formex but just to warm you up heres some images from the range
There are more hats to come and we will post images as soon as we can What do you think? Please let us know on our facebook page
New layer... Why crochet vegetable rattles?24 Nov 2011 Samantha, who runs the workers co-operative in Bangladesh is an expert knitted herself which is why the Pebble toys are so beautifully designed Heres her account of how she came up with the vegetable rattles We've been making knitted vegetables since Hathay Bunano began in 2004. The knitted carrot rattle was one of the very first toys that we made. At the time, a wonderful woman, Jo Hanley, was posted in Dhaka as an expatriate with her husband and she made most of the patterns for the early vegetables. My children had a set of plastic vegetables in a basket when they were little and they loved them. They carried them around the house and would periodically stop and take them all out of the basket before putting them all back in and toddling off again. So when I started Hathay Bunano I felt sure that a set of vegetables which were knitted would appeal even more to small children because the knit is just so much more tactile and cosy than a plastic toy. Jo was amazing. She never questioned the obscurity of the things I wanted to make but would go off with the yarn and come back a couple of days later with a completed pattern ready to teach it to our samplers. In those early days the first vegetables we made were smaller than the ones that followed. I thought that it would be nice to combine our knitting with the basket industry in Bangladesh. Bangladesh makes great baskets and yet sadly the export market from here has never really taken off and I thought it would be nice to showcase the baskets alongside our products. So the earliest vegetables we made were small and came in a basket. You can see one of those very early pictures below in the picture gallery. Later that year, responding to customer ideas and suggestions we started to make the vegetables larger and add a rattle into them so that each vegetable was a toy in its own right. The range continues to develop and for January 2012 we are adding a broccoli and a beetroot to the range. For 7 years the knitted vegetables of Hathay Bunano have been a bestseller. They are a lovely way for children to learn about vegetables and colours and a perfect addition to their 'five a day'."
We will have stock of the new Broccoli and Beetroot rattles in January 2012
What do multiple retailers have which is unique?23 Nov 2011 One month in to my Xmas shopping and I have just bought my first gift from a multiple retailer. It was a camera for my 10 yr old reduced to just over £30 which is great because then she will be allowed to take it on school trips which is a major priority for her. It was a Xmas promotion so the original price of £75 was obviously price establishment but it came with 36 free pictures so I'm happy with the purchase. Since I was in the shop I thought I would have a look at the Xmas gift ranges. There were hundreds of choices and they were all on 3 for 2 offer. What was interesting is that because everything was presented in gift packaging (a bag, tin or box), and everything was on a 3/2 offer, I stopped thinking about the value of product I was buying For £18 I could buy a bag with travel size shampoo, shower gel, moisturiser, hand cream, body polish and moisturising mist (what are they!) and a sponge. When I was a retail buyer I would have called this a Mugs Eyeful - The actual value of the products if I bought them seperately in July I would guess at £10 but the product looked great and last Xmas, before my "Shop from Independents" campaign I would have bought 1 each for my nieces and been very happy. Why would I need to look at the actual value of the products I was buying if they were so nicely presented and they were on offer? So is the thing that the Mulitples have that Independents don't a comprehensive, all inclusive, all pervading Xmas promotional strategy? When I was a retail buyer (click here for our very long history in retail!) we started planning Xmas in January and by March/April at least 75% of our working week was concentrating on Xmas This has made me think about whether we should be putting together Xmas ranges we offer to Independents. We offer year round value for money, quality products and have therefore not previously considered offering Specific gift ranges. Is this something you would like us to do for Xmas 2012? Do other independent wholesalers offer gift ranges at Xmas? Do you feel that gift ranges are something you can put together better in your shop? Please let us know as, as we say in this wholesaler "Anything They Can Do We Can Do Better!" Please let us know your thoughts and ideas on our Facebook page
Does an Independent retailer need a website or social media?17 Nov 2011 I'm back to my favourite subject of my Xmas shopping So far I have managed to buy 100% of my gifts from Independent rulers including some gorgeous organic skin care from Amarya Beauty http://www.amarya.co.uk This is a new retailer to me but I cannot recommend their service and ranges enough. Not only did I get my parcel within 24 hours of ordering, but they also included some free samples for me. Not something which would happen if you ordered from Boots! However what I have noticed is that 90% of my purchases have been purely on the internet or via Twitter. This is interesting because I live in the centre of Oxford so it is not difficult for me to get in to a vibrant high st, and in fact I have had to go in to the city a couple of times over the last week to sort my Chinese visa out (see we're all going on a Yak hunt for more info) It is predicted that online sales are expected to grow this year to account for almost 25% of all UK Christmas spending this year, in stark contrast to offline sales which are forecast to fall by 2.1%. The Centre for Retail Research have forecast that UK shoppers will spend £13.43bn online in total this Xmas which is 16.3% more than last year. Sales on the high st are expected to fall by 2.1% to £55.7bn 33.7% of online spending will be on gifts, 24.5% on Christmas travel, 20.6% on decorations and 6.7% on food and drink. Interestingly 12% of this total spend (£1.64bn) is expected to be through a mobile phone. This morning a representative from a mobile phone chain said that 97% of the phones they sell are now smart phones this can only increase. I have not yet bought anything via a mobile device but I have researched potential websites and products, especially when they have been mentioned on Twitter. Its amazing how difficult some websites are to browse on a phone. If you want to see how it should and shouldn't be done have a look at Gap and Zara via your smart phone. The internet is a great leveller. It is very fast moving which gives the nimble Independent a great advantage. Goodness how much time and money it will take for Marks and Spencer to get their website suitable for viewing on a mobile device, but that will only be dwarfed by the sheer quantity of meetings they will need to make the decision in the first place. I heard Laura Tennison from JoJo Maman Bebe talking about the opportunity presented to retailers by mobile devices. She was not overly enthusiastic about mobile phones for internet shopping but saw Ipads and their competitors as a huge opportunity. Social media feeds straight in to this trend as friends and contacts recommend shops and restaurants via social media websites. One important point to make is that selling on Amazon or Ebay just doesn't seem to work as well as an internet site when browsing via mobile devices. These websites are too cluttered and there is too much competition for your attention. As a toy wholesaler we are one step away from the mass adoption which will benefit retailers over the next year, but the domination of smart phones has already made us look at creating a version of our website which would be suitable for viewing from mobile devices. So my inexpert opinion, based not on any particular research except my own Xmas shopping, is that to thrive during 2012 an Independent should look carefully at their website and take the opportunity to get a step ahead of the multiples while they are too scared to invest. That costs money but what doesn't is adoption of Social Media. Twitter and Facebook take time but no money so there is an option open for all budgets! What do you think? Please comment on our facebook page
BBC interview with Gaynor Humphrey10 Nov 2011 As a knitted and crochet toy wholesaler we are in an endless quest to promote the benefits of buying hand made toys, and Pebble toys in particular. We were therefore very pleased to be invited on to BBC radio to talk about Pebble toys and our quest for Yak wool toys. Heres the interview. I hope it gives you some idea of who we are and what we stand for. Please feel free to comment on our Facebook page
Part two
Part three
Xmas shopping from Independents - Spread the word10 Nov 2011 My Xmas shopping has come to an abrupt halt. A combination of work, media appearances, a speed awareness course and a hideous virus which attacked and disabled my laptop has led to a distinct lack of shopping. I have gone from smug satisfaction to a more nervous state of affairs, especially as my in laws are all coming up on 10th Dec which rather brings the deadline forwards. However I have not been completely inactive. Whilst I have not myself bought anything I have been going out of my way to influence others towards shopping at Independent shops. This has been more successful than I could have dreamt. If you read any marketing guide they will always advice you to predict the customer's problem and provide a solution rather than trying to sell a product. The majority of people I know work and have children and their problem is that they want to find original gifts at a reasonable price in the time they have available. Well, we know thats an easy problem to solve. Buy your gifts from Independent retailers! As far as I know 17 Xmas gifts have been bought from Independents as a direct result of my nagging. Now I spend too much time wholesaling soft toys to be very sociable so just think how many gifts could be bought from Independents if we all started nagging friends and relatives? Like a ripple effect we could influence a lot of people and once they have experienced the customer service and choice given by an Independent shop they are not going to go back. I am still looking for a skincare range for teenage girls and any suggestions at all for teenage boys? Please comment on our Facebook page Selling Pebble toys on Amazon09 Nov 2011 As a soft toy wholesaler we have always been very supportive of retailers selling out toys in any which way they can as long as they don't discount our prices. Things are tough and not many people can stick to just one way of selling toys so we are happy to be opened minded about the creative way retailers can find sales However we are now in a position where we are going to have to restrict retailers selling on Amazon. To be frank it has got too crowded. We ask people not to discount but someone goes 5p under their nearest retailer who retaliates by reducing their price by 5p and before we know it the retail price has slipped to a point where high st shops cannot compete. We will specifically ask retailers therefore to stop selling on Amazon. We have agreed with 3 current Amazon sellers that they will continue to sell on Amazon and they will make sure that if anyone else lists Pebble toys they will come running to us to tell on you. Unfortunately we cannot continue to supply retailers who continue to sell Pebble toys on Amazon after Xmas when current stocks should have been exhausted. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience. We did think that we could continue unregulated but on this occasion we do have to step in in order to protect our other customers Any problems please email me on gaynor@bestyears.co.uk or see our facebook page Xmas Shopping - Is there anything you can't get from Independent shops03 Nov 2011 This is a personal blog rather than one from a wholesaler of soft toys, so if you are looking fot information on EN71 and CE or any other wholesale questions you will need to scroll down the list of blogs! Last week I offically started my Xmas shopping. This may not sound momentous but up until this year I normally started thinking about it once we hit December and then finally getting myself organised 10 days before The Big Day. As regular followers of this blog you may realise that this is because I have decided to buy all my Xmas gifts from Independents this year. As a soft toy wholesaler you have supported us all year and I would now like to return the favour. So far I have bought some gorgeous quirky jewellery from The Tate, a skirt for my sister from Seasalt and best of all a hand made knitted purse/bag for my Mum from Ginger Fig (@gingerfig, www.gingerfig.co.uk) What my Mum can't make herself she already owns so I am particularly happy about finding something for her. All of these gifts were ordered on Thursday/Friday and turned up on Saturday. All of them were better than expected, and all of them were at a price I don't think could have been beaten by a multiple so I am pretty thrilled with the start I have made. Whats next? I am seriously considering a knitted door stop from Orchard Home and Gifts (www.theorchardhomeandgifts.co.uk ) My teenager says she can make one but I can't see that happening in time for Xmas, and there are some gorgeous bracelets in Make fashion www.makefashion.co.uk which I think are going to be coming our way. This has led me to think is there anything I can't buy from Independent shops? My nieces and nephews are brand obsessed so I wondered whether I would struggle to get them anything. Last year the girls all got Clinique skincare and branded make up but this year I am looking for organic equivalents. Anyone ideas of skincare/make up Independent shops? Please email me your shop names as I seriously want to buy from you. And suggestions for brand obsessed, sports mad boys anyone? Given I have started looking in November I feel that I have enough time to find a suitable gift rather than a time constrained compromise. An unconsidered benefit from shopping from Independents in this year is I am definitely feeling that I am closer to how the spirit of Xmas should be. Previously I would have gone in to a multiple, put as many things in to a basket as I could to make the queue worth while and just counted off the presents I had got. Whether the gift was exactly what the receipient wanted came 2nd to having achieved a gift at all! Now I am looking more carefully at what people want to see where I can buy it. My family's requirements have crept infront of my own convenience. So shopping from Independents is also good for your soul. is there no end to the benefits?! Which means that so far I have come up with just two things where I think price will drive me in to the multiples - My kids always get Xmas PJs and some CDs. Please prove me wrong and let me know any Independents I can buy these from. Please comment and post suggestions on our facebook page We are going on a Yak hunt!03 Nov 2011 At Best Years we are always looking for new and original products to add to our ranges We have been wholesaling soft toys now for over 10 years and understand that to be successful a toy must be original, well designed and affordable. We don't do cheap but we do offer toys which are very good value for money We probably talk to dozens of potential new suppliers every month. Many are Chinese factories where the product is well made but un-original and the rest are fair trade organisations where the product is either great but too expensive or not very well designed. The process is time consuming and for the most part, unrewarding So we are really excited to tell you about our current project. At the beginning of December we are flying to China to see a workers co-operative who make toys from Yak hair. Yak hair is warmer and much much softer than wool. Most people are surprised to discover just how soft yak wool is. and many people mistake it for cashmere. It feels every bit as gorgeous as cashmere but is harder wearing (Yaks are definitely not sissys!)This is because its not the over coat of hairs which are used but the soft, downy under coat which is combed out in the spring which is used to knit toys and clothing. The overall effect is a soft and luxurious feel at a very affordable price. We are going over to see more about the workers co-operative and have a look at some finished designs and hopefully we will launch the new range in Jan 2012 As soon as we have images of designs (and or Yaks!) we will post them on our facebook page Xmas Shopping.27 Oct 2011 I have quite publically stated that I have resolved this year to do all my Xmas shopping with Independent retailers. As a toy wholesaler we sell mostly to Independent retailers (although we also work with the nicer multiples such as John Lewis and Cath Kidston) and I think that if you are good enough to buy my fairtrade knitted and crochet toys then I want to return the favour I did originally think that I would set myself a target, ie minimum 50% of Xmas gifts from Independent retailers but decided that if I went for 100% then I might slip to 90% whilst if I set a target, even if it was 80%, it was still accepting that I might buy some from multiples. So why would I buy from Multiple retailers? The main reason is going to be price. However are they really cheaper? Or do they just offer a product manufactured to hit a certain retail price point? If I wanted to buy a certain branded product, ie an Ipod, then price would be everything. But if I want to buy a T shirt then surely I can find a T Shirt which is more attractive/stylish but not owned by 100,000 other people in an Independent shop. As a soft toy wholesaler when we design our toys we don't start at a price we start with a concept and a colour. Some of our toys are above £10 trade but when you see how well Humpty Dumpty, our most expensive toy sells, you know that its the design that sells our toys Which brings me to the next reason why I might buy from Multiples Laziness Its just so easy to go in to a Multiple retailer and fill a basket of goods which are good enough for my legions of nieces and nephews. But as a retailer its easier for you to buy from a larger wholesaler with a larger range of not so nice soft toys where you can combine many product categories in to one order So this year to make sure that I don't take easy path I am starting early, and not leaving everything to December Today, 27th October, I bought my first Xmas presents The reason it happened today was quite easy. I received 2 emails, one from Seasalt and the other from Tate Gallery. Even tho I have dozens of things to do they grabbed my attention. Tate Gallery gave me a voucher with 15% off until 1st Nov and Seasalt had items in a flash sale, again until 1st Nov. That meant I had to look quickly, and so I was diverted in to browsing their websites. I bought from Tate some quirky jewellery priced from £4.50 to £17.00 and a bag at £15, and from Seasalt I bought 2 skirts, one of which was in the sale and one of which was at full price So I have a question and a suggestion. Question - Does the Tate count as an Independent? The items I bought were from UK designers who make the items themselves so I think that counts. Do you agree? Suggestion - Please send me your emails. I have a large family to buy for but no babies so if you are just aimed at under 5 yrs old then its unlikely I will buy from you. I do have a lot of teenagers to buy from so if thats your market I would love to get your emails. gaynor@bestyears.co.uk If you don't currently do a sales email this Xmas might be a good time to start. It costs very little and given that industry estimates think that under 10% of consumers will not buy online this Xmas, now is a good time to start. Just as a personal point I was motivated to open the emails and visit the website because of a money off headline. The Tate gave me 15% off everything which I think lost them money as I would have bought some of the items even at full price. Having said that they took the first £40 of my xmas shopping which won't now be spent with someone else. Seasalt had specific items in their flash sale one of which I really wanted, and once I had one thing in my basket it seemed silly not to buy something else to justify the carriage charge. So thats me started. I'll let you know how it goes from here I would love to hear your comments so please visit our Facebook page
Why this Toy Wholesaler is not a fan of Clinton Cards27 Oct 2011 Clinton Cards have announced a further step in to the red with reported a pre-tax loss of £10.7 million. To compare in 2010 they made a £12 million profit. Clintons Cards turnover £206m from just over 700 stores and since they employ over 8000 people I certainly would not want them to go bust. However as a fairtrade wholesaler Clintons Cards represent everything about why we supply the Independent sector Many, many years ago we were approached by Clintons who wished to stock one of our ranges. Their terms were 100% sale or return, direct delivery to store, no carriage charge, 90 day payment terms and a substantial price discount. Needless to say the conversation was civil but very brief Clintons could not understand why if they were waving a very substantial order at us (and it was eye wateringly large for us!) why we did not want to work with them. The answer is that if you have a well designed, fairly made and well priced range you can sell it to shops who want to work with you as a partnership. We do not make huge profits and if we were to accept Clintons cards we would have needed to double our trade prices just to break even. If you are able to accept these sort of terms your margin is much bigger than this toy wholesaler makes. Where does your margin come from? As a customer the only thing Clinton's offers is price. Their shops have no ambience and the majority of their ranges seems to me have been selected because the supplier agreed to their terms rather than gorgeous designs. Obviously you cannot sell ranges unless you make a profit on them but sometimes the search for high margin ranges overtakes the need to source desirable products Clintons have a new Chief Exec and as a wholesaler we wish him the very best of luck. If he can keep his eye off high margins and on why customers buy cards and small gifts I am sure that their future could be bright
What would you do if you were Argos?19 Oct 2011 Today Argos announced that their profits over the last 6 months have slumped from £54.4 to just £3m. Sales were down 9.1% but the squeeze of profit margins meant that their profits had collapsed by an amazing 94%. Even to a toy wholesaler thats quite an extra-ordinary set of figures, and to put it in to some sort of context it means that each Argos store makes less than £10,000 profit per annum. As a small independent retailer (or a small independent wholesaler!)you may be thinking that £10,000 profit after paying all your costs doesn't sound so bad but remember that the average Argos shop is 15,000 sq metres. So £1.50 per metre per year. Nice! But what happens now? What would you do if you woke up to an overnight drop in sales of 20% or more? Argos appears to be pinning its hope on a joint venture in China There are a couple of times in recent history when businesses have experienced dramatic drops in sales overnight. The Dot Com boom/bust, the tragic events of 9/11 and Mad Cow disease to name but a few. The first thing people seem to think about is how to reduce costs and certainly the City is pressurising Argos to close some stores. However if you are a retailer whose business model rests on discounted prices presumably your cost base has been scrutinised already over the last couple of years. Which leaves growing sales or radically changing your business model. Is it possible that this recession has changed shopping habits so that discounting is no longer a viable method of retailing? By this I do not mean retailers such as Pound shops and Aldi. Although their message to consumers is one of price their business is set up very differently to retailers such as Woolworths and Argos. They have a very slick operation behind their stores and their product ranges are not static or based on brands. Aldi will buy as much of possible of the best jam at the best price and sell it until they have none left when they will look in the market for the best jam at the best price. This is totally different to buying Robinsons jam and selling it more cheaply than anyone else. As a knitted and crochet toy wholesaler it seems to us that after 4 years of recession shopping habits seem to have changed significantly. You can pretty much buy everything you need on line and compare prices of brands before you make the purchasing decision which makes discounting on the high street a difficult proposition People still enjoy shopping and you can see that in the results of companies such as The White Company and JoJo Maman Bebe who are enjoying sales and profit increases because they provide the right product at the right (not necessarily the cheapest) price. But people want a good product, a good service and a good ambience. They don't have enough money not to chose carefully so there is more consideration over purchases. This is great news for Independent retailers and the wholesalers who serve them but not such good news for Argos. When the recession first hit in 2008 and the pound slumped agoinst the dollar Best Years had to go back to the drawing board and assess what our customers wanted from us, and why they bought from us rather than another wholesaler. It took over a year but in the end we got back to well designed, unique and ethical ranges and sales are booming. Personally I don't think that a joint venture in China is going to pull Argos out of the mire. They should go back to why they originally set up in the unique way they are and think whether this is still applicable. If so get back to your knitting. If not you have permission to panic! This is just a personal opinion. Please visit our Facebook page to comment
New toy safety regs July 201114 Oct 2011 Toy safety legislation changes 20th July Best Years are a soft toy wholesaler specialising in knitted, crochet and fair-trade and organic toys. We are not a testing house nor do we profess to having any particular specialist knowledge on toy safety. However we do care passionately about toy safety and believe that we all have a responsibility to ensure that toys are safe and practical. This responsibility starts with toy designers, manufacturers and importers but it also extends to parents not buying a toy from an unknown retailer at an unfeasibly low retail price and retailers having a basic knowledge of relevant toy safety legislation Given that the biggest overhaul of toy safety legislation happens on 20th July we have been attending detailed seminars about what we need to do to ensure that we conform to both the spirit and the letter of the new regulations. However we have been more than a little surprised about how little approachable information there is available for retailers and parents. There are huge documents detailing how EN71 is being changed but these are not designed for quick digestion! If we are all to share responsibility for toy safety then retailers and consumers should have access to informed and easily accessible information We have therefore attempted to summarise what we feel the impact of the new regulations will be. Just to confirm again we are not a testing house, nor are we large enough to employ a toy technologist and we are certainly not the representative of a trade association. We are a toy wholesaler who cares! We have a narrow band of knowledge which covers soft toys only and what this article is attempting to do is show if you have any gaps in your knowledge. If after reading this article you realise that you need a detailed update please contact your trade association or if you have any detailed questions about the regulations we heartedly recommend that you approach your local trading standards. They are the tops for pragmatic and clear advice and they definitely have more information than we do! The new toy safety directives aim to ensure that safety is designed in to the product rather than being something which is tested for only after a toy has been manufactured For this reason every toy will have a technical file which details all the components used in the manufacture of the toy and the tests which these components have had. The technical file will include the bill of materials, safety assessment, test certificates and a declaration of conformity. It is the responsibility of the toy manufacturer to compile this technical file. If you name and address is on the sew in label you are the manufacturer. Every toy coming in to Europe must have a European address on the sew in label It is the responsibility of the importer to ensure that this information is up to date, complete and correct. Importers distribute toys which are either made in the EU or have an EU address on them It is the responsibility of the retailer or distributor to ensure that all toys they sell have the CE mark on them and that the toys are kept in such a way as not to potentially damage them Some changes to the regs which will probably be of particular interest to retailers are as follows • Toys meant for under 3s must be washable not just surface wash only. • If you have an internet shop then any warnings on the toy must be detailed in full under the description of the toy • If a company shows a product at trade show without a CE mark, there must be a sign up indicating that it doesn’t comply now but will comply when its physically sold. • The product must comply with regulations for the products lifetime and not just for the day its sold therefore when doing safety assessment, you must take into account use and abuse of product. • Requirements are also extended to include products which, whilst not promoted as toys, are attractive to children and have play value. Obvious examples include child appealing key-rings, Christmas novelties and decorative attachments to children’s garments
Other articles we have on toy safety are about toy safety myths and another article on the toy safety regs
Bästa år är ett mjukdjur grossist, specialist på stickat, virkat och rättvisemärkta och ekologiska leksaker. Vi är inte ett test hus eller gör vi anspråk på att ha någon särskild specialistkunskap om leksakers säkerhet. Men vi bryr passionerat om leksakers säkerhet och tror att vi alla har ett ansvar att se till att leksakerna är säkra och praktiska. Detta ansvar börjar med leksaks formgivare, tillverkare och importörer men också omfattar föräldrar inte köpa en leksak från en okänd återförsäljare på ett unfeasibly lågt pris och återförsäljare som har en grundläggande kunskap om relevanta leksakers säkerhet lagstiftning Med tanke på att den största översynen av leksakers säkerhet lagstiftning som händer den 20 juli har vi deltar detaljerade seminarier om vad vi behöver göra för att säkerställa att vi uppfyller både andan och bokstaven i de nya reglerna. Men vi har varit mer än lite förvånad över hur lite lättillgänglig information som finns tillgänglig för återförsäljare och föräldrar. Det finns enorma dokument som visar hur EN71 är bytt men dessa är inte konstruerade för snabb matsmältning! Om vi ??alla att dela på ansvaret för leksakernas säkerhet då återförsäljare och konsumenter bör ha tillgång till information och lättillgänglig information Vi har därför försökt att sammanfatta vad vi känner effekterna av de nya reglerna kommer att bli. Bara för att bekräfta igen vi är inte ett test hus, inte heller är vi stora nog att anställa en leksak teknikern och vi är definitivt inte en företrädare för en branschorganisation. Vi är en leksak grossist som bryr sig! Vi har ett smalt band av kunskap som täcker mjuka leksaker bara och vad artikeln försöker göra är att visa om du har några luckor i din kunskap. Om det efter att ha läst den här artikeln du inser att du behöver en detaljerad uppdatering kontakta din branschorganisation eller om du har några detaljerade frågor om de regler vi helhjärtat rekommendera att du närmar dig din lokala handel standarder. De är toppen av pragmatiska och tydliga råd och de definitivt har mer information än vi gör! Den nya leksakers säkerhet direktiven syftar till att se till att säkerheten är utformad för att produkten snarare än något som är testade för först efter en leksak är tillverkad Av denna anledning varje leksak kommer att ha en kravspecifikation som specificerar alla komponenter som används vid tillverkningen av leksaken och de tester som dessa komponenter har haft. Den tekniska dokumentation som kommer att omfatta stycklistor, säkerhetsbedömning, certifikat test och en försäkran om överensstämmelse. Det är ansvar leksakstillverkaren att sammanställa denna kravspecifikation. Om du namn och adress på sy i etikett som du är tillverkare. Varje leksak som kommer in till Europa måste ha en europeisk adress på sy i etiketten Det åligger importören att se till att informationen är aktuell, fullständig och korrekt. Importörer distribuerar leksaker som antingen görs i EU eller har en EU-adress på dem Det är ansvar återförsäljare eller distributör för att säkerställa att alla leksaker de säljer har CE-märket på dem och att leksakerna hålls på ett sådant sätt som inte potentiellt skada dem Vissa förändringar av regs som troligen kommer att vara av särskilt intresse till återförsäljare är följande • Leksaker avsedda för under 3s måste tvätta inte bara ytan tvätta bara. • Om du har en internet butik sedan eventuella varningar om leksaken ska vara detaljerad i sin helhet under beskrivningen av leksaken • Om ett företag visar en produkt på mässa utan ett CE-märke, måste det finnas en skylt upp som anger att den inte följer nu men kommer att följa när dess fysiskt säljs. • Produkten måste följa reglerna för produkterna livstid och inte bara för den dagen det säljs alltså när man gör säkerhetsbedömning, måste du ta hänsyn till bruk och missbruk av produkten. • Krav är också utvidgas till att omfatta produkter som visserligen inte främjas som leksaker, är attraktiva för barn och har lekvärde. Uppenbara exempel är barn tilltalande nyckelringar, jul nyheter och dekorativa bilagor till barnplagg What a toy wholesaler has in common with Greggs and Moss Bros07 Oct 2011 On the surface its hard to see what a wholesaler of knitted, crochet and fairtrade toys could possibly have in common with Greggs the Baker and Moss Bros. But the thing which connects us is that even in the current economic climate we are enjoying a sales increase. Greggs say that their success is down to their new breakfast and also the unlikely sounding Jaffa Cake donut. Moss Bros say that part of their success is due to teenagers now having Proms at which the boys want to wear suits At Best Years we would love to say that the increase in sales is down to our charm and charisma, but like Greggs and Moss Bros its simply down to product. Our collection of knitted and crochet toys are popular due to their design, practicality and affordability. I am sure that Gregg's breakfast offering is also attractive and affordable (although I guess somewhat higher in calories!) and Moss Bros cleverly saw the trend in Proms and introduced an affordable package for teenagers. At £129 for suit, tie and shirt they provide an affordable solution for teenage boys I purposely do not say cheap. Woolworths proved that selling something cheaply is not always a recipe for success. The inevitable consequence of selling something too cheaply is that you do not make enough money to run your business and start cutting corners. As the Xmas season creeps closer we will review all our wholesale toys to ensure that we have stock of the ones which are the fastest sellers, and look at any which should now be discontinued and should be cleared. As things are we cannot afford to take anything fore granted but for now we are just very happy to say that, yes we are doing very well, so a big thank you to all our customers Hurrah for big Gregg's breakfasts, Prom suits and fabulous knitted and crochet toys! A few words about selling knitted and crochet toys on ebay21 Aug 2011 ebay has been a part of our lives for many years now but in a recent ebay survey of 450 small British online retailers 49% said that suppliers would not allow them to sell their goods on ebay, or tried to impose retail prices on them. We have mixed opinions about this. As a toy wholesaler we would be daft to ignore one of the fastest growing sectors of the retail market, and we do have customers who sell purely through ebay and/or Amazon. Both ebay and Amazon offer an efficient and low cost way of starting a shop and testing your concept. However they have also gained a reputation of having a lot of discounters The way we see it is this. All retailers have charges to pay before they can start making any money. If you have a high street store you have to pay rent, rates, electricity and staff before you can even start to make a profit. If you have an internet shop you have to pay for websites, credit card facilities, SEO, google ads and advertising to get your shop noticed. In order to have repeat customers they both must offer a wide and ever changing range of products If you sell on ebay you have to pay Pay Pal and ebay charges, but there are 2 major differences and they are both centered around the fact that a certain % of people selling on ebay are doing it as a hobby or side line and not the main source of income
Mark Lewis, MD of ebay says that he is trying to "break the grip" large manufacturers have over internet sales. We are not a large manufacturer, we are a soft toy manufacturer and wholesaler trying to give our retail customers a good product at a fair price. The only time we will fall out with people selling on ebay os if they discount our wholesale knitted and crochet toys. So why are we so adament about discounting? Put plainly if you discount our fair trade crochet toys you are undermining the way the fair trade economic model works That may sound overly dramatic but heres how it goes. Our good retailers buy our toys because they can sell a reasonable volume of toys at a reasonable profit. If the toys are then widely discounted either the volume drops as their retail price is uncompetitive or they can't make a profit at the reduced price. So retailers stop buying from us, we stop buying from the workers co-operative and Samantha cannot offer work to as many people. For many people in Bangladesh the Pebble toys offer a way out of poverty. We are not going to let discounters threaten this So a message to good retailers, if you see someone on ebay or anywhere on the internet discounting Pebble toys please email sales@bestyears.co.uk and we will take steps to stop them. We will certainly not supply them again Discounters. Don't buy fair trade toys. Its unethical
Whats the catch for a fair trade toy wholesaler?17 Aug 2011 I am hoping that a financial wizz amonst our customers may be able to answer a question we have. For the 3rd time we have been approached by a company saying they are from Dubai. They order some stock (about £2,000) and arrange payment. The invoice is to be paid via a cheque. Before the cheque arrives we get an anxious email from the customer saying that a mistake has been made and the cheque has been made out for £20,000 rather than £2000. When the cheque reaches our bank it transpires that its actually made out for £200,000 We have a good relationship with our bank so have stopped the cheque from actually going in to our account, but when we have reported this to our customer there has been deafening silence and we have never hear from them again. We have no idea what the so called customer is gaining from this whole charade and would love to hear your ideas. Is it money laundering? What else could it be? If you have any idea please email sales@bestyears.co.uk as we'd love to know! Why this toy wholesaler is optimistic about Xmas17 Aug 2011 IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) have just announced their 100 Hotshops list It will come as no surprise that Amazon are still No 1 and 2nd and 3rd place are taken by Argos and Tesco but what interested us was the entry of Etsy (www.etsy.com) at No 53. To put this in perspective this beats retailers such as Mothercare, O2 and Carphonewarehouse. Etsy styles itself as the World's Handmade Marketplace and facilitates sales from very small companies directly to the consumer. Its the exact opposite of large multinational companies selling products in huge quantities based mainly on price. Theres no doubt that 2011 has been tough for retailers but Etsy definitely represents a new way of retailing - individual and sometimes personalised products made with flair and sold at a fair price by small producers. As a wholesaler we feel that our ranges, especially the Pebble crochet and knitted toys, fit this model which is why they have been so successful. Yes, they are fairtrade, but people buy them because they are well designed and well made and are not the normal run of the mill product you will find in supermarkets. So while we are not trying to pretend that Xmas 2011 is all going to be plain sailing we do think that there is potential to succeed and prosper. We think that when money is tight people will chose gifts carefully rather than going for volume, and will be looking for well designed, individual and fairly priced items So please come and see all our gorgeous toys at the Autumn Fair NEC or Top Drawer Olympia and see why we are so optimistic about Xmas.
Trading Standards guidance on Toy Safety08 Aug 2011 Trading Standards have now released their guidance on the new Toy Safety regs which came in to force July 2011 and i have detailed them below
"Trading Standards are advising all manufacturers and importers that they must have technical information for their toys including the following: A product specification (design drawings or R&D specifications) Description of the manufacturing process Bill of materials Safety data sheets for wet chemicals Safety Assessment Conformity Assessment EC Declaration of Conformity Suppliers and Factory address Test reports; Declarations of conformance EC Type approval paperwork Colour image Artwork or final packaging sample Instructions
We have huge admiration for Trading Standards, and we work closely with them. We have an annual meeting with them to review any changes to our manufacturing base, and the priorities/latest scares in toy safety. However although this is a good list, its not exactly a comprehensive review of the new toy safety regs! Our wonderful Liz may has probably been to more courses and seminars on toy safety over the last 12-24 months than the majority of people employed by Trading Standards. Liz has worked in the toy trade for many years including stints at Hamleys, Mothercare and Disney Her summary of how the changes to the Toy Safety Regs will affect retailers can be read here http://www.bestyears.co.uk/blog/new-toy-safety-regs-july-2011
What makes a Toy Craze, and do Toy Wholesalers want one?03 Aug 2011 The clever people at Design Method Lab have cleverly put together the 9 components of a toy craze. They liken it to an outbreak and detail 9 steps that comprise the essentials behind a toy being adopted as a craze. I like the analagy but don't always agree with their analysis. What do you think?
The thing which I think that Method Design Lab have right is the comparision to an outbreak. It doesn't matter about planning or marketing spend, toy crazes appear out of nowhere and spead virally. As a toy wholesaler I would love to think that by ensuring that our toys include all of the 9 points above we could could create a craze but I don't think it works like that. I also think that particualrly as a fairtrade toy wholesaler the management of the supply would be a nightmare. We cannot just turn on production like a multi national company or factory. Pebble toys, the organic Peruvian toys and cotton toys from Sri Lanka are all hand made. The people who make them have to be trained to make them as its a skilled job. So perhaps we are happier just building on success with design and quality - more like the Elves and the Shoemaker than RocketMan! We would welcome your feedback so please post your comments on our Facebook page Pebble toys are gorgeous but Dhaka is not always as nice28 Jul 2011 I don't think that anyone can ever prepare you for the first time you visit Bangladesh. When we were arranging our trip last year we confidently told Samantha that we would make our own way to the hotel, and she was polite enough not to laugh. We have sourced wholesale soft toys for almost 20 years and we were confident that we could sort ourselves out The culture shock starts when you get out of the airport and it swiftly became clear that if Samantha had not come to get us we may have just turned round and gone back home. The city is quite simply overwhelming. The driving is worse than atrocious, the sheer quantity of people and cars is mind numbing and the subsequent noise adds to the sense of confusion. Liz and I loved the place! This was very much down to the hospitality of Samantha and her husband Morshed but also, having spent a life time visiting factories in the Far East, the vibrancy of the people in Dhaka was fantastic. Life in Dhaka is as tough as it gets and one of the many problems is Cholera. We forget that this disease use to kill thousands in Europe and USA but now we take clean water forgranted it lurks just where life is toughest This film shows the fantastic work being done by the Cholera hospital but also gives you glimpses of the life people lead in Dhaka. Pebble toys have a centre in Dhaka where the sampling is done and where some of the toys are produced. From its roof you can see across the city and in to some of the "streets" which are more alley ways. You can totally understand how Cholera spreads in this environment but hopefully the work shown here may help to stop it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6Bxp1S2rbo Wholesale Pebble toys catalogue11 Jul 2011 Have a look at the new Pebble catalogue coming out for Autumn/Winter this year and make yourself feel happy! Stock will be with Best Years end of July Best Years range of wholesale Pebble toys, new catalogue here
wholesale knitted and crochet toys and drop shipping06 Jul 2011
We have often been asked whether we will drop ship for online retailers but this was not something we were able to do so we were very pleased when our partner DCR Retail stepped in to help offer this service Drop shipping, for any who do not know, is where the retailer sells an item and then sends the order through to be fulfilled by the wholesaler. The benefit to the retailer is that they do not have the risk or the cost of stock, and the benefit to the wholesaler is that their products are more visible to consumers as they are offered for sale by more retailers. However it is a very labour intensive way of selling goods. Products have to be hand picked and dispatched and then invoices raised for amounts typically below £10. In order to be successful at drop shipping a wholesaler has to have dedicated resource and this is where the Catch 22 clause kicks in. The retailers who want a drop shipping service are usually small, or new, or both and looking for a way to build up a business whilst maximising cash flow. Their orders for their wholesalers are small and irregular Drop shipping is lower margin for retailers than buying the product out right but suits start up businesses. More established retailers with larger turnovers do not normally want to give away the margin associated with drop shipping. But for the wholesaler this can mean dozens of small retailers with small turnovers which does not sit well with a business model based on shifting large quantities. There are many wholesalers who specialise in drop shipping and who have been set up specifically to drop ship. Unfortunately Best Years are not one of them. DCR Retail however were geared up to service drop shipping requirements. So for the past year or so Best Years have been working with DCR Retail to offer our range of wholesale knitted and crochet toys on a drop ship basis. Unfortunately we have now decided to close our drop shipping business. The reason for this is very simple. Out of the hundreds of retailers who have asked for drop shipping facilities we have received just 6 orders so far in 2011 and these came from just 4 accounts. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause any of our customers but there needs to be a certain level of business to make drop shipping a viable operation to run and taking less than £50 in 6 months doesn't get close! However we maintain our policy of having no minimum order quantity and we are always happy to work with small and tiny retailers so please email us sales@bestyears.co.uk if you need any more information on any of our toys Paypal, cheques and credit cards01 Jul 2011 As a fairtrade soft toy wholesaler I think I can truthfully say that the end of cheques couldn't come soon enough. Only this month we have had 2 cheques bounced on us so we will not be sorry when they are finally laid to rest. Research shows that 87% of businesses still use cheques on a monthly basis either because they like the control it gives them over their cash flow or because they always have used cheques so why change? Interestingly 53% of business don't like to be paid by cheque due to worries about them bouncing! However although cheques are here for the next couple of years their declining popularity does raise the issue of how we can take payments. As much as cheques are inconvenient (and sometimes fraudulent) they are at least free. We are charged 3.25% on all credit card transactions which is a major irritant. However unlike some companies we will not be passing this cost back to our retailers by charging you a transaction fee. Given that retailers are charged when their customers pay by credit card we do not think it fair for you to then have to pay our credit card changes as well as your own! We are very happy to be paid by BACS transfer and debit cards both of which are quick and convenient and low cost. But with cheques on their way out we are considering offering Paypal as a payment method. Paypal are stating that "by adding PayPal to your web store you could sit back and enjoy seeing your conversion rate increase by 30%* and incremental sales by 14%" That would be nice! Just think a 10 minute conversation and our sales of wholesale fairtrade toys would increase by 14%. As a knitted and crochet toy wholesaler we are a little dubious as to how many retailers actually want to pay by Paypal but we are happy to work with small and tiny businesses and we feel that it is these people who may want the convenience of using their Paypal accounts when working with us. Paypal charge 3.4% plus 20p per transaction as against credit cards which charge 3.25% so we would have to see an increase in sales to justify taking it but we will be trialing Paypal from end of August for a couple of months to see how popular it is What do you think? Is Paypal something you would like to see offered? Join the debate on our Facebook page
Retailers can thrive while other High st stores collapse01 Jul 2011 Not since Woolworths collapsed has there been so much negative news about retailing In the last couple of months Oddbins, Focus DIY, Homeform, Habitat, Jane Norman and TJ Hughes have all collapsed in to administration. In addition Mothercare and Thorntons have announced they are shutting significant numbers of stores and Clintons is looking at a management buy out Analyists are lining up to signal the end of the High St quoting the internet and the british consumers' lack of money for reasons to be gloomy But amidst all this bad news John Lewis have just announced a 20% increase in sales and Debenhams' sales have also increased. Best Years are a knitted and crochet wholesaler and although we are a lot smaller than John Lewis (a lot, lot, smaller!) our sales are also over 30% up year on year So it is possible to thrive whilst other companies struggle but how? We wholesale well designed, affordable knitted and crochet toys. Our wholesale Pebble toys are different from the mass produced toys from the big toy wholesalers. We sell to independent retailers who are different from the mass produced retailers which crowd every high st Consumers are struggling with disposable income. I would not like to be selling large ticket items however good my ranges were. They are also suspicious about large companies. Its large financial institutions who got us in to this mess and the suspicion about exactly what large companies get up to rubs off. But however tight things are people still need and want gifts. They are just being a bit more picky about the ones they buy. Why buy a run of the mill, mass produced toy when for the same price you can buy a unique, hand made one? Why visit a bland multiple store when you can visit an inspirational independent instead? We are very optimistic about sales over the next 6 months. The current economic climate obviously affects us but we completely believe that if we continue to offer well made and designed toys, especially if we can source them from fairtrade sources, then our sales will continue to rise. Sales of our wholesale Pebble toys for the Xmas period are already up year on year and thats before we get to the Autumn trade shows. We hope to see you at Autumn Fair or Top Drawer so that we can show you our extended ranges of toys and hopefully together we will have a good Xmas. One things for sure, theres going to be less competition on the high st this Xmas!
Would you like us to accept Paypal?29 Jun 2011 We are continually looking at ways to improve our service and currently we are looking at payment methods. Cheques will soon be a thing of the past (phew! Can't tell you how many we have that bounce!) so we are reviewing other ways of accepting payment. As a wholesaler we feel that Paypal is still a method used by consumers rather than businesses but we deal with a lot of new and small business people so wondered if it would help you if we did accept Paypal? Please take our poll and if you want it we will install it! Thanks Planning the Pebble toy range. First steps17 Jun 2011 Heres a blog from Samantha about how the first samples for new Pebble toys are made. When we visited Bangladesh we watched the samplers making up the toys from the original design. They really are very clever and seem to have a real rapport within the team.
A crucial part of the handmade process at Pebble is making samples. This is the most skilled level that any artisan can achieve. It involves making a toy from nothing more than a picture or a line drawing with measurements scribbled on it. It involves understanding how 2d transforms into 3d, how a picture can transform into a character and how to then write instructions so that other people will be able to make it too. If you knit yourself then you will understand the enormity of what I've just described. The small team of 'Samplers', as we fondly refer to them, at Hathay Bunano were taught by me and we have worked very closely together for many years and indeed continue to work closely together to transform ideas into toys that children love. Taslima is a member of the Sample Team and has worked for Hathay Bunano for the past 5 years. She came to us straight from school. Her family moved to Dhaka in 2000 looking for work and a brighter future. Taslima was selected by a charity school in Dhaka which ran a programme where parents were paid the garments industry minimum wage in order not to send their young girls into the garments industry. So Taslima's parents were paid about 600tk per month to send her to school rather than to a factory. The school clearly wanted to try to secure safe and fairly paid work for the young women when they were due to leave and so I remember the day, almost 5 years ago, that 20 young women came into my office in Baridhara to work for 2 days on the understanding that at the end of those 2 days I would choose 5 of them for full-time salaried positions. Taslima was very quiet, very very quiet, extremely diligent, with a strong desire to achieve perfection and an appetite to learn. It was clear that she would excel making samples. We have worked closely together ever since and every day I marvel at the wonderful new samples these very talented young women make. In choosing to blog about our Sample Team, I asked Taslima a few questions about her work. She told me that she loves to make new products and that it's interesting to have work that always involves making something new and different. She is happy to have learnt English and feels that Hathay Bunano is like a family. SHe is enjoying her career and has no plans to marry but wants to continue to progress in her career. Taslima made the samples for the new Once upon a time - ballerina and nutcracker and you can see her working on them in the pictures. At the end she said that there is a friendship between the CEO (that's me) and all the Sample Team and they like that very much. Well, the feeling's mutual. Samantha Our survey said!14 Jun 2011 Thanks to all of you who took part in our recent survey. As promised I am posting up the results of the survey which was really interesting. We sent the survey out to thousands of our customers and hundreds of you took the time to answer for which we thank you. Our first question was quite simply, how are you? 52.8% of you said that things were going well and a further 10.4% said things were going very well. Those who said not bad but business is tough accounted for 29.5% and only 1.5% were desperately waving a flag for someone to help them Given we are in an economic situation where even Argos and Tescos are struggling I would say that Best Years customers are doing very well compared to the rest of the market. We've always said you must have good sense to chose to work with us and that shows in your sales!
We then asked whether your internet sales had gone up in the last year 31.2% yes 19.2 no 21% about the same Not had internet for full 12 months 21% So internet sales are still growing and many more of you are going on line.
We have been on Twitter for a couple of years and joined Facebook this year as well so we were interested in seeing how many of our customers also used and/or liked social media 87% who answered had a facebook account 53% had twitter 26% had a linkedin account 12% had blogs
What was really interesting however was we asked whether social media had been useful 35% have gained customers 30% had got valuable feedback via their social media presence But 20% of you either hadn’t thought about social media or actively didn’t want to have a social media presence. Hopefully these figures may make you think twice about this. If you are just overwhelmed with how on earth to start we have a couple of blogs on the website about increasing sales through social media , using Twitter and Facebook and general social media info
Finally in this section we asked about who did your SEO 10% don’t know what it is, 10% had an external company to do it 10% of you are very knowledgeable and do your own 40% do it themselves but don’t have huge knowledge 25% don’t do anything The lovely Claire Jarrett from Web Marketing has helpfully written this short blog to give you some hints and tips about SEO. She is the only person Best Years have worked with on internet marketing where we have renewed our contract so if you are looking for outside help we would recommend her
We showed you the potential new products for autumn and got some fabulous feedback Crochet monsters – very popular with just about everyone. These will be in stock end of July Gingerbreadman – When a valued and long term customer asks whats a new product is suppoed to do you know you need to do some more work! Our gingerbread man has gone back to the drawing board Nutcracker and Ballerina– This was popular but you thought it was too expensive so the size and price have been reduced so they can now retail for around £20. In stock from end of July Pixie doudous – we have added eyes as many retailers didn’t like the lack of faces. in stock end of July Stripy t rex – very popular. should be in August
We got some fascinating results from where you find new products Majority of you found new products through the internet and by using existing suppliers. We were very surprised that 22% don’t go to trade shows ever. Wow! Many people are more open to emails and literature than we thought but agents are universally disliked. Trade magazines were not read as they are freely available on internet and you could cherry pick up to date articles on things you were interested rather than wading through a published magazine. We have never really advertised in trade magazines but I think that this survey will ensure we don't succomb to the urge to advertise in print ever again!
Finally we had lots of friendly suggestions about how we can improve which we will hopefully be able to implement. Some people thought we had a moq which we don’t but most people like our blogs and newsletters which is great news Thanks again for replying to our survey. The winner of the prize draw will be contacted this week and we will definitely be asking some more questions nearer Xmas What is SEO and how can I use it for my website?14 Jun 2011 What is SEO and how can I use it for my website? If you have a website and want to be able to make sales from it, people need to be able to find it for the keyword terms people might search for when looking to buy your products or services. Examples of keywords that potential clients might use are “pebble toys” or “stuffed toys seller” - these keyword terms might be used by potential clients and if they cannot find you when they search, then you have no chance of making the sale! Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the skill of editing a website so that it appears at the top of a search engine, such as Google, for various keywords. The basic items involved in SEO in order to get your website to the top for certain keywords includes the following: • Perform keyword research to identify useful keywords that will bring you business. Use a keyword tool such as the Google AdWords keyword tool, this tool is basic but adequate for these purposes • Make sure your website includes the relevant words within the text on the actual webpage. This is very important but very widely overlooked! Google needs to be able to see the text on the page so it knows that is what the page is about. • Optimise the metatags for each page of the website. The metatags are looked at by Google for clues as to the page content and should include the keywords you wish to appear for • After the first two items have been correctly carried out, the next important part is to build links back to the website ideally using anchor text. Anchor text looks like this Pebble Toys – quite simply it means the relevant keywords are used while pointing to your website. The types of links that should be used might be articles written by you and posted on websites such as www.ezinearticles.com, where you can demonstrate your expertise by talking about your topic area but also in the signature area of the article, you can include some anchor text and start to build links back to your website • Another method of building links is to exchange blogs with other website owners, and in return at the bottom of the blog include some anchor text with a link to your website • You should be building links continually – SEO is never “finished” as your competitors would soon overtake you! • Track your results in a keyword tracking tool to see how your rankings are affected Claire Jarrett runs Marketing By Web and specialises in SEO for Small Businesses, with prices from just £90+VAT per month you can email her on claire@marketingbyweb.co.uk Tesco's and Hamley's top 10 toys for Xmas08 Jun 2011 To my huge irritation the papers are full of Tesco's predictions for the top 10 toys for Xmas. Firstly who cares? Why should it be news what Tesco's thinks about toys. They are not exactly world experts in the toy market are they? Secondly this is just the final part of Tesco's toy buying plan for Xmas. I have never worked for Tesco's ( but i have worked in buying for many high street multiples) so this is all speculation but I guess this is how it all happened In Jan the Tesco toy buyers go to the New York toy fair and meet with the major toy manufacturers such as Mattel. They talk through the toys they want to list with Mattel pushing some toys and Tescos favouring others. After a brief discussion about toys and play value the conversation will rapidly move on to money. How much advertising will Mattel be doing at Xmas, how much money will Mattel give as marketing support to Tesco and what margin will they offer. Once Tesco have the deal they think will make them the most money they will place orders worth £millions. That is all good business sense and theres no problem with that. The bit which gets my goat is when the PR department then starts shouting about the toys which Tesco's have the most money invested in, and journalists from serious papers report the story as if Tesco are making serious predictions about which will be the most popular toys at Xmas. Tesco's top ten toys represent the toys which large multinational companies have invested most money in and therefore need their profile raising asap if they are to make the maximum profit. I am too grumpy to have read the predictions but I bet they are all from big brands. So a small request from a small toy wholesaler. Next time a large organisation releases a prediction of top 10 anything for Xmas can it be correctly labeled under "Want to know which product this large retailer has invested most money in?" Thank you!
28th June Hamleys have now declared their top ten toys for Xmas. They don't appear to have any similarities with the Tesco top ten but what is amusing that they have 4 different lists Top 10 toys Top 10 traditional toys Top 10 film inspired toys Top 10 finest toys
Tesco's top 10 is 1. Fijit? 2. Kidizoom Twist Camera 3. Barbie Doggie Water Park 4. Transformers 3 Optimus Prime? 5. Baby Annabell? 6. Bob The Builder Construction Tower? 7. Lego City Police Station? 8. Bopit XT 9. Nerf N Strike Night Finder 10. Monopoly Banking
Hamleys top 10s are The top ten list in full is as follows: Cars 2 Fully Loaded McMissile (Mattel) Transformers 3 Mech Tech Leader Asst (Hasbro) Furreal Cookie (Hasbro) Kidizoom Twist (VTech) Rock on Elmo (Hasbro) Ninjago Fire Temple (Lego) Nerf Vortex Nitron (Hasbro) Moshi Monsters Talking Plush (Vivid) iBall3 (HTI) Barbie Fashionistas (Mattel)
The top film and TV inspired toys are as follows: Dr Who Build Your Own Screwdriver (Character) Light-up Rapunzel doll (Mattel) Cars 2 1:24 R/C Lightning McQueen (Character) Queen Anne's Revenge (Lego) Transformers Ultimate Optimus Prime (Hasbro) Cars Big Bentley Bust Out (Lego) Justin Bieber Singing Doll (Vivid) Dance Star Mickey (Mattel) Monster High Laguna Hydration Station (Mattel)
Hamley's pick of the 'finest' toys are below: Dr Who Ride-in Dalek (Kids@play) Bugatti Type 57 SC atlantic Coupe 1938 (John Ayrey) Concorde Collectors Pack (Bravo Delta) Disney Princess Ultimate Dream Castle (Mattel) Smokey the Fire Engine (Mattel) Sylvanian Families Highfields Farm (Flair) Fijit Friends (Mattel) LeapPad (Leapfrog) Technic Supercar (Lego) Air Swimmers (Wow Stuff) My Keepon (Wow Stuff) 3ch Gyro Spy Cam Helicopter (Silverlit) AppBlaster (Apptoys)
Finally, the top traditional toys are as follows: Rosie Ragdoll (Hamleys) Pudding - Christmas Bear (Hamleys) Magnetic Fish Pond (Cheatwell) Blow Football (Cheatwell) Tiddledey Winks (Cheatwell) Monopoly Nostalgia Edition (Hasbro/Esdevium) Risk Nostalgia Edition (Hasbro/Esdevium) Cluedo Nostalgia Edition (Hasbro/Esdevium) Timberkits Dragon (Timberkits) Star Wars Millennium Falcom (Lego) Wooden Train (Hamleys) Grenadier Guardsman (Hamleys) Xylophone (Hamleys) Chester Rocking Horse (Hamleys)
Next to get in on the act is The Sun. Its still 5 months to go until Xmas but thats not stopping anyone from releasing their lists, but a big hand to Hasbro's PR dept for this list!
Transformers -with a foot-high Optimus Prime figure. (Hasbro) Transformers 300 pc building kit. (Hasbro) Spider-Man All Mission Racer car, (pretty sure this is Hasbro too) spinning toy Beyblade Extreme Top System Tornado (Hasbro) rubber bullet gun Vortex Nitron Blaster. (don't know about this one but i think I can guess!) A singing and instrument-playing Elmo. (Hasbro) Play-Doh's Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shop. (Hasbro) Interactive pet dog Cookie Pie, which responds to human touch and voice commands. (Hasbro) New updated Monopoly. (Hasbro)
Hurrah! I was getting worried that we had not had a manufacturers' top ten list yet, and here it is! Hasbro's top ten toys for Xmas are as follows Furreal Cookie My Playful Pup Littlest Pet Shop Tree House Let’s Rock Elmo Play-Doh Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe Monopoly Electronic Banking Bop-It! XT Kre-o Transformers Bumblebee set Transformers Ultimate Optimus Prime Star Wars Ultimate Force Tech Lightsaber Assortment Beyblade: Extreme Top System Tornado Battlers Spider-Man All Mission Racer Nerf Vortex Nitron Blaster
25th July and Amazon have now got in on the act. thankfully they are just nominating 5 toys It bears no relationship at all to either Tesco's. Hamley's, The Sun's or Hasbro's I have lost the will to list the toys but you can read it here http://www.toynews-online.biz/news/34177/Amazon-tips-five-toys-for-Christmas-success So how do we work out who is right? What does Harry Hill say.....fight......! Small and tiny retailers very welcome here.24 May 2011 We had a lovely comment from a new customer yesterday when she told us that we had been more helpful and approachable than any of the other potential suppliers she had contacted. Some had ignored her requests and others had been patronising in their responses We have never quite understood this snobbery about supplying small retailers. We understand that if you are geared up to supply large multi national retailers you can't supply small businesses. Your products go out on pallets and you are not geared up to pick and dispatch smaller parcels. We can't drop ship for exactly the same reason which is why we have a partner to do it for us. For more information on our drop shipping programme please click here What we don't get is why wholesalers in the same market as Best Years put barriers to trade up. When we go to a trade show we are always amazed at how many companies have prohibitive minimum order quantities. We pay £000s to be at a trade show and we do not want to let any potential customer go! When we ask our fellow exhibitors why they insist on minimum order quantities they give various reasons along the lines of unprofitable to pick and ship and needing shops to stock enough lines to give them brand presence. Well our reason for not having a minimum order quantity is quite simple. Our knitted and crochet toys sell so well that having placed a small order retailers come back and order more. Sometimes its another small order, and sometimes its a bit bigger, but which ever is fine with us. We don't have a minimum order quantity because we are confident enough in our ranges to allow retailers to test them in their stores knowing they will come back to us once they have sold out. So even if you only have £50 to trial soft toys in your shop Best Years are happy to work with you. We have a wide range of wholesale crochet and knitted toys and your business is important to us. Marks and Spencers started as one small shop and look at them now! Wholesale Pebble ranges for Autumn 201124 May 2011 The new Pebble toys are due in to us in time for the Autumn trade shows but we will have the whole collection on our stand at Pulse London, 5th-7th June, on stand E15. Just in case you can't make it to Pulse, or you can't wait that long we have images of the new toys for you. We would love to hear what you think so email us at gaynor@bestyears.co.uk with your views 1. Chubby monsters. should retail around £10.99
2. Nutcracker and Ballerina. Retailing around £19.99
3. Organic and Pixie crochet Doudous. Available in pink and blue plus organic cream. Following feedback from our survey they will all have faces. £10.99 - £12.99
If comfort toys carry their own life force, isn't it better they're fair trade?23 May 2011 Did you know that there is a real psychological reason why children become emotionally attached to certain toys? Studies have shown that over 70% of children in the western world become attached to a particular toy or blanket. It is believed that this is more prevalent in the western world because western children tend to sleep separately from their parents from a much earlier age. The toy can carry the smell of their mother and their familiar texture offers almost immediate comfort Psychologists found that children sub consciously believe that their favourite toy possess intangible attributes that cannot be seen but imbue their toy with special qualities. This makes sense if you think of how many religions believe inanimate objects possess their own life force. Given that these comfort toys are so special to babies and children we think its particularly important that they chose a fair trade toy. The natural cotton is machine washable and robust as well as tactile and safe. It can be washed again and again without losing any quality. It is also nice to think that a toy your child treasures above all others has benefited other families in its making. A toy which has allowed a mother to stay with her own children should surely bring with it more comfort to a baby. If comfort toys do have their own spirit we think that theres going to be a nicer magic in a hand made fairtrade toy than a mass produced toy from an industrial unit!
Google you are so wierd!23 May 2011 Best Years wholesale knitted and crochet toys and where ever possible we like to source fair trade and hand made items. For this reason we also wholesale fair trade craft kits as well. We are also Europe's largest wholesaler of Pebble crochet toys Following our decision to give up Google ads last years we have become pretty nerdish about how people find our website and routinely track the key words which bring people to www.bestyears.co.uk ( you can see our articles about giving up Google ads here and the latest one here ) So could someone explain to me how the following search request ended up on my website "i work in a factory for producing machinery. now it is just founded. there are some puzzles about finance. there is no invoice, shopping list and so on. where to buy these things? give me some specific points!" If he/she was looking for specific points they must have been very disappointed to find our wholesale website! Does make me glad i'm not paying for traffic tho'
Should baby toys be gender stereotyped?23 May 2011 There has been much debate in the media at the moment about the proliferation of pink in girls toys. Pressure groups have been set up to try to force the industry to consider their (over) use of pink for girls toys. As a wholesaler of fairtrade knitted and crochet toys Best Years have seen various fashions come and go, but pink has always been the main colour for girls' toys. In the same way that it was once said that you couldn't get sacked for buying IBM it was always a safe bet to put a girls toy in to pink irrespective of the age of child it was designed for. This is slightly bewildering when you take in to account the age at which babies develop their senses. In the first couple of months a baby has a keen sense of touch but sight has not yet developed properly. A textured toy in contrasting colours would be a good toy for this age. The Pebble crochet ball rattles would be great for this early age. During the babies' 4th month they will start to be able to distinguish shades of colours so red and orange will start to be 2 colours rather than just one. They will also start putting anything and everything they can in to their mouths so toys should be large enough not to be swallowed. They should also have noises associated with them for play value. Cotton toys are perfect for this age as they are machine washable. Always an asset when a toy has been thoroughly chewed on! By 6 months a babies sense of sight has developed to the point to where they may be able to recognise pink as before this age it would have been too subtle a colour to distinguish from other reddish shades. So finally children begin to recognise the colours which have been allocated to them since birth. But it is thought that it is not until they are 2 years old that the kids themselves start to have a preference for either pink or blue. But if babies do not recognise pink are there any differences between the way children play with toys? Research has shown that boys do indeed prefer cars and balls and girls prefer dolls. This has been re-inforced by watching the play of monkeys where the male and female monkeys chose to play with gender typical toys. However while children prefer these toys it is not to the exclusion of all others. Most children like to role play and this does not have to be gender stereo typed. Whilst their minds are still so receptive it seems a shame to coral them only in to certain play Best Years wholesale only those toys which we believe to be well designed and gorgeous. We do not believe that it is our right to dictate to retailers which toys they should be selling to their customers, but we do want to offer a wide range of toys which are suitable for both boys and girls And while we have some wonderful pink toys we also have a wide range of toys which are suitable for everybody. Join the debate on our facebook page
Queen Bee St Neots16 May 2011 This is just a quick warning note to other wholesalers Queen Bee of St Neots have ordered 3 times from us, each time a very small order (approx £50) and after the initial pro forma have not paid any of their other invoices When we started chasing the invoices we then talked to 2 other wholesalers who have had a similar experience to us. Small orders but unpaid invoices After threatening court action we have received 2 post dated cheques so we may get our money but if you are considering supplying them please be careful. Update The cheques we were sent bounced. We also have had telephone calls from companies who were at Bubble and who took orders from Queen Bee. She wrote cheques to cover the orders but some have already bounced. Please be careful! Update no 2. Today we had a call from Queen Bee obviously very irritated about this blog which hopefully is warning other wholesalers off dealing with Queen Bee. More sadly we had another call from a wholesaler who said she had lost almost £500. She said she took Queen Bee to court and in the process found out that Queen Bee has got county court judgements against her stretching back years. If you supply Queen Bee please make sure you get paid before you supply the goods And if you are chasing for money here are the number we got when she called us Shop no - 01480 473407 update no 3. This morning our website hosts got a call from Queen Bee complaining about the article! I presume she wanted them to take the article down. Other brands have learnt the hard way that protecting your reputation and brand values is harder now that the internet and social media are so prevalent. We think we have a duty to our wholesale community, many of whom are small, to let them know when we have customers not paying their bills. What do you think? Comment on our facebook page Wholesale cotton toys from Sri Lanka11 May 2011 We have some wonderful new toys just in time to show you at Pulse The toys are made by an organization called Pilseli. Based on the south coast of Sri Lanka, Pilseli was set up to help local families and, more recently, survivors of the tsunami of December 2004. Today it employs more than 10 rural families directly and about 20 more indirectly. Many of the final products are hand-sewn by women working in their homes many of whom lost husbands in the tsunami. Pilseli provides sewing machines so that they can work from home thereby making family life easier and guaranteeing good working conditions. The toys are made using hand-woven cotton fabric that is specially made to order for these toys – which makes them rather unique and special. The toys are stuffed with natural kapok and local raw materials are used wherever possible. Have a look at the full range here Pebble toys make a difference09 May 2011 Just over a year after Best Years formally launched the Pebble toys in to the UK at Top Drawer Spring the knitted and crochet toys are going from strength to strength. Best Years wholesale the full range of knitted and crochet toys. They sell due to their fabulous designs and colours which, when combined with tactile and machine washable cotton, make them the ideal toys for young children. Given how competitively the toys are priced then we were not surprised at their almost instant success However its good to know that the Pebble toys not only make UK children happy but also provide huge opportunities for rural women in Bangladesh. As we look back over a very hectic year we thought it an opportune moment to see the impact that Pebble is making in Bangladesh. Pebble started in January 2010. It was conceived as the brand of Hathay Bunano. Hathay Bunano started in 2004 but was, until late 2009 making products for other brands around the world. The aim behind Pebble was to bring the stories of Hathay Bunano to the customers who were buying the products. Over the course of 2010, all HBPS artisans learnt the new Pebble products and moved over to making for Pebble. Currently HBPS employs about 5000 women in 52 rural production centres all over Bangladesh. Most women work part time and value the flexible and local working opportunity that HBPS provide. HBPS also have an urban production centre in a slum area of Dhaka and there the women tend to work more hours and many of them full time. HBPS does not dictate working hours to the artisans. The philosophy behind the work is that it is flexible, fairly paid, good quality and local. Poor women in Bangladesh have many difficulties to navigate and it is important that they are able to work at times that suit them. Pebble has grown a lot in just over a year. We are currently working to set up 2 new rural production centres in Comilla and 3 new rural production centres in Sirajganj. These centres will be about 20-30 minutes walk from existing centres and will provide opportunities for experienced HBPS artisans to work as trainers and to teach new batches of women how to knit and crochet and make the Pebble products. All HBPS trainers are women who started as artisans. They are all women from the same socio-economic background as the women who will be taught and this, we believe, has been the key to successful and rapid training. We aim to have 500 more women trained and employed as artisans by the end of 2011 in order to meet the continuing and rising demand for Pebble products. The Spring/Summer Pebble toys are now all in stock on www.bestyears.co.uk and available to order and the Autumn/Winter range will be available on the Best Years stand at Pulse 5th-7th June. We are all looking forward to another 12 months as busy as the 1st year so come and join the Pebble family and enjoy the journey! Pebble toys - a request to retailers06 May 2011 Its no secret that Best Years want to build Pebble toys in to a world recognised brand. When you have a range of hand made, crochet toys as good as Pebble, and when you can see that they compete against every other toy brand in terms of design and price then world domination has got to be the best option. However as a soft toy wholesaler we lack the £000s to instantly catapult Pebble toys in to the forefront of consumer consciousness. Its frustrating when a badly designed and tacky toy can sell in its thousands purely on the basis of the million pound marketing budget behind it when our gorgeous fair trade Pebble toys are just so much better! We would therefore really appreciate your help in increasing the visibility of the Pebble brand. If you have an internet shop please could you include the Pebble name when describing the gorgeous toy or rattle you have listed? If you sell via Amazon please can you list the brand as Pebble and not Best Years? Where ever possible we would like the Pebble name to be used in any product description whether digital or print We are always happy to provide images and information on the workers co-operative we work with so if you need any information please email us on sales@bestyears.co.uk
Can fast fashion be eco friendly?06 May 2011 In the news this week, along with the doom and gloom of profit warnings from Thorntons and Focus DIY going in to administration, was an article about H+M and its ambitious plans to go green. As a toy wholesaler we are committed to increasing our fair trade and organic ranges so we were interested as what H+M were going to do The MD, Magnus Olsson, was quoted as saying "with size comes responsibility" but quickly clarifyed that to add that when times are tough businesses need to find ways to differentiate themselves from the competition. They want to add value to their ranges via organic cotton. They are therefore introducing a design lead, organic range called Conscious. We wholesale design led toys and have seen how popular they are with consumers so all this sounded great, but as ever theres a catch. On a positive side it is only the big retailers who are able to produce the sort of volumes which mean that even sceptical producers will look at the feasibilty of moving to organic. It is also interesting that H+M are experimenting with different materials. The Conscious collection will include garments made from recycled cottonand wool as well as less traditional materials such as polyester made from PET bottles. Again, when the large companies start looking for innovative ways to use materials they open up doors which smaller companies caould not. This is all good stuff but they lost me when they revealled that they will be selling this range at the same price as their other ranges. They say, and I quote "The price of a product is no indication of the working conditions of the people who produce it." Thats absolutely true. Its no secret that some top designer brands, which sell at £000s, are made in sweatshops. However it is also true that if you pay your factory £1 for a garment then there is only so much they can pay their workers. If H+M continue to sell their garments at rock bottom prices then not only do they ensure that there is very little profit for the factory owner to pay their workers but you also set unrealistic expectations in the consumers mind about how much something should cost. I am quite happy to shop in H+M and other value high street retailers, but I would shop there more if I knew that the clothes I am buying have not been made immorally. If that means I have to pay 50p or £1 more then thats great. As a fair trade wholesaler we know how much more organic cotton costs than normal cotton. If H+M sell their organic clothes at their normal retails I am worried that they will have to be produced even more cheaply than their normal ranges which is not good news for the people who make them. Our fairtrade toys are design led, safe and gorgeous, and they sell at a competitive price. It can be done but you need to be innovative not just in the materials you use but in the way in which you produce things. It can be done but it is a lot harder than just asking a pre-existing factory to give you a price If H+M really want to differentiate themselves from the other value retailers it would be a great if they could include production in the mix when they put on their thinking caps. They have the ability to make a big difference and it would be fab if we could see them use it Pebble toys question28 Apr 2011 Our fruit, vegetable, cake and donut rattles will be coming in on backing cards from this month We think that they are idea for hanging these smaller products and increase their visibility. If you don't like them they are easy to remove and all the legal information is still on the label What do you think?
From retail buyers to stuffed toy wholesaler20 Apr 2011 This blog has been inspired by a comment I made on Twitter recently about what retail buyers for multiple stores actually do. Best Years was set up and run by Gaynor Humphrey and Liz Cochrane. We were both retail buyers for over 20 years each and between us we have worked for Boots, Texas Homecare, Hamleys, Disney, Mothercare and Dixons. We had a variety of titles from Buyer to (my favourite) Director of Strategic Relationships but the basic job was chosing products, negotiating prices and getting them in to the shops We have now been out of buying for almost 10 years but here is our quick synopsis of what retailer buyers are doing (when they are not avoiding calls from small businesses) and tips about how to contact them if you really want to. Retail buyers are there to select products for retailers which sell in volume at a profit. They work with a team including the Supply Manager who works out how many of each product to buy and a Marketing Mgr who works out promotions and manages things like the store Xmas gift guide. The Buyer, Supply Manager and Marketing Manager will all then have an Assistant buyer and a buying assistant or their equivalent. They will report in to a Category Manager who is responsible for the profitability of the total range. The day to day job of a retail buyer involves meeting with existing suppliers to see potential new products and negotiate prices, meetings with the team to plan the shape of future ranges (typically a large store will be planning ranges 10-18 months before the actual season), sorting out issues with current ranges such as what to do with slow sellers, how to get more stock of good sellers right down to system issues with barcodes. There is a lot of meetings, a lot of maths and spreadsheets and a lot of travelling. As far as jobs go its absolutely fab! Some Jargon Gondola End - thats the metre at the end of each isle which is the highest visibility space in the store. They are sold to suppliers for £000s Open to Buy - A buyer is budgeted to achieve certain sales at a set margin. This then throws out an amount of money which can be used to buy product. So if you need to achieve £5m in a 3 month period the open to buy would be about £2m. DPP - not so popular these days but this stood for Direct Product Profitability. This meant that you measured all the costs associated with a product - transport to stores, merchandising in stores etc etc and worked out what the final bottom line profitability was for each line EPP - entry price point. This is the cheapest product in the range and the one which produces the highest volume and invariably the lowest margin, and the one which is most heavily promoted. It is also the least profitable for the stores. John Lewis maintain their competitive position in electricals by simply not listing EPP products which drain resource and profit. So given that a buyer's main role is to find profitable new lines why do they never accept calls from companies trying to sell them brilliant new products? This is mainly to do with time and money. Buyers have to interact with a lot of people both in and out of the company. They spend a lot of time talking to people on the phone and in meetings so the chances of them being in the right frame of mind to talk to a cold caller are minimal. However more than time is the issue of money. Buyers don't just make money by selecting the right product they also negotiate promotional support from their suppliers. When I was working at Boots in the Home Business Centre (which was the smallest and least profitable business centre of the company) back in the 1990s we sold promotional gondola ends for between £8k - £16k per week. This was the lowest charge in the company. What they charge now is anybody's guess! On top of this the supplier would then have to fund the promotional discount as well. When a new product is launched we used to charge £000s for the store launch. A small company is unlikely to have the financial support to buy the promotional space or focus so its usually more profitable to go to a large, existing supplier for new products. The Marketing manager won't want a small company as a new supplier as they are unlikely to stump up £000s for a slot in the Xmas gift guide and other advertising opportunities, and the Supply Manager won't want a small company as they are most likely to make a mistake in the timing and method of deliveries. So if you still want to talk to the buyer of a multiple retailer then how can you do it? This may sound dum, but the first thing to do is find out their name. I can't tell you of the amount of letters we received saying Dear Buyer. The switchboard will routinely refuse to give out names, but you can find out. We have a list of all the Toy buyers for the multiples here Once you have the name then set aside a year and over the course of the year write relevant and informed letters, postcards and emails. Send in brochures and samples. invite them to trade fairs. and after you have done all this, then ring them. Some will still refuse to speak to you, but most will then give you some time. And some anecdotes I was in a meeting about the launch of pre-pay mobiles when a very senior director stated that pre-pay mobile phones were a ludicrous idea and were destined to fail. He is now an MD of a large high st retailer And if you see me at a trade show ask me about the complain letter I got which started "For many years I have suffered from severe pain in my anal passage, right testicle and my penis"
Green baby blankets and hats new from Pebble14 Apr 2011 Our new green baby range from Pebble is now in stock and available to order. In our Pebble green and eco baby range are both fairtrade and fairtrade organic blankets, hats and booties. They are all hand made in cool cotton so perfect for both the heat and the chills of summer The Pebble blankets are available in tropical stripes and have gorgeous co-ordinating hats
We also have the pastel and rainbow stripes
Finally we have the wonderful Pebble patchwork and crochet blankets
And why can we call this particular Pebble range green baby? All our baby blankets are hand made by a workers co-operative in Bangladesh which provides fairly paid employment for women in rural locations. They are all machine washable so will last for years. We don't subscribe to disposable fashion! And whereas most of the Pebble range are toys we also have a wonderful range of baby blankets, hats and booties which we really want to shout about. So if your customers are looking for eco or green baby ranges Pebble have just the thing! Green toys and eco toys climb on the back of Fairtrade sales12 Apr 2011 News is that the recession has bitten a large chunk out of sales of Organic products with the value of organic products declining from £2.11bn in 2008 to £1.73bn in 2010 In direct comparison sales of Fairtrade products were up by 40% and broke the £1bn for the first time As a fair trade wholesaler we are very interested in sales information of organic and fairtrade products especially as our fair trade toys are selling so well We were therefore very interested to see that over 72% of sales of organic products were through the supermarkets and that sales in supermarkets had reduced by 7.7% as against just 5% overall. We thought that perhaps supermarkets themselves worried about the price of organic products and were consciously or unconsciously scaling down the impact and visibility of their organic products That was until we saw that Sainsbury's account for 25% of all fairtrade sales in the UK and the Co-op is making a concerted effort to catch them up, which blew that theory apart! The final piece of news which interested us this week is that while H+M announced a fall in profits of 11% in the last quarter of 2010 Stylecompare.co.uk have predicted sales of so called disposable fashion will fall and sales of eco fashion will continue to increase. So what does this all mean to a fairtrade wholesaler of stuffed toys and their wonderful Independent customers? We are hoping that it means that the British consumer understands the value behind buying fairtrade and that they are finally moving away from buying cheap but poor quality in to more classic, value for money items. To get on my band wagon again it is simply not right that you can buy a dress so cheaply that you can wear it for one night only and then throw it away because the quality is so poor. Much better that you invest in quality items which have been made well and with care. Certainly we have seen our sales increase in 2011 as retailers repeat purchase best selling items such as our knitted T Rex and crochet Octopus. We will definitely continue to develop new crochet and knitted toys at affordable prices, and we are always looking to partner with more fair trade producers. It would be nice to think that the Xmas no1 toy will be a hand made, fair trade cotton crochet Humpty Dumpty rather than the farting, burping Dave the funky monkey who was so successful in 2010. That would almost (but not quite) have made the recession worth it!
What happened when a stuffed toy wholesaler gave up Google ads for lent04 Apr 2011 Last year Best Years made the decision to give up Google ads for Lent We did this because like many other businesses we had ended up spending a lot of money on Google ads without actually knowing whether it was a good investment. When we take our crochet and knitted toys to a trade show it is easy to judge afterwards whether the £000s investment has been paid back but with Google ads its a bit more difficult. Yes you can see that traffic is arriving at your website, but is it profitable? Your ads are supposed to be specifically targeted but despite this we seemed to be getting a lot of traffic from the USA, a country where we cannot sell our toys We are a fairtrade wholesaler and not an expert in google advertising so over the years we have hired a couple of agencies to manage our Google ads with very little effect. So finally we took a deep breath and cancelled the ads. The most immediate effect was a devestating and almost instant halving of our website traffic. As a stuffed toy wholesaler we gain many customers via our website and we were very tempted to re-instate the google ads immediately. However we stuck it out and now a year later things are very different. We have spent the year on a very steep learning curve. We have attended training courses by Business Link and the British Library in order to understand what customers and search engines require from a website. As we are not buying in traffic we have had to find a way to pull relevant traffic in to us through key words etc. We have also set Best Years up on Twitter and Facebook which has been fab as it allows 2 way digital communication. We are passionate about our Pebble crochet toys so we have also been involved with non digital activity to increase the visibility of Pebble. And one year later we now have the same amount of traffic to our website as we had in Jan 2010 with the one major improvement that very little of it is from the USA We spend a lot more time on our website, writing blogs on subjects that we, as wholesale kids market, find interesting but this has resulted in website visitors who are interested in what we do. So the learning is that you can exist without Google ads but what you gain in money you lose in time! We are quite happy with this but if you are considering anything similar you should take it in to account Our next step is to once again hire an expert. From Feb 2011 we have been working with Claire Jarrett to increase the visibility of our website. This is a lot cheaper than Google ads and you get to have a conversation about whether things are or are not working which is a definite bonus! We will let you know how we get on but if you wish to contact Claire her email is claire@marketingbyweb.co.uk Knitted, crochet and fairtrade toys and ideas on how to sell them04 Apr 2011 Its not been the best start to the month Oddbins and Allworths have both gone in to administration and stores as diverse as HMV, Mothercare and Dixons have warned that their profits will be lower than expected. Its hard to see the light in UK retail sometimes. However amongst the gloom is the news that Laura Ashley have almost doubled their profits in the last year from £10m to £19m which got us thinking about ways it is possible to thrive in the current economic climate. As a stuffed toy wholesaler the 2 things we are most dependent on for our sales are the quality of the knitted and crochet toys we sell and the success of our retailers - as George Osborne likes to say "we are in this together". Therefore the question as how to thrive as a retailer when things are tough is very much of interest to us which is why we are blogging about 2 different emails we received this week Firstly we were emailed by a company called Buegle (www.buegle.com) who can set you up with a Facebook store for just £99. Given that Facebook is the most searched for term in the UK (and the world!) there is no doubt that selling through Facebook is going to increase. We reported before Xmas that Social Media was driving customers to stores and we already have customers who sell purely through Facebook. We have no idea if Buegle are any good as we are a fairtrade wholesaler not a retail expert but they may be worth a call. We looked in to Facebook stores a bit more and Payvment seem to be a company driving the Facebook store solution and their website is http://payvment.assistly.com/ The other thing which struck our interest was some news from Amazon. They are driving their Marketplace facility and have released the following figures about their customer base Average age – 38.6 56% Male, 44% Female 59% in full time employment Average income - £48,700 Spend 11.7 hours per week online Marketplace already have 2 million sellers and their sales account for 30% of total unit sales Working on the basis that if you can't beat them, join them, then the Marketplace offers you access to Amazon's 130m customers. Amazon is only pushing its Marketplace because its profitable to them so they will obviously take their pound of flesh, but on the other hand they may provide you with much needed volume. However please don't be tempted to discount our knitted and crochet toys on Amazon or we will stop supplying you! For an explanation please read this http://www.bestyears.co.uk/blog/why-you-don-t-discount-fairtrade-toys As we always say, we are a stuffed toy wholesaler and not a retail consultancy but either of these could be a good opportunity. Maybe worth a try? And if you want to know why we aren't doing them its because we only sell to independent retailers and not to consumers! Budget 2011 - the view from a soft toy wholesaler23 Mar 2011 It says something about the economy that for the first time ever all of us at Best Years listened to all of the budget, something that I have to confess I have never done before. The market has been tough since Lehman's bank crashed back in 2008 and quite frankly by now we could do with a bit of light relief. We have seen many familiar faces exit the market over the last couple of years and there are noticeable gaps at trade shows where friends used to be So given that we listened to the whole budget what do we, as a soft toy and fairtrade wholesaler, think of it? Our first thoughts were that anything which puts more money in to people's pockets is a good thing. The decrease in fuel duty and increase in personal allowance is definitely a positive step. More specifically the extension in small business rate relief is good news for independent retailers However here are some statistics from the Federation of Small Business •There are 4.8 million small businesses in the UK (up from 4 million in 2003) •95 per cent employ less than 5 people •Small and medium-sized firms employ more than 59.8 per cent of the private sector workforce •22.8 million people work in small and medium-sized firms •Small firms contribute more than 49 per cent of the UK turnover •Wholesale, Retail and Repairs was the biggest employer at the start of 2009 •The 563,000 enterprises in this sector employed 4,853,000 people (21.3 per cent of all UK private sector employment) These statistics clearly show how important the small retailers are to the UK economy, but I heard nothing in the budget speech to recognise the value of all these thousands of small shops. Its great that the government is investing in research and in high technology and green industries but how about funnelling some money to the less sexy, but still very important shop keepers? Its not a glamourous occupation, and its unlikely to expand in to a multinational organisation but these shops are fundamental to the economy. Independent retailers add the character to towns which the multiple retailers don't. They are more likely to source from small, craft based businesses as they do not have to go through a huge buying process before investing. This means selling product designed and/or made in the UK which again is good for jobs. They perform a genuine and essential service to communities. Its about time that their importance was recognised.
Ethical Superstore in administration17 Mar 2011 Heres the email we received this week about Ethical Superstore. Big sigh. We were owed money and I wonder how many other suppliers are too. I am very glad that the staff have new jobs because they were all very nice and I am certain that it wasn't their fault that things went wrong. However, I don't mean to sound bitter but I wish people would stop going on about Ethical Superstore being acquired. They weren't just acquired, they went bust, suppliers lost money and we should be open about this instead of trying to dress it up as something its not. Rant over....Email begins
Dear Supplier, I’m Peter Slee, Managing Director of Spark Response Ltd (www.sparkresponse.com), and am writing to share news that this week we have bought the assets of Ethicalsuperstore.com Ltd out of administration and plan to operate it as a going concern. For the past year, we have been providing customer contact and fulfilment services to Ethicalsuperstore.com, who had rapidly become one of our most important service partners. Although we were recently disappointed to learn that Ethicalsuperstore.com’s investors unexpectedly withdrew their financial support for the business, we were swift to show our commitment for what we consider to be a fundamentally sound business with good growth potential in serving the market for fair trade and eco friendly products. I understand that you may have an outstanding debt as a previous supplier to Ethicalsuperstore.com Ltd. EthicalSuperstore.com Ltd is now in administration and any questions regarding the status of residual debts should be addressed to the Administrators at Bridge Business Recovery LLP www.bridgebr.co.uk. The Administrators’ may be contacted by telephone at 020 7025 6130. The Administrators will be in contact with you directly shortly with the necessary documents to record the debt owed to you. In acquiring the assets of Ethicalsuperstore.com Ltd, which will operate under our Spark Etail Ltd subsidiary (www.sparketail.com ), we are making a long-term commitment to support the activities of the former business including the Natural Collection and Ethicalsuperstore.com online stores and the new OneGoodMarket.com marketplace. As a profitable and well funded business, our plan is to invest significantly in developing the Spark Etail business over the next few years, which we feel confident will generate profitable sales growth for our trading partners. To operate the day-to-day activities of the new Spark Etail Ltd business, we are employing some of the former staff members of Ethicalsuperstore.com Ltd and I will be working closely with my fellow directors Noel Lambert, Andy Redfern and Vic Morgan in managing the new business. As we are committed to building strong and valued relationships with all of our new suppliers, accounts-related activities will be managed by our central finance department at Spark to ensure the highest levels of support and service. Having reviewed your previous sales to Ethicalsuperstore.com Ltd, we would like to invite you to work with us as a new merchandise supplier to Spark Etail Ltd. One of the Spark Etail team will contact you shortly regarding the possibility of initiating trading activities with your business, including covering new trading arrangements, product selection and other commercial details – you can forward any trading information or enquiries to buying@sparketail.com. In the meantime, if you have any general questions or feedback, please free to contact me at peter.slee@sparkresponse.com. Sincerely, Peter Slee Director Spark Etail Ltd About the Spark Response Group • Spark Response founded in 1982 and based in Gateshead, is a contact centre and fulfilment specialist with a diverse client range. • Spark provides contact centre and fulfilment support to organisations including Toys R Us, Cancer Research UK, Best Direct, Ethical Superstore, Red Direct, FitFlop, Soap & Glory, and Pavers Shoes among others. • As the eCommerce industry emerged, the company’s business model evolved to include service expertise across multiple channels and its fulfilment product range has grown in volume and size. • Today, Spark Response can despatch anything from a single item of clothing to a full size garden leisure pool, from small parcels for home shopping customers to large trade and retail replenishment orders. Smart content marketing16 Mar 2011 Regular visitors to our blog will know that we are big fans of The British Library business and IP centre. They regularly run courses at less than £50 covering everything from business planning, marketing and researching product ideas As a soft toy wholesaler we spend a lot of time running the day to day parts of our business and not enough planning for the future so its great to spend a little time outside of the business looking back in to it The last course we attended was on how internet and social media could help your business grow. There were a couple of clear things I took away from this course. It has long been accepted that people surf the net rather than slowly browse. This means that when they land on your website you literally have seconds to attract their attention before you move on. What is your call to action? Why are they going to stay on your website. You should clearly state what your website does, your contact details and if possible a compelling offer. This applies not just to the home page but to all pages on your website where visitors are likely to land on Content is king. People are looking for solutions to their problems and it is content which will provide this. Interesting relevant and up to date content will not only ensure that people stay on your website but also will gain their loyalty/friendship. In addition search engines value content. Google values content and will rate your website accordingly For instance we regularly post about toy safety legislation and other issues to do with soft toys not only because we care passionately about our toys but also we want our customers to know that we care! We don’t sell our fair-trade ranges just based on price so retailers need to know that we are an authority in our area Keywords. There is no point in having content which is not relevant to what you are trying to sell. You need to identify the key words that people will use when searching for your particular product/service and use them within your content. It was recommended that for every 100 words you use 3-4 of them should be key words. Any more than this could make your article read weirdly. Also key words in titles are more effective than in normal text, but make sure it still reads well. If it doesn’t then you could come across as a spammer. I am totally failing to do this in this article so do you mind if I quickly put in crochet toy wholesaler to try and up the count of keywords? Content is great on your website but it is also very valuable when used on 3rd party websites via blogs. For this reason you should be looking to submit your articles, thoughts and opinions on to other peoples sites via blogs and social media. Remember to link back to your own website, and to do this using key words not your company name. Not only will spreading content around like this build your authority but it will also increase the links coming back in to your website. Google now rates links as a recommendation to your website and views them as one of the most important indicators of quality (and therefore ranking!) The other key point was competitive analysis. To be honest the last time I did a SWOT analysis of competitors I was employed by a high street retailer! We always feel that no one else has such a wide range of fair-trade toys and that comparing yourself to other companies is a rather negative use of time. However this may be fine in the “real” world but its different in the digital world. You need to be on the first page of the Google search so what your competitors do, what key words they use and how they represent themselves are key. So have a look at who you think is in competition with you and have a poke around at what links/key words they have using the following tools in Google Site: web address of competitor – this will show how many pages of your competitor’s website are indexed. Then type Site:keyword to show which key words they are using Link:webadress to show how many links they have coming back in to them Final words Within the next year 50% of websites will be accessible by mobile phone. Will yours? This can be done by a 3rd party provider such as www.mobify.com Facebook and Linked in adverts are growing rapidly. Could they be useful for your business? The key difference to Google ads is that google ads search by a keyphrase while social media ads can use demographic information as well. New regs for company websites and social media11 Mar 2011 From 1st March the Advertising Standards Authority will, for the first time, be responsible for non-paid for advertising such as company websites and Twitter and Facebook accounts. This does not include press releases and editorial content but if you are making a claim for your product or service on your website or any social media accounts they must now comply with the ASA’s advertising code. There is a grey area around blogs – so if you post a blog on your own website it will be viewed differently to if you post it on someone else’s website. Similarly the ASA will view a customer quote you put up on the front page of your website differently to one posted on an internet forum. The rule of thumb remains the same. Are the claims you make Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful This has got to be good news for consumers and small businesses as it means that businesses cannot say on their website or social media feeds what you would not be able to print For more advice then the best place to start is the advertising standards authority page on digital advice. Or more simply ask a relative or friend if they think what you are saying is true! As a soft toy wholesaler we are quite comfortable in saying on our website and on our twitter and facebook accounts that we have the widest range of knitted and fairtrade crochet toys as we now have toys from Indonesia, Peru and Bangladesh and our ranges are still growing Organic toys, hats, booties and blankets10 Mar 2011 Please don't forget that the prices of the organic toys have gone up Huge apologies but the price of organic cotton has gone up even faster than normal cotton They are all still gorgeous and very affordable especially for a fair trade, hand made, organic range! Waldorf Steiner toys08 Mar 2011 Our new range of Pebble fairtrade cotton crochet toys and the Peruvian hand knitted toys will be arriving over the next couple of weeks We are very excited because we have had such a positive reaction to the new toys at the trade shows However one question we were asked repeatedly was why the crochet Pixies did not have faces and so this article is my attempt to explain why The decision not to have faces stems in part from the Waldorf Steiner concept of education. The Waldorf Steiner schools believe in a more holistic style of education with more emphasis on feeling than thinking. Teaching of reading and writing is delayed until the child is 7 while the child grows in to themselves I am not going to go in to huge detail about Waldorf Steiner education as we are soft toy wholesalers and not teachers or psychologist, but we do like their idea of nourishing toys Imagine the sensory experience of a toddler cuddling a rigid, hard plastic doll with synthetic hair, and then cuddling a tactile and soft cotton crochet or knitted doll. Not only is our doll more aesthetically pleasing (well we think so anyway, but then everyone knows my views on Barbie!), but its softness and warmth will also have a calming and soothing effect on a young child. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education, suggested that children’s playthings should be largely unformed in order to stimulate a child’s imagination so Waldorf toys are often simple, without a lot of detail. The more open ended the toy the more flexible the play can be. If you have a doll with a painted on face then if you want her to be happy, excited, sad, thoughtful or grumpy this is constrained by its pre-existing expression Waldorf dolls have minimal facial features, and sometimes no faces at all. As is the case with most aspects of Waldorf education, the reason is not arbitrary. Waldorf dolls have minimal or no faces in order to encourage the imagination of the young child—to cultivate her “inner picturing” abilities. We don't know enough about Waldorf Steiner ethos to make many comments. However as a soft toy wholesaler we do believe in the importance of play, and we believe that knitted and crochet toys which are tactile, robust and machine washable are the perfect soft toy for babies and young children Heres a list of Waldorf Steiner schools in UK and Ireland. If you have one near you then our knitted and crochet toys would be a perfect range to stock! http://www.steinerwaldorf.org.uk/_listofsteinerschools.html#South East England And to quote Plato “the most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.” Couldn't agree more! Join the debate on our facebook page Barbie Dolls exit Shanghai07 Mar 2011 Its not too much of a secret about how I feel about Barbie. As a soft toy wholesaler there are brands we compete against brands that I like and respect, and there are others that I really don't like. Barbie definitely falls in to this category I have never bought them for my children which meant that sympathetic friends and relatives heaped them on to my daughters at Xmas and birthdays and i spent a long couple of years surrounded by their pinkness. So I have sent up a lone, but very loud cheer this morning when I heard that the Barbie shop in Shanghai is to close due to poorer than expected sales. We are a very cheerful knitted and crochet wholesaler this afternoon! Social Media info03 Mar 2011
We have previously blogged at how impressed we have been by Twitter. We were so impressed that we went on a course to learn how else we could use social media, and how it could be used to most effectively. What we learnt was that social media is a huge topic and covers many different angles so the first thing you need to consider is what you want to achieve before you dive in as it can be very time consuming
We have outlined below a very brief summary of the course but please contact us if you are after any specific information as we now have reams of it!
So, do you want to increase your authority and increase the visibility and traffic to your website? Google likes blogs as they are content rich so just having your a blog on your website will be good. However if you then post guest blogs on other peoples websites, and comment on other peoples blogs you will push your website out to an audience who might otherwise not know about you. It will also establish you as an authority in your field. But be warned this is may be free but its very labour intensive. Effective websites are www.wordpress.com , www.blogger.com and www.typepad.com
Do you want to network? If you find traditional networking useful then websites such as Twitter and Facebook have the same purpose with no geographical or time constraints. Although these are the most well known there is also www.unltdworld.com which is for entrepreneurs, www.ecademy.com to share and gain knowledge and www.linkedin.com which is good for those looking for professional help or jobs to name just a few. Like all networking the more you put in the more you get out, and it shouldn’t be viewed as a way of cold calling. However it is a great way to meet and communicate with other people with whom you have a shared common interest
Another form of social media is Audio, mostly in the form of Podcasts on your website. Again Google likes audio content on your website and it is an accessible way to communicate with customers and other interested parties. It does not need to be expensive or sophisticated. Have a look at www.podbean.com or .com for more information and a how to guidewww.digitaltrends
Have you thought about video? This is a format which is dominated by You Tube. An amazing 13 hours of video is uploaded on to You Tube every minute and 83% of people have viewed a video on You Tube. It is definitely a form of social marketing which will become more established!
Do you use the internet to research and keep up to date of topics of interest? Bookmarking is a great way to store, tag and share links across the internet. You can also share links with friend and people with similar interests. If you have ever see the logos Delicious, Digg or Stumbleupon at the bottom of an article on the internet these are all bookmarking sites. They all have slightly different ways of working so try them and see which you prefer!
Best Years are a soft knitted toy wholesaler. We are not a marketing or communications agency but like many small businesses we relish change and love finding new ways to talk and listen to our customers. We feel that social media is not only a great new way to market yourself but also a real leveller. No one on Twitter asks or cares how big you are, they are more interested in what you have to say and contribute
One warning. Be very specific about what you are trying to achieve. If you don’t you could spend many a happy hour achieving nothing! Contact details for major toy shops including Argos and Tescos03 Mar 2011 Courtesy of Toy News magazine please find below all the contact details of the major, multiple toy shops in the UK So if you want to get your toys listed by the multiples heres the place to start As a knitted and crochet toy wholesaler we only work with Independent retailers because we like them (and we hope they like us too!) so here are our top tips before you pick up the phone
Hamleys UK stores: 11 (2 x flagship, 3 x Hamleys Toy Box, 5 x Hamleys Travel Stores, 1 x Hamleys Outlet) Address: 188 - 196 Regent Street, London, W1B 5BT Website: http://www.hamleys.com/ Contact number: 0871 704 1977 Meet the team: Laura Olver – Head of buying Claire Smith – Category manager Natalie Rogerson – Category manager Emma Toolan – Category manager Lorna Bishop – Stock controller
Argos UK stores: 700+ Address: Argos Limited, 489-499 Avebury Boulevard, Central Milton Keynes, MK9 2NW Website: http://www.argos.co.uk/ Contact number: 0845 1240044 Meet the team: Andrea Abbis – Trading manager for toys, nursery and entertainment Caroline Jones – Product manager, Chad Valley Sarah Hobson – Buyer, boys toys, construction and DVDs Alison Harrison – Buyer, girls toys, science and arts & crafts Yannis Vaharoglou – Buyer, infant and pre-school Lindsay Rogers – Buyer, outdoor toys Catherine Ross – Buyer, games and DVDs Nick Allen – Merchandise manager, toys
Toys R Us UK stores: 80 Address: Mitre House, 160 Aldersgate Street, London EC1A 4DD Website: http://www.toysrus.co.uk/ Contact number: 01628 414141 Meet the team: Chris Ashton – Pre-school and educational toys buyer Anna Waite – Boys and vehicles buyer Evelyn Chiu – Games and puzzles buyer
Asda UK stores: 381 Address: Asda House, Southbank Great Wilson Street Leeds LS11 5AD Website: http://www.asda.co.uk/ Contact number: 0113 2435435 Meet the team: Steph Strike – Toys category director Mark Spowart – Head of toys Richard Wall – Events and pocket money toys buyer Ben Coates – Boys toys buyer Gareth Willougby – Games and pre-school buyer Tracey Brunton – Category marketing manager
The Entertainer UK stores: 55 Address: Boughton Business Park, Bell Lane, Little Chalfont, Bucks HP6 6GL Website: http://www.thetoyshop.com/ Contact number: 01494 737000 Meet the team: Gary Grant – Managing director Stuart Grant – Buying director Nick Hargreaves – Director of retail operations Duncan Grant – Director of multichannel Ashley Major – Finance director Sue Dorkin – Director of supply chain
Debenhams UK stores: 155 Address: Toy Buying Office: 91 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 0EF Website: http://www.debenhams.com/ Contact number: 020 7408 6336 Meet the team: James Ford – Buyer, toys (pictured) Zoe Warran – Trainee assistant buyer, toys (pictured) Caroline Knowles – Trainee assistant buyer, toys Paul Schlagman – Merchandising manager, gift division Serpil Howard – Junior merchandiser, toys
Tesco UK stores: 2,545 Address: New Tesco House, Delamare Road, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, EN8 9SL Website: http://www.tesco.com/ Contact number: 01992 632222 Meet the team: John Stanhope – Senior buying manager toys Phil Markham – Senior merchandise planner Suzanne Bates – Senior commercial manager, trade planning & Direct Claire Costello – Category manager, technical toys & stationery Nick Cooke – Buying manager boys, games, vehicles & construction James Kelsey – Buyer vehicles & construction Ravi Patel – Assistant Buyer vehicles & construction Jon Ferdenzi – Assistant buyer, boys & games Josie Giannattasio – Merchandise planner, boys & games Luke James – Merchandise planner, vehicles & construction Jess Carter – Assistant merchandise planner, boys & games Mark Gibson – Assistant merchandise planner, boys & games Catherine Hawkins – Buying manager, girls & craft Lucy Alcock – Assistant buyer, girls Kelly Tofts – Merchandise planner, girls Laura Flavin – Technical manager, girls Jane Mahony – Buying manager, outdoor & Halloween Hannah Sussams – Assistant buyer, outdoor & Halloween Neil Robinson – Merchandise planning manager, outdoor & Halloween Tauseef Parkar – Assistant merchandise planner, outdoor & Halloween Jack Bristow - Technical manager, outdoor & Halloween Mark Whittle – Buying manager, pre-school Anita Serradimigini – Buyer, pre-school & seasonal plush Carmen Legget – Assistant buyer, pre-school Claire Benabo – Merchandise planning manager, pre-school Katie Alvis – Assistant merchandise planner, pre-school Claire Stokes – Assistant merchandise planner, pre-school Nikki Gilman – Technical manager, pre-school & plush Alix Pitts – Trade planning manager Michelle Webster – Trade planning manager Carly McKnight – Trade planning manager James Lawrence – Trade planning manager
WH Smith UK stores: 570 Address: WHSmith High Street, Greenbridge Road, Swindon, SN3 3LD Website: http://www.whsmith.co.uk/ Contact number: 01793 616161 Meet the team: Liz Cooper – Buyer Amy Maidment – Assistant buyer Richard Faulkner – Merchandiser Shirley Beadle – Trading controller
Selfridges UK stores: 4 Address: 400 Oxford St. London. W1A 1AB Website: http://www.selfridges.com/ Contact number: 0800 123400 Meet the team: Lynne Crook – Buying manager, childrenswear & toys Beth Clifton – Buyer, childrenswear & toys Julie Hall – Assistant merchandiser, girlswear & toys
Hobbycraft UK stores: 51 Address: 7 Enterprise Way, Aviation Park, Bournemouth Int’l Airport, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 6HG Website: http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/ Contact number: 01202 596100 Meet the team: Rob Farnworth – Operations director Chris Crombie – Chief executive Dominic Hooley – Buying director
Play.com Address: Play.com, PO Box 192, Jersey, JE4 8RP Website: http://www.play.com/ http://www.playtrade.com/ Contact number: 0845 800 1020 Meet the team: Paul Sanders – Head of toys and gadgets Joe McManus – Buyer
Modelzone UK stores: 43 Address: Commerce Way, Lancing Business Park, Lancing, West Sussex, BN15 8TA Website: http://www.modelzone.co.uk/ Contact number: 01903 765 496 Meet the team: Graham Poole – Buyer Gill Thomas – Head of marketing Jane Evans – Merchandiser
HMV UK stores: 280 Address: HMV, Film House, 142 Wardour Street, London W1F 8LN Website: http://www.hmv.com/ Contact number: 020 7432 2000 Meet the team: Maxine Lister – Merchandiser manager Melanie Armstrong – Head of music & impulse Al Hunter – Advertising planner (games & toys)
Morrisons UK stores: 438 Address: Hilmore House, Gain Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD3 7DL Website: http://www.morrisons.co.uk/ Contact number: 0845 611 5000 Meet the team: Laura Clements – Toy buyer
TK Maxx UK stores: 253 Address: 50 Clarendon Rd, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD17 1TX Website: http://www.tkmaxx.com/ Contact number: 01923 473561 Meet the team: Beth Carey – Toy buyer
Toymaster UK stores: 272 Address: Victoria House, Newport Pagnell Road West, Northampton, NN4 7JJ Website: http://www.toymaster.co.uk/ Contact number: 01604 674477 Meet the team: Buying/Merchandising: Paul Reader (Central office) Ian Edmunds (Central office), Andy Taylor (Toymaster at Ramsdens) Ciaran Fitzpatrick (Banba Toymaster) Gordon Walker (Conways Toymaster) Steve Hogg (Hoggosaurus Toymaster). Marketing: Ian Edmunds (Central office) Jo Skelton (Central office) Chris Blatcher (The Ramsey Warehouse) Ciaran Burns (C & H Burns) Debbie Hartfield (Kids Stuff) Elaine Stott (Conways Toymaster) Sharon Eveson (Eveson Toys).
Toymaster is a buying group for independent toy retailers with a USP of “Helping Our Members Trade More Profitably”. Toymaster trades as a mutuality and is 100 per cent owned by its members. Members of Toymaster can retain their independence while having access to all the benefits of being part of a larger group.
Firebox.com Address: Firebox.com 5 Ardwell Road London SW2 4RT Website: http://www.firebox.com/ Contact number: 0844 9221010 Meet the team: Ben Fowler – Head of buying and merchandising Paul Zimmerman – MD Michael Acton Smith – Co-Founder Tom Boardman – Co-Founder and technical director Steve Law – Operations director Alison Sakai – Financial controller
Sainsbury's UK stores: 872 Address: Sainsbury's Support Centre, 33 Holborn, London, EC1N 2HT Website: http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/ Contact number: 02476 439 100 Meet the team: Kate Briggs – Senior buyer Sunny Walia – Buyer, pre-school, nursery, games and puzzles Rebecca Rathbone – Buying assistant, pre-school, nursery/games and puzzles Lauren Bennett – Buyer, boys and construction Gemma Gaston – Buying assistant, boys and construction Zaharaa Sheik – Buyer, girls and creative Sarah Ritmeyer – Buying assistant, girls and creative Dean Mumford – Senior merchandising planner Louise Allison – Merchandising planner Steven Goss – Technologist
John Lewis UK stores: 33 Address: John Lewis Partnership, Carlisle Place, London SW1P 1BX Website: http://www.johnlewis.com/ Contact number: 020 7828 1000 Meet the team: Elaine Whiteman – Toy & book buyer Michelle McGuire & Rachael Stacey – Assistant buyers Ellen Jarvis & Sarah Batty – Buying administrators Alan Wright – Toy and book merchandiser Ben Archer – Assistant merchandiser Joanne Kyriakides, Michael Dumas, Russell Woolley – Mechandise administrators
Mothercare/Early Learning Centre UK stores: 387 Address: Cherry Tree Road, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD24 6SH Website: http://www.mothercare.com/ Contact number: 01923 241000 Meet the team: Jo Ledsham – Divisional director Tom Cackett – Head of merchandising Tom Folliot – Buyer, action and adventure (boys toys) Claire Donovan – Buyer, puzzles, games and character Kate Harper – Buyer, baby and toddler Stacy Hunt – Buyer, sports and outdoor Claire Loxley – Senior buyer, Lets Pretend (girls toys) Liz Waller – Senior buyer, Mothercare toys and ELC baby and toddler Sara Watts – Senior merchandiser, boys and girls toys Nichola Fisken – Senior merchandiser, Mothercare toys and ELC baby and toddler toys Mario Luzi – Senior merchandiser, sports and outdoor Gareth Thorn – Merchandiser, action and adventure (boys toys) Hayley Young – Merchandiser, Lets Pretend (girls toys)
AIS/Play-room UK stores: 158 Address: Cranmore Park, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, B90 9LF Website: http://www.cranmorepark.co.uk/ Contact number: 0121 713 4487 Meet the team: Joyce Daly – Controller Miles Penhallow – Manager Charlotte Roberts – Administration
Associated Independent Stores (AIS) launched its own toy buying group in June 2008. Play-room currently has 76 members with 158 outlets. Any toy retailer meeting the required standards, can apply to join Play-room, it is not necessary to be a member of AIS. Play-room offers a comprehensive range of services including a fob import programme, access to clearance, broadsheet and window-to-shelf marketing all of which are available to members via http://www.play-roommembers.net/.
Smyths UK stores: 40 Address: 2nd Floor Block 2, Galway Financial Services Centre, Moneenageisha Road, Galway, Ireland Website: http://www.smythstoys.com/ Contact number: +353 91 743600 Meet the team: Anne-Marie Gerrett – Head buyer Peter Strange – Head buyer, pre-school
Amazon Address: Patriot Court, 1-9 The Grove, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 1QP Website: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ Contact number: 0800 496 1081 Meet the team: Ulrike Wingenter – Toys category manager Rhian Munday – Senior toy buyer Colin Ball – Senior instock manager Andrew Smithers – Instock Manager Serena Banga – Administration and product set-up Ryan Hurney – Site merchandiser Crochet Rickshaw28 Feb 2011
I have to admit that I love my job. I get to sell the most gorgeous wholesale knitted and crochet toys. This year things have got even better because now we also have fairtrade craft kits and some fab organic toys from Peru to sell. However like all jobs being a wholesaler has parts that no one enjoys and chief among these is chasing overdue invoices. Actually, once you start ringing customers to prompt them for payment you normally get some fab conversations and feedback and also re-orders but just occasionally you have customers who refuse to pay for reasons nothing to do with Best Years. In these cases we always go to court There are few things more demoralising than having to take a customer to court to recover money they owe. When that customer is a leading ethical retailer its even more sour and that is what I had to do this am So I was a very grumpy person on Twitter this morning (www.twitter.com/knittedtoys) and the lovely Samantha Morshed responded by sending me this fab picture How cool is this! All of a sudden I was back to being very happy with my job of selling gorgeous fairtrade knitted and crochet toys. Thanks Samantha
Exclusivity of knitted and crochet toys03 Feb 2011 As a wholesaler of knitted and crochet toys we are used to being asked for exclusivity. Normally its not a problem as we are still a small company and our ranges are not as widely distributed as companies such as Jellicat and Anne Claire Petit. however as we grow its becoming more of an problem to us Although we understand why stores would want exclusivity it causes us huge issues. The problem is that shops presume that if they take your range first then they have the right to have it exclusivity. However what should we do if a shop who takes our range only buys £200 in a year? If another shop in the same area wants to place an order for £500 what should we do? Our original customer will feel that they have earnt our loyalty, but do they have the right to keep the range if their turnover is low? We have a responsibility both to ourselves and to the workers co-operatives we work with to maximise sales. In order to provide fairly paid employment to our workers we need to sell as many toys as possible. Where should our loyalties lie - to our retailers or to our suppliers? Exclusivity is a very emotional point and we would appreciate your comments on what you think is right and wrong on our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Best-Years-Ltd/253202060688 New fairtrade, organic toys25 Jan 2011 We are very pleased to tell you of a new range of fair trade and organic toys and rag dolls Made in Peru these knitted toys are so soft its difficult to believe that they are knitted The range comprises of a mouse, penguin, bunnies and rag dolls, in traditional caramels and soft browns The full range will be listed on the website by the end of Jan
New Pebble catalogue 201113 Jan 2011 Heres a sneak preview of the new Pebble toys which arrive March/April http://www.facebook.com/pages/Best-Years-Ltd/253202060688#!/pages/Best-Years-Ltd/253202060688
Or you can come along and see the toys at Top Drawer, stand K34, Bubble London, stand A32 and Spring Fair, Hall 9, stand AA33 To register for these shows please click here, http://www.bestyears.co.uk/general.tem/OIDDAS334321 Customers buy Pebble toys because they are gorgeous11 Jan 2011 Customers buy our knitted and crochet toys because they are gorgeous, tactile and robust (they are all machine washable) and thats the way it should be. We do not believe that we should make people buy our toys by making them feel guilty or assuming the moral high ground. Having said that just by buying our fairtrade cotton crochet toys they are also helping to save girls from poverty. This presentation says it all. Don't worry it doesn't have any graphic or shocking images but it made me cry! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8xgF0JtVg Useful tips on marketing your business11 Jan 2011
As a soft toy wholesaler, and like many SMEs, we do not have a huge amount of time and money for training courses but we make exception for courses run by The British Library If you are within reach of London then we can highly recommend their events and training courses The most recent one we attended was entitled "Think like a Marketer" by Grow and it was as good as we have come to expect It would be unfair of me to replicate their training notes in full but for anyone who needs to re-energise their marketing here are Grow's top tips Marketing tips 1. Customer testimonials are one of the most powerful marketing tools. where can you get testimonials from and how can you use them? 2. Make sure you have a customer database! Try Act, Salesforce, High-rise, Goldmine for good examples of customer mgt systems 3. Know your competitors. We try not to focus on our competitors too much as we think its rather a negative pre-occupation but Grow made the point that if you know how your competitors are generating sales it may help you think of ways to increase your own sales. So who are your biggest competitors and can you learn anything from them. Try www.seospyglass.com to see how your competitors promote themselves on the web 4. Have an irresistible offer on your website. Once customers have landed on your website, don't let them go! 5. Outsource as much admin as you can. Time spent mundane jobs is time not spent developing your business. Try the following websites for suitable administrators
The 2nd part of the day focused on how to generate new leads for your business which included networking, referrals, social media, SEO, partner marketing and PR Some useful websites from this section are www.findnetworkingevents.co.uk www.eightfold.org - teaches workshops in social media www.networksunday.com - free download on how to use linkin If you need a clarification on any of these points please email us on sales@bestyears.co.uk We are a soft toy wholesaler and we specialise in knitted and crochet toys not marketing advice but if you are successful then so are we so always happy to help where we can
Total World Domination05 Jan 2011 Here at Best Years we've decided to give up on quantifiable and measurable New Year Resolutions. For the last couple of years we have sat down with our budgets and our targets and worked through areas we need to improve or cut back on. During 2010 we gave up Google ads and substituted them with hard work and SEO which was very successful, and previously we have found new suppliers or improved designs. This year we are going for Total World Domination. You may think that this is a bit ambitious for a soft toy wholesaler but why not? If ever there was a year for ambitious plans surely this is it. This week all we have heard is headline after headline filled with doom and gloom. There is no doubt that this year will not be easy but there are always winners and losers. Already we have seen Waitrose announce sales of +5% and Next -6%. The White Company have had a good Xmas whilst HMV have had a nightmare. We have the best range of knitted and crochet toys available anywhere and during 2011 we are going to make sure that everybody in the UK hears about them. So our only problem is that if 2011 is all about Total World Domination what does that leave us to do in 2012?! BBC Oxford Interview17 Dec 2010 Use the media players below to listen to Gaynor's interview on BBC Radio Oxford Part one
Part two
Pebble toys. What are they and why should I buy them?16 Dec 2010 If you have been Xmas shopping recently you will have no doubt encountered that feeling that all the shops sell almost exactly the same thing and finding an original gift is very difficult. Pebble toys are the exact opposite. Affordable, machine washable and gorgeous each one is unique as they are all hand made. Fair trade and organic ranges have been available for a long time, but have normally been either more expensive than alternatives or a little beige and dull. Usually the choice is between the fab thing you want to buy and can afford, and the fair trade one you know you should buy but can't really afford. The best thing about Pebble toys is that not only are they the most attractive baby toys available but simply by buying one you are helping women and children in Bangladesh to earn a decent living. And they don't cost any more than the machine made toys available in all high street toys Pebble toys are cotton crochet toys which are made by a womens fair trade workers co-operative in Bangladesh. The workers co-operative was set up by Samantha Morshed to provide fairly paid work for women in rural communities. Traditionally women have had to leave their communities and move to Dhaka to earn money, and Dhaka is a very difficult city to live in. The traffic is unrelenting, the electricity goes off almost every single day and if you are poor you are likely to be living 8 people per square meter with no running water. So to answer the question in the title - Pebble toys are hand made, cotton crochet toys made in Bangladesh Why should I buy them? They are gorgeous, unique, affordable and fair trade. Can't get better than that! Not the article on Pebble toys I thought I'd write13 Dec 2010 We have just returned from a trip to Bangladesh to see the workers co-operative who make the Pebble toys and I have a list of blog articles to write ranging from our trip to the organic cotton factory to the structure of the workers co-operative and how it works. However this evening I have had a bit of an emotional reaction to the trip. I have been at a very ordinary carol service in a very ordinary church hall. It was just a small collection of people covering a selection of ages, colours and backgrounds singing carols together with one blubbering middle aged woman in their middle. It struck me that however diverse we were as a group there was not one of us who hadn't eaten well that day, or who didn't have running water and electricity in their home. We all have access to healthcare and to education. Despite the worries of the upcoming cuts none of us were worried about starvation. In Dhaka, Bangladesh there are millions of people who are not so lucky. Even if you are rich this is a hard place in which to live. The traffic is so intense and constant that it can take you an hour to go even 1 mile. There are very few shops and those there are have very meagre ranges. In the slum areas it is even worse. It has been estimated that in some areas there are 8 people crammed in to each m2 with no running water. The only work available is invariably long and underpaid. It is very easy to become overwhelmed by all the obvious misery and poverty you can see all around you. When 40% of a population of 160 million people earn under $1 a day its difficult to see how you can do anything to help That is why Samantha Morshed is such an extra-ordinary woman. Not only has she come up with a viable and sustainable idea to alleviate poverty, she has actually implemented her plan and produced an amazingly gorgeous range of toys While I blubbed in the carol service as the realisation of exactly how lucky I am, and how good my life is, Samantha had the energy and determination to create long term sustainable employment through the creation of hand made toys. Importantly the toys are gorgeous in their own right. She has created a range of hand made toys which people want to buy at prices they can afford. It was very clear to us while we were in Bangladesh that our part in the Pebble story was very straight forward. While Samantha has to deal with a huge array of cultural, logistical and creative issues all we have to do is sell her toys. So forgive our evangelism but it is our intention to spend all available time and energy in 2011 raising the awareness of the Pebble toys in the UK and Ireland. So a very Happy Christmas to Samantha Morshed and her husband. I hope that this is not inappropriate given that they are Muslim, but I cannot think of 2 people who better sum up the true spirit of Xmas. Wanted. New Fairtrade or Organic toy producers30 Nov 2010 Best Years was set up in 1999 and originally we were a traditional soft toy wholesaler which specialised in own brand development for high street multiple retailers We had all the normal problems associated with this business model. Our margins were paper thin as we were dealing with customers who were significantly larger than ourselves. Our volume was completely dependent on our main customers selecting one of our toys for their ranges. More and more buyers would issue us with designs rather than looking at the range of products we had developed so our expertise was of no relevance to them. It was a stressful life but one we understood Flash forward to 2010 and Best Years is a very different business. Now we specialise in knitted and crochet toys and any own brand development is mainly for non retail businesses who need our specialist toy knowledge. We have a customer base of 4000 independent smallish retailers rather than 10 very large ones. The move to knitted and crochet toys has been accompanied by a move towards fair trade suppliers. Our Rag Dolls are hand made in South Africa and our cotton crochet toys are hand made by a workers co-operative in Bangladesh Although the business itself has changed completely this was done gradually rather than a seismic change and it was mostly done by following our noses. Our commitment to ethical sourcing meant that when the pound's value crashed against the dollar we were not able to take the obvious path of simply finding a cheaper factory. Our knowledge of toy safety led us to knitted and crochet fabrics which are robust and tactile and machine washable The next step is organic cotton toys which hopefully will be introduced in 2011 We have just one real problem with our business as it is stands in Dec 2010. We need some more fair trade or ethical toy manufacturers! By their very nature ethical businesses do not always have access to the internet and do not have the resources to develop their own websites. They do not come to the UK trade shows and they do not have sales teams promoting ther business We think that our best way of locating new fair trade and ethical suppliers is therefore viral. Please would anyone reading this blog who knows of a fair trade or ethical toy producer email liz@bestyears.co.uk We have the knowledge of EU and UK toy safety regulations, we have a warehouse and we have retail customers who want to buy ethical toys. Now all we need is a new supplier!
Where do baby toys come from?24 Nov 2010 Do you have snow forecast for your region this week? Expecting temperatures to dip below freezing? How would you like to go somewhere nice and warm instead? Interested? Where would you like to go? I bet Bangladesh wasn’t the place you thought of. When people think of Bangladesh they normally think of poverty and natural disasters, but thats where we’re off to because we are going to see the creators of our gorgeous Pebble range Bangladesh is where our fabulous cotton crochet Pebble toys, blankets and accessories are both designed and created The Pebble range is made by workers co-operatives which have been set up in rural communities. They specifically created to provide flexible and fairly paid employment to women. This has the advantage of keeping both people and money in their own communities. You may not know that Bangladesh exports almost $8billion worth of clothes to Europe and USA Unfortunately many of these clothes are made in appalling conditions with workers paid very little to work unacceptably long hours. Sweatshops produce huge quantities of clothing for many high street stores and well known brands. By providing employment in rural communities the Pebble toys ensure that women do not have to leave their families and communities and work in these hideous sweatshops Pebble toys and the fair trade co-operatives that make them are proof that you can produce beautiful ranges at affordable prices and provide fairly paid employment Next week, while the UK freezes, the directors of Best Years will travel to Bangladesh to meet the women who make our toys and see for ourselves how they make our toys and accessories. We are very proud of the Pebble range and are looking forward to meeting the ladies who make them We will take pictures and blog so that when you see all our new ranges, many of which will be exclusively launched at Bubble, you will also be able to see images of the ladies making them Your customers will appreciate the gorgeous Pebble designs and enjoy the practical machine washable and robust crochet fabric and also see for themselves the good they do simply by buying a wonderful toy or blanket for their babies Major changes to Toy Legislation 201122 Nov 2010 Hands up anyone can who can remember Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys and the launch of the first Gameboy? If these seem like ancient history consider the fact that these were the most popular toys the last time toy legislation was updated Since then technology has boomed (can you remember a life without instant internet access) as has the % of toys imported from the Far East rather than made and sold locally New toy legislation which takes effect from July 2011 is designed to catch up on the advancements in manufacturing and technology (For instance the EN71 part 3 “Migration of elements” which comes into force July 2013 has a huge increase of 8 to 19 elements to be tested for). Before we proceed with this article we need to make plain that we are an importer of knitted and crochet toys. We are not a testing house or a legal expert. We also know nothing about any toys except soft toys! If you are looking for in depth data on the new toy legislation please follow these links http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/toys/documents/directives http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/toys/files/tsd_rev_1.2_explanatory_guidance_document_en.pdf Talking specifically there is a significant quantity of changes for soft toys. These include the following • A widening of the interpretation of what is a toy • New directives on warning labels. • All toys for young children will need to be ‘cleanable’ • Minor changes to flammability tests • Increase in traceability of toys. The company which first places the toy in to the EU must have their contact details on the se-in labels. If something goes wrong then the importer can be easily identified Technical Files Most importantly to us the new toy legislation effectively moves from a position where you just test the finished product to testing all the individual components of the product before it is manufactured. It moves the onus of testing from the finished product to the design and components of the toys. If you can cast your mind back a couple of years you may remember some major toy recalls by international companies such as Mattel and Hasbro The problems mostly concerned magnets and lead content and were caused by faults being designed in to the toy rather than manufacturing errors Manufacturers/importers must hold a technical file for all their products showing where each component was made and its test certificate. The toy is made from safe components and as long as it is then manufactured correctly it is guaranteed to be safe Technical files will need to be held for 10 years If you routinely swop factories to get the cheapest price for your product this new regime is going to be a nightmare! Instead of just testing the completed teddy you will need to see where your new factory is sourcing its components from, and see all their test certificates. Multiply this by 100s of new products and dozens of new factories and its going to be an administrative nightmare! However if you source from smaller and less industrialised places its absolutely brilliant! For example, we have some fair trade, hand made rag dolls which are hand sewn by a workers’ co-operative in South Africa. The testing costs for Azo dyes for these dolls was in the £000s despite the fact that the components of the doll are organic. Under the new legislation we would be able to self-certify that no azo dyes were included as we could trace back all the materials to point of origin and show that no azo dyes had ever been bought by these factories This means that we can widen the people we source from. Once we used to have to factor in testing costs of £000s for every product we bought. To make this commercially viable we then had to be confident that the toys would sell in quantity. Now we have to ensure that the components making our toys are safe and the people making them are trained. Less prescriptive but much safer! We are not saying that this new toy legislation will mean that toy importers can avoid testing. If you are sourcing from highly industrialised places its the exact opposite. However it does focus the safety testing where it is most needed, on the components and on the factories where it is feasible that chemicals/non safe practises would be used As a retailer how will the new toy legislation affect you? The new legislation clearly defines the roles of companies in the supply chain Manufacturers: must ensure toy meets European safety regulations. Carry out safety assessment. Draw up technical documentation. Apply conformity assessment. Affix CE. Importers: must ensure – safety assessment is carried out, that the technical document has been drawn up, labeling is correct, the toy is accompanied by safety information. They must keep Declaration of conformity and tech files for 10 years. Distributors: must ensure labeling regs are met. Co-operate with MS Authorities and identify other economic operators Retailers only need to have a copy of declaration of conformity from supplier. They do not need to have technical files or test certs. Internet retailers will need to clearly state any warnings on the toy on the description of the toy Each toy will now have a technical file associated with it. Retailers should have a copy of the Declaration of Conformity and you should ask your supplier to see it on any toy which sells in volume through your shop The CE and EN71 will be the same, and it is also still a legal requirement that the importers address details should be on the sew in label
If you make your own toys in the UK then you will still be required to hold a technical file for your product and to include your contact details on the sew in label. You will be able to self certify your toy but you should hold copies of the test certificates of all your components We recommend that you contact your local Trading Standards as soon as possible to discuss the implications of this new legislation. They are friendly and approachable and are there to help. And remember, ignorance is not considered a defence! http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk Trade marks and design infringements12 Nov 2010 We have very recently had an unpleasant encounter with a high st multiple who, having talked to us about one of our crochet products, suddenly produced their own with a very similar design I cannot begin to describe the shock when you first see one of your own products, in a different colour but easily identifiable, in a retailer's gift guide However out of this unpleasant experience i have made the acquaintance of 2 professionals and i would like to recommend them to you Suzanne from Lawyers4mumpreneurs.com. email support@lawyers4mumpreneurs.com Simon Coles from Graham Coles, www.grahamcoles.com They turned a very unpleasant experience in to a lesson to be learnt and i am very grateful to them for their advice In order to avoid the same thing happening to you here is some very sensible advice and information I was given by the above to ensure that our design rights are not ignored again. "As discussed, the rights protecting the shape and appearance of products are design rights. The first owner of unregistered design right is (generally speaking) the designer unless: a) the design was created by an employee in the course of their employment - in which case the employer owns the right. b) the design was created as a result of a commission - in which case things get complicated. Unregistered design right subsists in new and original designs in two forms: i) UK Design Right - which lasts for a maximum of ten years from the date of first marketing (though in the final five years anyone who wishes to use the design must be granted a licence).. and ii) Community Design Right - which has effect in all 27 EU Member States but which lasts for only 3 years from the date of first marketing. Unregistered design right subsists automatically and is infringed by any third party copying the design. Registered designs entitle the owner to prevent the use of any design that creates the same overall impression as the registered design irrespective of whether or not it has been copied and lasts for up to 25 years. An application for UK Registered Design may be filed up to 12 months after the design has been disclosed but thereafter the right to registration of an unregistered design is lost." What should I do with a huge cheque?08 Nov 2010 As a soft toy wholesaler we constantly receive emails which vaguely offer to buy huge amounts of stock off us without being too specific about what they want. Invariably it must be shipped outside of Europe. I am sure you get similar things and i presume you do what we do which is delete them and move on So how about this as a situation. Customer from abroad orders a nice amount of stock and says payment will follow. A week later we receive an anguished email to say that 10 times the amount of the bill has been deposited can we help. I laugh and write the whole order off as an attempt to con us in some way (I hadn't shipped the goods hence the good humour. The criminal Simon Osbourne has taught me that much!) But one day later the bank rings to say they have infact received a cheque for over £20,000. On closer inspection it has been written out incorrectly and its actually for more than £200,000 So i email the customer and say i have received his cheque, we will not cash it but what does he want me to do with it. Silence. No answer. Its been 2 weeks and i have a cheque for almost quarter of a million pounds sitting on my desk Any suggestions as to whether its a scam, how it works and what should i do with the cheque! 7th Nov - the customer has emailed us again! He has obviously forgotten that hes tried it on with us before and is trying to place another order. Can't wait to see how much the cheque is going to be for this time! Any bets? Does Fairtrade really help?04 Nov 2010 A new report by The Institute of Economic Affairs has thrown some very cold water on the theory that buying Fair Trade goods helps producers in the poorest countries As you can imagine by their title the Institute's report is thorough and weighty (and you can read it by clicking here http://www.iea.org.uk/record.jsp?type=release&ID=217) but the crux of it is as follows
As a soft toy wholesaler we are continually looking out for more fair trade suppliers so you would think that we would be up in arms about this report but actually we think they have got a point. We can understand why you need a brand which consumers are able to trust other wise any body could stick "Fair Trade" on their products, charge a premium and have no idea how or where the products are produced. However the admin costs are prohibitive and we do not deal with anyone who has the Fair Trade mark simply beciase they could not produce enough volume to make the admin/marketing cost worth while We have a very easy way of finding out how much benefit the workers get from the money we pay. We visit them! On 3rd Dec we are going to Bangladesh to visit Samantha Morshed and the workers co-operative and see for ourselves how the Pebble cotton crochet toys benefit their lives. If we were a Tesco buyer we would not have the time to do this so we would need a recognised brand to do this work for them So in responce to The Institute of Economic Affairs we would say this. The model for paying workers a fair slice of the money paid for their goods is one which works. How you monitor this is the problem. Our answer? Buy from small companies who check themselves rather than relying on expensive trade marks Social Media drives online sales03 Nov 2010 Interesting report from Hitwise this week. In their latest report they say that social networking sites accounted for 11.6% of all UK Internet visits during September. As social networking becomes an ever popular past time it is driving more and more traffic to internet shopping sites. This is plainly being felt by larger retailers as Marks and Spencers unveils its new social media integrated Christmas marketing campaign this week Not surprisingly 55% of clicks come via Facebook. with 17% coming via YouTube and only 2.5% from Twitter. Also not surprisingly 23% of the social media traffic goes to music/video/games retailers. However 9% of visits are to clothing websites and 6.5% to toy/hobby shops As people meet, talk and discuss via social networks more and more this is going to influence their shopping habits, and since any recommended website is only a click away then it makes sense that sales will follow As a soft toy wholesaler we use Twitter a lot to network with businesses with similar interests. We don't use it as a sales tool but more as a discussion forum. However as a wholesaler we are one step away from consumers so it will be interesting to see if our retail customers see increased sales from social media this year. There is no doubt that by Xmas 2011 social media will definitely be a significant factor in a successful festive season. Hands up anyone who hasn't thought about having their business represented on social media somewhere...... Thousands more retailers to close by 201519 Oct 2010 The company BDO has predicted that another 26,500 shops, bars and restaurants will close by 2015 Despite the fact that consumer spending is expected to increase to 2.8% it predicts that 6,300 bars and restaurants and 1,500 home ware retailers will go under in the next 5 years Sounds pretty frightening but actually the point BDO were making was that the consumer has been changed irrevocably by the recession. They believe that consumers have shifted to a more reasoned and thoughtful form of consumption. Demand for individualised service now dictates consumer spending, with shoppers less impressed by size, volume or even variety of product, and instead make their purchasing decisions based on individualised service and personal shopping experiences Their predictions are that shops and restaurants who fail to respond to the new consumer will inevitably end up failing. BDO are directing the report to large retailers who they are advising to start targeting consumers more specifically rather than blanket emails and advertising but we like to think that if their predictions are true then the biggest winners will be the small independents who have the most personalised service of all Internet articles definitely work16 Oct 2010 Any one who reads the blog on Best Years will know of our troubles with Simon Osborne who stole £5000 worth of goods from us. Last month we had a call from another company who had an order from Simon Osborne but who fortunately did not supply the goods having googled his name and found our article Last week we had a significant amount of searches on Simon Osbourne coming to our site and tonight i had the following email "you are a disgrace to human life and it seems like your knowledge of my case is from inside information probably from a police officer you are having a extra marital affair with.!!! il and on your web site that i have placed an order recentley.we will be calling for thay evidence to be provided in court.for your information i will be going not guilty in court and incase you did not know my accountant a mr martin buckland has currently been sent to jail for 4 years !!! he was responsible for all my financial affairs. you gobshite have just helped my case immensley by pre judging my case obviousley your boyfriend is giving you confidential information without the courts permission see you in court and i have two other clients that have had useless goods from yourself" Nice isn't it? I think that where the courts and companies house have let Simon Osbourne continue to rip people off for the last 2 years a simple internet article has protected more people than the establishment have managed to do and thats why hes annoyed with us. All emails and phone calls will be reported to the police and hopefully will count towards his eventual sentence Please, if you are reading this and get an order from Simon Osborne call Swindon police before you fulfill it! How much is Halloween worth to retailers?02 Oct 2010 Tesco has declared Halloween to be the 3rd biggest retail opportunity after Xmas and Easter It reckons that it will take £55 million in sales from Halloween products, In comparison on Mother's Day it takes £37 million, Valentine's day £28 million and Father's Day just £20 million. The biggies are Christmas at £320 million event, and Easter £110 million (wow how many Easter Eggs!) As a soft toy wholesaler we don't get in to seasonal products at all (unless you want to count our fairtrade crochet ice cream cornets!) but obviously to our competitors in the traditional soft toy and teddy market the seasonal events are very important. Potentially high risk but also possible huge profits We just wonder if you looked at it from an independent retailers point of view which would be the biggest holiday? Obviously Xmas is always going to be the biggest but Halloween would appear to be mostly a supermarket affair Consumers are looking for cheap goods for Halloween so sweets, branded Halloween cakes and biscuits and costumes will all sell well for the supermarkets. Presumably garden centres will also get a nice chunk of the money with pumpkins etc but the independent retail sector probably do little more than dress up their windows. Do any of our independent stores make significantly more money over Halloween? When consumers are looking for more quality products to show their love and appreciation (Valentines and Mothers Day) the independent retailers excel in providing a range of gifts at all price points. Which would you rather have on your special day - a gift from an independent store or something nice and cheap from Asda?
Fair Trade toys and xmas30 Sep 2010 For regular customers you have probably noticed an increase in the amount of goods we have to place on back order. Previously we have usually managed to ship out 100% of orders with all items requested. However this year with the introduction of fair trade ranges we have struggled a bit keeping up with deliveries The reason is quite simple although (as per normal) the solution is a bit more complicated. As a soft toy wholesaler there are many differences between dealing with factories and working with a fair trade workers co-operative and most of them are concerned with stock When you deal with a factory it is quite straight forward. You place an order and you are then given a ship date. The actual ship date of the stock can vary by as much as 2 weeks but mostly the goods are delivered very close to the date stated at the time of order. The only variable which we can't predict is HM Customs However working with fair trade workers co-operatives is completely different. You place an order with a requested delivery date but you cannot guarantee that the stock will arrive when you want it to The reason for this is quite simple. Unlike a factory the fair trade co-operatives work from a variety of rural locations. All the centres are set up to provide flexible, fairly paid work to rural workers. This is brilliant in terms of the communities they live in as the women do not have to leave to work in cities and the money they earn stays in the rural economy. However if you offer flexible working around childcare and other commitments then you cannot guarantee how many people will turn up to work everyday. If you don't have a controlled environment where workers have to turn up at set times each day its not easy to predict out put in the same way a factory can. When a factory gets new orders they can make the workers do longer hours or sub contract the order to another factory (very dodgy!) The Pebble fair trade crochet toys are hand made. It is a skilled job to make them and if demand increases workers have to be trained up to make the toys. It is a much longer term arrangement than simply handing the owrk over to another factory As a company Best Years have only been working with fair trade toys for a year but in that time we have had to learn a whole new way of working. What we haven't managed to do yet is keep our fair trade toys in stock! If you are a retailer who stocks our fair trade toys then please please please do not wait until you have run out of stock before contacting us. If you let us know your requirements in advance we will not keep you to the order, but we will ring fence the stock for you as and when it comes in. We can then contact you as and when the stock arrives to see if you still want it. If you don't want it we can release it to other retailers. No obligation and significantly higher chance of getting the stock you need when you want it
Change is good23 Sep 2010 News today that Blockbuster USA is filing for bankruptcy. Set up in 1985 Blockbuster was valued at $8.4bn by 1994 with store numbers peaking at nearly 7000, yet less than 20 years later it is bust Best Years are a soft toy wholesaler specialising in knitted and crochet toys and have never yet been hired as retail consultants but even we could have predicted Blockbuster's demise. In an economic climate which suited the "stay in with a film" mentality Blockbuster managed to lose customers with their exorbitant late charges and grubby stores. Their business model had been tried and tested why should they change it? When Netflix started offering a postal service they scorned it and did not see it as a threat. They even had the chance to buy it at its early stages but declined. As Netflix grew Blockbuster stopped looking at what the customer wanted and started to concentrate on stopping Netflix. All its energy was focused on the negative task of hating Netflix rather than concentrating on the more positive task of loving its customers Change happens. Technology advances. Customers requirements move. You can either ignore it or embrace it. Two years ago Best Years sold traditional soft toys but the recession and the collapse of the pound against the dollar forced us to re-evaluate our business. Now we sell knitted and crochet toys with an emphasis on fair trade. It was an uncomfortable journey but definitely worth it We are also quite happy to offer business advice to huge retail brands if you pay us enough! Just give us a call on 01327 262189 Normal retailers who want to buy our toys are warmly invited to use the same telephone number
Wonderful world of banking23 Sep 2010 This is funny. It appears that the banking industry has asked Experian, the credit experts, to compile a report showing what a bad risk micro and small companies are. They will then present this information to the Treasury in October to prove that they want to lend to small businesses its just that they are not asking/not credit worthy We're a fair trade toy wholesaler but it occurs to us that Experian will need to look at Company House accounts to get this information but small companies only file abbrieviated accounts with no detail. The detail on how micro and small businesses are performing will be in their bank statements not their accounts. So the banks hire Experian to get information they can't get because its held by the banks. Gravy train anyone?
Every little helps!20 Sep 2010 Tesco has announced that it will start selling Viagra in direct competition to Boots They will sell 8 tablets for £52 as against Boots who sell 4 for £55 This has nothing what so ever to do with soft toy wholesaling but retailing is a funny old thing isn't it! Buying Viagra from Tesco has got to be better than from a dodgy shop over the internet (and one benefit may be that we will get less spam offering the blue pills at rock bottom prices) but is it right to be able to get it from a supermarket? What do you think? Why you don't discount fairtrade toys20 Sep 2010 We have just come back from back to back trade shows which are always illuminating in terms of the feedback we receive from our customers We had assumed that the hot topic for this year would be whether or not to increase your prices when the VAT goes up in January but in fact the thing which has most people talking is pricing on ebay We have always been a fan of ebay as its a great place to start a business or to initally put a high street store online. However we have also always been quite straight forward in our attitude to discounters We design, manufacture and supply quality toys. They are sold at competitive prices so that consumers can buy at accessible prices and retailers can still make a profit. Whilst we have no problems with retailers promoting toys as and when they want to we will not sell to discounters. If we discover that a customer is routinely discounting the retail prices of our toys we will stop supplying them. This particularly applies to the fair trade pebble toys We have most problems with discounting on ebay. This is mainly due to 2 reasons
So why are we so adament about discounting? Put plainly if you discount our fair trade crochet toys you are undermining the way the fair trade economic model works That may sound overly dramatic but heres how it goes. Our good retailers buy our toys because they can sell a reasonable volume of toys at a reasonable profit. If the toys are then widely discounted either the volume drops as their retail price is uncompetitive or they can't make a profit at the reduced price. So retailers stop buying from us, we stop buying from the workers co-operative and Samantha cannot offer work to as many people. For many people in Bangladesh the Pebble toys offer a way out of poverty. We are not going to let discounters threaten this So a message to good retailers, if you see someone on ebay or anywhere on the internet discounting Pebble toys please email sales@bestyears.co.uk and we will take steps to stop them. We will certainly not supply them again Discounters. Don't buy fair trade toys. Its unethical.
Hurrah for Independent Shops and the New Economics Foundation17 Sep 2010 I can’t say that I am a natural ally of thinktanks, especially one called the New Economics Foundation but I’m raising a loud cheer for a report that they have just published called “Clone Towns” The report states that 41% of UK towns are “clone towns” which they defined as having more than half the stores are multiple retailers. Only 36% of high streets surveyed retained their distinctive character. Cambridge came in for a particular bashing. The university landlords have reacted to the recession by increasing rents to the point that independent retailers have been forced off the High st and have left just a bland mix of muliple retailers who can be found anywhere As a soft toy wholesaler who only supplies independent shops (plus really nice multiples like John Lewis and JoJo Maman Bebe) you can understand why we heartedly agree with any report supporting independent retailers but why should any one else care? Well, places like Brighton’s Lanes and Whistable who have a thriving community of independent retailers bring in visitors from all over the country. They come, and they spend money! An interesting and diverse high street will attract people and their pounds which surely is a good thing Although the very large shopping centres such as Blue Water also bring in visitors from miles away most ordinary high streets with a Next, Marks and Spencers and Boots do not bring in anyone who is not local. Independent stores with their unique ranges not only add a welcome diversity to high streets but also foster a sense of community. Who are you more likely to have a chat and a laugh with – the girls on the till at Boots or your local shop owner? Who is more likely to care about you getting the right product a multiple retail employee or a local shop? They know that they have to provide the right service and the products whilst the multiple is able to fall back on advertising and price promotions So a big hurrah for the cheerily named New Economics Foundation. I hope your report gets loads of publicity and re-ignites the debate about our fabulous independent retailers Stop Thief!13 Sep 2010
Best Years, the soft toy wholesaler, will be 10 years old next year and like all businesses has experienced its fair share of wierd situations. Howver just recently we have walked in to a situation which is truely bizarre, and quite frankly, wrong! It all started in August 2008 when a Mr Simon Osborne of Warmwood Ltd, Swindon ordered over £5000 worth of goods for an urgent delivery. It soon became clear that he had no intention of paying for the goods so we started court proceedings to get either our money or our goods back. The landlord of Mr Simon Osborne's premises then called to say that we had been conned. Mr Simon Osborne was a thief and a conman and we had no chance of getting our money back. Its here where things get wierd. We contacted the police ( Crime ref 5408 007 7153 if you are interested) but their advice was that they could do nothing and our best course of action was to take an advert out in the local Swindon paper to advise other people that Warmwood Ltd may not be an honest company to deal with! The fact that we could show 3 different companies who had had goods stolen from them by Mr Simon Osbourne of Warmwood Ltd was irrelevant. They would not treat the case as a criminal matter We then contacted the court services but we would have to pay £600 to take Warmwood to court and that if the company was made insolvent the day before the court hearing we would not get any money. Even if it did get to court and the case was awarded in our favour then the court could not force Warmwood Ltd to pay the money back we would need to go to the High Court to get an injunction So we contacted Companies House. They advised us that we could make a formal complaint but that whether or not they would investigate Warmwood Ltd or Simon Osborne would be kept a secret. They said that we should complain to our MP or to Trading Standards I will contact my MP and see what he recommends....perhaps the European court! What does it take to stop this sort of illegal behaviour? If anyone has any ideas or suggestions please do let us know but other wise I am hoping that the next person who is contacted by Simon Osborne of Warmwood Ltd Swindon will search the internet and see this article. NB his email address is simontipthai@googlemail.com and his home telephone 01793778272 and his mobile number is 07948 406622
Update Oct 2009 It appears that the CPS don't want to pursue the case against Simon Osborne as because he set up a business he can claim that he wasn't obtaining goods by deception it was simply a case of his business getting in to trouble I don't think so! Any small business knows how hard it is to make a profit and I am not prepared to have a thief like Simon Osborne order goods with no intention of paying for them and get away with it CPS here I come....
Update Sept 2010 Hurrah! Simon Osborne is going to jail! After a year of nagging every organisation i could think might be able to help the police finally charged Simon Osbourne with fraud and he has admitted it. He goes to court next month and from there to prison However on 14th Sept i received a call from a company who had just had an order from Simon Osbourne. Hes on bail and hes still trying to rip people off. Surely theres got to be a better way of dealing with people like him. And there definitely should be a quicker one Sept 2011 He's in Jail!!!!
Ebay Millionaires23 Aug 2010 In 2009 there were 66 small businesses turning over £1m+ on ebay. As a soft toys wholesaler who uses all channels open to B2B we were really impressed with this number until we saw that in summer 2010 there are now 127 £1m+businesses Wow! Anyone who still views ebay as a sales channel for amateurs might want to re-think their opinion. The honesty of the feed back system on ebay means that businesses have to pay strict attention to their customer needs or face almost immediate consequences. We are happy to deal with any business selling through ebay as long as they are not a discounter. Whether you are on the high street, internet or ebay we do not believe that the "pile it high, sell it cheap" model suits our knitted and crochet toys and would prefer to deal with people who rely on exceptional customer service and an eye for gorgeous products to be successful If you would like to sell our soft toys on ebay please email sales@bestyears.co.uk Buy organic toys for organic fortnightOrganic fortnigh 3rd - 17th Sept 22 Aug 2010 Organic fortnight this year is trying to dispel the myth that organic goods are too expensive and only for the rich. Sales of organic food has suffered during the recession and the Organic Association is trying to persuade people that organic products are affordable The strapline for the campaign is "Chose organic everyday" In addition to our wide range of Fairtrade crochet toys Best Years have a range of affordable organic baby toys and blankets at accesible prices. Trade prices start from just £4.50 each so the toys are definitely not just for the elite few The campaign's advertising will generate a lot lot of PR and attention which should translate in to more retail sales. You can see more information here
Toy Shop Little Wonders hits back20 Aug 2010 Unless you are already in the toy trade you may not know of the troubles which have surrounded the independent toy shop Little Wonders. Its a long story but it appears that it is ending happily as the toy shop has been re-located and is continuing to trade However after enduring a particulaly difficult year the owner, Elena Ripoli, has come out fighting and has published a furious article in Toy News She points her fingers at both landlords and suppliers and does not hold back in her opinion. In no uncertain terms she accuses toy suppliers of being both sexist and un-ethical I don't agree with everything she writes, and in particular I would like to defend reps. We don't employ reps as it doesn't suit our company. However although they may not be everyones cup of tea they are just trying to earn a living We have a solution - we sell fair trade cotton crochet toys, and our company is run entirely by women so if anyone knows Elena can you tell her about Best Years? You can read her full article here http://www.toynews-online.biz/opinion/107/OPINION-A-new-way-for-indie-retail I'd get a cup of coffee first! How do you become a successful entrepreneur?Is it nature or nurture? 16 Aug 2010 According to research by David Blanchflower and Andrew Oswald there is no specific character which makes for a successful entrpreneur. The one single factor which influences success is access to finance In a statistically sophisticated research paper they came up with 4 conclusions
You can read the full report here http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/academic/oswald/entrepre.pdf As a soft toy wholesaler specialising in knitted and crochet toys we obviously come in to contact with a lot of people, especially women, who start their own businesses after having children. Most of them are smart and hard working but I am positive that a dump of cash in to their business would definitely make a difference in how quickly their businesses will grow! Unfortunately most of us have to stick with the banks. Great! Blooming Marvellous bought by Mothercare16 Jul 2010 Blooming Marvellous which went bust almost 2 years ago and was bought by a bunch of entrepreneurs has now been bought by Mothercare The niche retailer was founded in the 1980s and bought in 2007 for £5m by an Icelandic fund. However the recession hit the chain badly and it went in to receivership early 2009 The brand is still very respected and generates a lot of affection so it should thrive in Mothercare stores where it does not have to support the entire cost of the shop itself As a soft toy wholesaler we value retailers and suppliers who are successful by being different so lets hope Blooming Marvellous are allowed to thrive again Martin Yaffe Ltd goes in to administration16 Jul 2010 Martin Yaffe Ltd, the manufacturer and supplier of branded toys has gone in to administration Based in Rochdale the company employed 160 people and supplied large retailers such as Boots, John Lewis and the supermarkets We have absolutely no insider knowledge of why they have gone bust but it can't be comfortable selling branded products to larger retailers (who insist on low low prices!) when the pound slumps against the dollar and you still need to pay huge license fees. Losing a major customer such as Woolworths can't have helped either! Rumour has it that Woolworths owed Yaffes £5m when they went under The figures show that they moved from making a profit of almost 1.3million in 2006 to a loss of 3.3million in 2008 Theres a slight chance of being boring here but we firmly believe that if your success is based on pumping volume through at low margin then its only momentum which will keep you going. If that stops then the wobble will be hard to control Martin Yaffe supplied most of the biggest high street retailers and it will be interesting to see what impact their demise will have on the ranges available in the shops. Will they dare to venture away from licensed product? They might just have enough time to bring in their own ranges but it will definitely be a tight squeeze. Best Years have a range of unique soft toys. They are not the cheapest in the market but the design and manufacture are fab and our prices represent great value for money. If you want to try our range splease email sales@bestyears.co.uk as we would love to hear from you
Customers prepared to pay more for good service16 Jul 2010 American Express has released a survey showing that the majority of the British are prepared to pay up to 7% more for an item if it comes with good service Unsurprisingly 70% of customers are more likely to give a company repeat custom after receiving good customer care. If you look at retailers who are valued by customers its not the "pile it high, sell it cheap" brands who come out well but those who base their company on good service such as John Lewis and Lakeland Trading Which Magazine recently voted Lakeland as the UKs best retailer after surveying 1400 customers. The reason? "Superlative customer service" How much better it is to compete on how good your service is than how cheap you can sell your goods. If you want to try out how good our service is please email sales@bestyears.co.uk Free business website15 Jul 2010 Do you want a free website for your business? I know that this sounds like spam but there is a scheme backed by companies such as BT and Google which gives small businesses a free website for 2 years As a soft toy wholesaler we are not a natural choice to be a leading advocate for digital business but our website has changed the reach and scope of our business and i am sure that it can do the same for most UK business Heres the link http://www.gbbo.co.uk Distance Selling Regs14 Jul 2010 Best Years do not sell direct to consumers but we do keep in regualr contact with our Trading Standards office and we thought one of their recent updates would be of interest to you if you sell on line In a recent clarification of the Distance Selling regulations it has been confirmed that if the consumer does not like the goods, and returns them within 7 days, then the retailer must refund not just the cost of the goods but also the delivery charge However they do not have to cover the actual cost of return Next have just been caught out as they gave the consumer free returns but do not refund the original delivery charge This is because the consumer is judged not to have sufficient information at point of sale (ie the website or catalogue) to make a decision. This not include personalised goods For more information please see the Trading Standards website because they are fab! http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/
Amazon's 2010 trading terms29 Jun 2010 About a year ago we received an email from Amazon giving us our new trading terms and conditions. It was a blanket email to all suppliers (with the exception of the big guys I expect) and increased the % rebate Amazon was taking from us by several percent We refused and opted not to deal with Amazon. Theres something about not even getting a personal request when decreasing your profit that sticks in the throat a bit. Some of our customers had already started to sell our knitted toys through Amazon and so as a wholesaler we had inadvertedly ended up competing with our own customers. We didn't like this very much so it was a reasonably straight forward decision I don't think Amazon trembled at our departure and in fact we can't seem to get off their systems which is why this year I received their standard demand for another increase in margin. I have copied it below and when you read it remember this is on top of normal margin. Enjoy! We will make the following changes to your commercial terms effective from 15th July 2010: Purchasing Terms Marketing allowance remains at the 2009 level of 3.5% payable quarterly based on net receipts for the full trading year. This is in addition to promotional funding and bespoke rate card marketing activity.
Base volume rebate - a 3.5% retrospective rebate on the total value of net receipts for the full calendar year will apply for achieving an annual turnover at least equal to the turnover of the previous calendar year. This rebate increases to 4.5% for achieving a 2010 turnover greater than £15,000. Any such rebate will be payable quarterly in arrears on the basis of the percentage of rebate corresponding to the annual turnover forecasted by Amazon. If the annual turnover achieved at the end of the annual period differs from the forecasted annual turnover and that, as a result of this, a lower or higher percentage of rebate should have been applied, Amazon will charge or credit the vendor for the difference accordingly. Net receipts are gross receipts less the amounts for products returned to the vendor. Returns agreement – 2.5% rebate payable quarterly in arrears based on net receipts for each quarter of the full trading year. Any recalled products or faulty batches will be excluded from the rebate and dealt with on an individual basis. The marketing allowance, base volume rebate and returns rebate will be payable within 30 days from the end of each quarter and AEU may set off each amount against invoices.
Payment terms – We reserve the right to pay up to 90 days from the end of the month that the invoice is received but if we pay within 30 days from the end of the month that the invoice is received an early settlement discount of 2.5% will be deducted.
These commercial terms will apply until new terms are notified or agreed.
Giving up google ads for Lent25 Jun 2010 The one good thing that a recession does for you is make you re-look at your business and think whats working, what can be fixed and what should we move away from? Because the £ collapsed against the $ last year we had to completely review our product range which means that a year later we have 2 new fair trade suppliers and some fabulous rag dolls and cotton crochet toys We also took a long hard look at how we met new customers. We had been running google ads for years (because you do!) and over that time we had various different agencies come in and manage them for us. When we looked at them closely we realised that we did not know whether they were working and whether they were value for money so we simply stopped them That was back in January and the results were hideous. Traffic to our website instantly fell by 30% and the number of enquiries plummeted. There was definitely a certain amount of panic but we had made the decision to keep them off for 6 months so we did So we have now come to the end of our 6 month trial and the results are somewhat different. Traffic to our website is still down by 25% but virtually all of this was from the USA. Our toys are not tested to USA standards so we can't sell them there. Traffic from USA is not commercially valuable to us. Enquiries are now back to where they were and traffic from the UK has increased significantly Traffic from google ads is not always as targeted as they would like you to believe. You only have to look at the way visitors find you to realise that there is a certain mismatch (last week a visitor was directed to our soft toy wholesaler website by typing in airsoft gun!). Google ads should bring you in specifically targeted traffic but unless you are completely focussed on them they also bring in a lot of dross. And this all costs you money We should point out that when we took the google ads off we were forced to find other ways to increase traffic to our website so in away it made us look at all aspects of SEO. When you have a certain amount of visitors to your website its amazing how quickly you can become lazy about looking for more. The sudden and significant decline in traffic brought us out from our comfort zone and we actively searched for other ways to increase the visibility of our website Now that we have a base level of traffic we will try google ads again but this time we will have more knowledge and specific targets for them to achieve. And if they don't achieve them we will go back to not running them at all! Where do our fair trade toys come from?22 Jun 2010 For all those who are interested in where our cotton crochet and knitted toys come from please find below an article about Samantha Morshed and her company. We think shes a very impressive woman! "In the small Bangladeshi town of Narsingdi, Suria Begum sits in a small hut, a short walk from her house, with two dozen other women where she knits children's hats, mittens and blankets. Like 2.5 million others in the impoverished country, Suria works in the textile business, making items exported to the US and Europe, but unlike most other workers she has not had to leave her rural home for a job. "I have a five-year-old son so I can't work in Dhaka, but having this job gives my family a bit of extra money. Plus, it's nice to sit around and chat with the other workers. It's very relaxed here," the 30-year-old said. Most of Bangladesh's 4,200 garment factories, some of which come under fire from rights groups for shabby health and safety standards, are in cities like Dhaka or Chittagong, meaning workers have to move to urban areas for work. But British woman Samantha Morshed, who created the centre where Suria works and 31 other centres like it across Bangladesh, has a different vision for the country of 144 million people, 40 percent of whom live below the poverty line. "I wanted to prove that it's not impossible to create employment in rural areas in Bangladesh," says Morshed, who started her business four years ago by teaching a dozen women to knit and crochet in her living room in Dhaka. Morshed represents a growing number of businesses pushing to channel Bangladesh's cheap labour into ethical, fair trade labels. She now employs more than 3,500 women in rural areas who make 30,000 items a month that are exported to developed countries and fashionable shops "Bangladesh has huge potential. It's not the sad, flooded, charity-prone place it's made out to be. It's full of dignified people who want the opportunity to progress," Morshed said." South African rag dolls09 Jun 2010 If you haven't noticed the football World Cup starts in South Africa this weekend The press have taken the opportunity of this massive media event to highlight the poor working conditions and standard of living of many people in South Africa We are therefore particularly proud to be working with the South African company Hooligans kids (www.hooliganskids.com) Set up in 1996 Hooligans clothes and dolls are made by a workers co-operative where workers are paid a fair wage for their work. They have a continual program of mentoring and training workers who have previously not been able to work due to family, health or social issues Their wonderful rag dolls are hand made, ethically produced and absolutely gorgeous! We have huge admiration for Adri Jeffers for the work she has done and the company she has created. She probably does not get paid as much as many of the footballers in South Africa at the moment but we think she should be! Fair trade toys and trends14 May 2010 Recently I went to a seminar on green consumerism and trends. As a soft toy wholesaler we are dedicated to increasing the number of fair trade, organic or ethical toys so we are interested in where the experts see this market moving The speaker detailed 3 distinct trends that they thought would be important between 2012 - 2015 1. Green is going mainstream. Many of us can remember when green consumers wore beige and the Body Shop was viewed as niche. But now supermarkets have fair trade school uniforms and organic cotton is reasonably common. They categorised consumers attitudes to green choices in the following way Onlookers - 26%, Conveniently conscious 35%, positive chosers 31%, vocal activists 4% and principled pioneers 4% Whilst its good that green is available to a wider market it also means that it is not enough just to say its ethical, there have to be other desirable attributes. Our fair trade cotton crochet toys are desirable in their own right and they are competitively priced. With people watching the pennies ethical products have to almost be more desirable to compete against poorly designed but cheaper alternatives 2. Ubiquitous connectivity. This applies not just to grend products but to the whole market place. Currently 15% of all phones are smart phones but by 2015 it is estimated that the majority of us will own smart phones. Shopping and browsing via your phone will be common place and businesses need to ensure that they leverage this new market. Perhaps not so important for wholesalers but retailers should review their digital plans to ensure they can compete in this new market 3. The middle ground is disappearing. The consumer either wants quick convenience or an experience which is above and beyond the normal (this was called donative by the consultant speaking about it). If people are either constrained by time or money then they will either shop in large hypermarkets to get everything in one place and competitively priced, or they will surf the internet to ensure that they get the best price. There is a place for green business even in this niche and currently Nigel's eco store and amazon's 2nd hand book shop are two that are doing well. The donative market has more opportunities for niche businesses and the examples sited were vegan, raw food restaurants and "swishing" which is clothes swopping parties
So there are the 3 trends - Green goes mainstream, Technology makes further in roads on our time and habits and the middle ground disappears to be replaced by 2 polarised way to shop The question we were asked is what were we going to do about it?!
Toy Safety07 May 2010 New toy safety legislation comes in to play July 2011. This represents the biggest overhaul of toy safety regulations for decades and is going to cause some manufacturers huge problems. It requires the toy importer to know that not just the toy itself is safe but that all the various components which make up the toy have been tested properly as well As a soft toy wholesaler we have worked hard to build up good relationships with our manufacturers so this causes us no problems but if you currently continually switch factories to get the best prices its going to cause you huge issues! But this article is not about the new safety regs which will be covered in detail in a later blog. When we had our marathon discussion with the safety guys we uncovered a few safety myths which we had presumed to be law
We will be updating our blog on the new safety legislation as it is a fundamental change to the way toy regulations are administered, for instance you will need to ask your toy wholesaler for their technical file and not their test certificates. Internet retailers will also need to include in their descriptions any warnings which are on the toy but we will bring you more detail later Organic soft toys bouyant but other organic sales tough19 Apr 2010 Two reports out this week make worrying reading for businesses supplying and retailing organic goods Firstly profits at organic food wholesaler Cole and Able crashed to a 27.5m loss Secondly the Soil Association announced that sales of organic foods in the last year had declined from £2.1bn to 1.84bn Worst hit were sales of bread, veg and chilled ready made meals However baby food sales increased by almost 21% and now exceeds £100m per annum It makes sense that when times are tough organic food will be one of the first things to be cut but interesting that people still believe in organic enough to keep their baby food organic As a toy wholesaler we have tried to source organic toys but have not yet found a supplier where the designs and prices are right. In some ways we are happy for sales to decrease as it may make organic producers less complacent. It has felt sometimes as if the fact that a product is organic should be enough but the consumer always has a choice. The ethical consumer can chose Fair Trade, bamboo, hand made or organic so any ranges we offer to retailers should be able to stand up in their own right not just because they have the label organic We are still looking for an organic toy manufacturer so please email us on sales@bestyears.co.uk if you have a range you would like us to see
Organic milk bucked the trend, growing by one per cent, while baby food sales also increased by 20.8 per cent, exceeding £100 million How much is your website worth?26 Mar 2010 We all know that a website is a valuable part of any business but do you know how much your domain name is worth? This useful, and free, website gives you a valuation of how much your website is worth. It also gives you some other useful information like page rank So as a soft toy wholesaler Best Years website is worth £12,000. Is your website worth more or less?!
Naming your new business22 Mar 2010 When we set Best Years up in 1999 I have to confess that we didn't put much time or energy in to the name of the company. Infact the only thing of any sense that we did do was check that the domain name was available. We were concentrating on how we could be the best soft toy and teddy wholesaler (no knitted or crochet toys in those days!) and didn't think the name of our business was that important. I was thinking about this the other day because one of our customers is just starting her business and is putting the sort of effort in to it that we should have! The websites we have seen which seem to be the most help in naming your company are as follows www.nameboy.com - type in the 2 key words which sum up your business and it comes up with various ideas and whether the domain names are available www.squadhelp.com - this is like launching an online competition to help you name your business. This is the option I would have gone for if I had my time again Seth Godin has a good post with tips on naming here http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2003/06/naming_a_busine.html Finally how about http://wordoid.com/ This gives various suggestions based the words you enter and is great fun but you can end up spending hours on it As ever we need to point out that we are a soft and knitted toy wholesaler not a marketing agency or anything sophisticated but hope this information is a help
Fair Trade toys15 Mar 2010 Its been a bit of a mixed year for sales of fair trade goods On one hand even in the face of the worst recession for 70 years sales of fair trade items have risen by 12% to £800m and to underline its growing acceptance in the market place as a whole Tesco announced in Feb that it wanted to be the "No 1 retailer by sales volume" of fair trade cotton clothing However although £800m sounds a lot (and for your information its a lot more than we turnover!) this represents a tiny market share when you see that grocery sales alone last year were £150bn Sales of ethical fashion which are approx £170m are only half that of sales of second hand clothes Best Years are a soft toy and knitted toy wholesaler so we are not an expert on Fair Trade trends and products but one of the major problems we see is the actually getting the product in to the UK By their very nature companies making fair trade products (as opposed to growing fair trade crops such as coffee and bananas) are not as efficient as a normal factory. Their people work in their homes, or have hours to suit their circumstances and since they pay proper wages and treat people well they cannot increase or decrease their work force in the same way other factories can to cope with fluctuations in demand When we place an order with our factory in China we know the delivery date ofthe goods plus or minus a week or so. When we place an order with a Fair Trade organisation we really have no idea when to expect the toys! It takes a huge amount of work just to receive scheduled orders, but then its definitely worth it We are dedicated to increasing the amount of Fair trade toys and rattles we stock but its very hard work! It takes us a about a year to get to a point where we can guarantee stock of the fair trade ranges from a new supplier How Tesco's is going to get enough stock of fair trade school uniforms for all their stores we don't know but then I expect they have a larger buying team than we do! We are always looking for new fair trade suppliers so please email us on sales@bestyears.co.uk if you have any suggested workers co-operatives or fair trade companies you would like us to work with. Just don't expect the toys to arrive quickly!
Two Left Feet bought out of administration11 Mar 2010 The baby wholesaler Two Left Feet has been bought out of administration by a company called House of Baby Two Left Feet went in to administration March 09 having suffered very public stock control issues which culminated in an apprearance on a BBC consumer programme. As a soft toy wholesaler we were sad to see them go as they were a good organisation brought down by the combination of the credit crunch and high profile system problems House of Baby will operate from the same 12,000 sq ft premises and has declared that it wants to be as well known as Mothercare. Good for them, and best of luck Wonder which baby show they will visit in October.....!! Cath Kidston valued at £75m23 Feb 2010 Cath Kidston has been valued at £75m which means that the founder's share (she still holds 30% of the company) is worth a wopping £25million Cath Kidston started her company 17 years ago and can now lay claim to a brand as iconic as Laura Ashley. Sales have continued to grow over the last 18 months and profits soared over the last 2 years from 19m to 31m as stores openings increased. More importantly her profit went from just under £3m to £4.6m at a time when most high street stores were struggling This is all heartening news for all of us who have started a company and have just struggled through the worst recession for 70 years, but it also says something about the value of a brand. As a soft and knitted toy wholesaler we do not spend a huge amount of time on our branding, and infact we do not even have a logo. We very much rely on our reputation for unique products and great service but perhaps all this will need to change. Especially if we want to take home £25m each in 10 years! Why white lies don't work22 Feb 2010 I received an email last week which started with the line "I tried calling but got no answer" Now that doesn't sound so bad but we have an answering service so the phone is always answered. This was evidently a standard email which had been sent to any number of people Its not that I mind getting a blanket email, but I do mind being lied to From that first sentence I could not trust what was being said. Given that the email was from a search engine optimisation company that small lie effectively meant I had no inclination to work with them. As a soft toy and knitted toy wholesaler we have always struggled with the whole issue of SEO and have wasted £000s on companies promising the world. If this company was prepared to start a relationship with a lie how on earth could we trust them with our money? So I did learn something from them. However easy it may be, and however small the lie may seem to us truth is the best option Read them and weep! Top income generating websites22 Feb 2010 Courtesy of www.incomediary.com is a list of the top income generating websites in the world. The frightening number is the final column which is income per second. aaagh! As a soft toy and knitted wholesaler I somehow think that I will not ever be joining this list but we can but dream.... Whats interesting about this list (to us anyway!) is that in among the digital technology companies, social media and internet search engines there are some old fashioned business models such as Overstock.com and Blue Nile. Maybe there is hope for us all
What are you giving up for Lent?17 Feb 2010 What you are giving up for Lent ranks along side New Year Resolutions for the glumest question of the year We all start off with a firm will vowing not to touch chocolate/wine/chips but within a month most of these resolutions have been abandoned in the face of the reality of life Business resolutions are similar. We start off thinking that we will cold call every week, or get our PR up to scratch but very soon the daily routine takes over and we end up at the end of the year doing pretty much the same as we started Well this year we are giving up something easy. We are giving up paying for Google ads! Its funny how Google ads go from being the smartest new way of advertising to an addiction so very quickly As a soft toy and knitted wholesaler we value our website for the visibility it brings our ranges. We receive many enquiries via the website and value them all. We started to believe that without Google ads our website would vanish beneath the waves and we would never be seen again. The problem is that although Google ads are very focused once you have spent the money it has gone. Its not an investment in to the long term future of our website, just a short term prop. The art or science of Search Engine Optimisation is still complete goobledigook to us so its much easier to lean on the crutch that is Google ads So no more Google ads for Best Years. We will have to learn about SEO and keywords and links but at least we will have the money which used be poured in to Googles purse to invest in them. Best Years are a knitted and fair trade soft toy wholesaler and not an SEO expert so if you have any top tips please do let us know! Do you play music in your shop?16 Feb 2010 If you play music or the radio in your shop you will know that you have a pay a license fee via the PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd) You will also know that this fee has increased significantly over the last couple of years. In 2005 the PPL dramatically increased this fee so much so that the BRC reckons that one clothing retailer saw its bill increase from £176,000 to £408,000 in one year! The BRC have finally won their battle to see this increase ruled excessive. The original ruling was in October 2009 but PPL appealed so it is only now that the new fairer rates will apply, but they apply with immediate effect. Retailers will also be due a refund for the excessive fees they have been paying since 2005 As a soft toy and knitted wholesaler I have mixed feelings about the BRC as some of their statements seem to be somewhat biased towards the largest retailers but today I think they have earnt a big Hurrah! Well done them
The power of Twitter12 Feb 2010 About a year ago Best Years ventured on to the social media forum Twitter Basically Twitter is just another way to communicate with people but its only allows you to post comments of 140 characters. You chose to follow people or businesses who you think are interesting and invite people to follow you if you think that they might be interested in what you are up to. In this way you effectively create your own community of people and businesses linked by common interests, in our case retail and fair trade and obviously wholesale toys As soft toy and knitted toy wholesalers we tried Twitter only due to the sheer amount of publicity surrounding its use as a marketing tool. However we have been hugely impressed by it. We have picked up a couple of customers but much more importantly we have found new suppliers and received some excellent advice on tax and SEO. We have also gained the valuable ability to evesdrop on the conversations of retailers which has been illuminating and very useful Although we loved Twitter we did not realise the full extent of its power until the row between a small designer called Hidden Eloise and the stationery retailer Paperchase Hidden Eloise believed that Paperchase were using one of her designs without permission. She contacted the retailer and was told that she was wrong and that was that as far as they were concerned. Hidden Eloise looked in to taking a legal case against Paperchase but realised that it would be too expensive. This all happened last November and nothing else would have been heard about it except that the issue swirled around Twitter until it was mentioned by an author called Neil Gainsford who has a very large following Then it all exploded. The row has been reported in The Telegraph and The Guardian and a boycott of Paperchase stores been proposed. The Head Office has been inundated by irate calls and emails I do not know the rights and wrongs of the case (although I can see that there is a marked simularity between the designs) but what is interesting is that because Twitter links people with shared interest, and they can re-tweet (pass on) to their followers the story was able to gather momentum until it became national news. Viral marketing in its truest form Watch out big guys - we now have the power of Twitter behind us! You can find us on www.twitter.com/knittedtoys If you join twitter please do follow us and we can then follow you back Wholesalers don't charge for membership08 Feb 2010 As a soft toy wholesaler we obviously receive dozens of enquiries from shops, websites and ebay retailers. Recently we have been asked by ebay sellers what our membership fee is We will never charge for membership and we know of no reputable wholesalers who would do so. This is obviously a scam to take money from ebay sellers and other businesses who are just starting up We wholesale knitted and fair trade toys and make our money this way. We welcome enquiries from businesses of all sizes and are happy to work with ebay sellers as long as they work professionally. If a wholesaler asks for a membership fee we would highly recommend walking away and not working with them. There are dozens of wholesalers in the baby and toy market who would value your business whatever the size of your requirements and we are definitely one of them! How many ways can you find to sell?28 Jan 2010
We had one key New Years Resolution this year. Having spent 2009 working on finding new fair trade manufacturers and developing new ranges 2010 was going to be out finding new outlets. Given that we won’t deal with multiple retailers or supermarkets or Clintons Cards and Amazon we had already narrowed our options so it wasn't going to be an easy job! While researching new avenues for Best Years we came across quite a few ones we didn’t know about for retailers. We don’t sell to customers so we have detailed them below instead. As for us, we are looking seriously at exporting. We have had our first meetings with various government departments and its both very exciting and very very complicated! If you sell via ebay or Amazon have you seen www.ebid.net, www.wigix.com and www.cqout.com ? They are all auction sites with slightly different ways of operating Or what about www.shoppingbank.co.uk which bills itself as bringing together two hugely successful and dynamic internet concepts; online shopping and social networking, to introduce Social shopping. Its quite expensive but it offers consumers a cash back when ever they shop so its popularity is growing If you make products yourself or even make up baskets and hampers or any other items how about www.etsy.com or its UK equivalents the award winning www.misi.co.uk which was launched in Oct 2008 and www.coriandr.com They are targeted specifically at craft and hand made items which are not serviced effectively by ebay and amazon Finally if marketing your self is the issue then how about Not on the High Street or www.swankymansion.co.uk who market themselves vigorously to drive customers to their sites. You pay commission and there are some strict terms and conditions but they are very successful If you are not in to internet then www.stallfinder.com will be able to find you a craft fair near you to exhibit at Best Years wholesale knitted,crochet and fair trade toys so we do not sell directly to the consumer but we would welcome any feedback if you find any of these avenues particulalry useful
Jo Jo Maman Bebe10 Dec 2009 We have worked with Jo Jo Maman Bebe for many years now and have always found them to be fair and easy to deal with. So we are particularly pleased to see that they are looking to open 4 more stores in 2010 As a soft toy wholesaler whose success is based on product design and innovation its always good to see retailers do well when they are passionate about what they do, and who do not retail on a pure price platform. JoJo have never been "pile it high and sell it cheap" retailer and to see that they have not been unduely affected by the recession is great news Their first new stores are in Kingston and Cardiff and we wish them the best of luck with them Jamie's Party Plan10 Dec 2009 Jamie at Home, Jamie Olivers new party plan company was launched in March 2009. By the end of the year it had taken on 2,200 consultants who had held 24,500 parties across the UK. In terms of the parties an average of eight people attend each party and they have generated sales above £6 million I don't think that Avon are quaking in their boots yet but I am also sure that by the end of 2010 Jamie at Home will be celebrated as one of the fastest growing retail outlets of the year. Its just a great combination of product, brand and selling method Best Years are a soft and knitted toy wholesaler so we don't sell directly to the public but we love the sound of party plan fair trade cotton toys. Anyone out there fancy organising it for us?!! Sales up in Selfridges' toy department03 Dec 2009 In this recession dampened world we are pleased to see that Selfridges department store has had a very good year. Sales have been driven by design and style rather than the discounting which their rivals have had to resort to Paul Kelly, who is their Chief Executive, credits their success on the fact that they had a strong balance sheet before the recession hit which meant that they have been able to concentrate on shop keeping and not keeping their creditors and bankers happy. Most small businesses have gone through periods of cash flow problems so this comment made quite an impact in our office. When you are concentrating on how to pay Peter and Paul it is difficult to come up with creative ideas for products and promotions. This must be doubly so in larger companies when you have to include major shareholders and city bankers in any financial decision I wonder how much energy and management time of our larger companies this year has been spent on managing their bankers rather than managing their customers? At a time when your rivals are consumed by internal issues the luxury of concentrating on retailing must be a huge advantage As a soft toy wholesaler we were particulaly interested to see that toy sales are up 27%. Selfridges do not list our toys (although we seriously think they should!) but perhaps we may capture their interest in 2010. Fingers crossed! Short List for Toy Retailer of the Year27 Nov 2009 The shortlist for the BTHA Toy retailer of the Year has been announced The shortlist is:
• Midlands Co-operative Society
Could it be you next year....? Toy imports down significantly22 Nov 2009 Figures from HM Revenue and Customs show that toy imports have almost halved in the first 9 months of this year from £11.2bn to £5bn If you take out the Woolworths effect (in total their sales were just under £700m) thats still a big dip. Already there are predictions of shortages (although when was there a Xmas when the must have toy wasn't in short supply?!) As a soft toy wholesaler we have dramatically reduced the amount of toys we import from China and it is largely due to the exchange rate. For us when the £ slippped from $2 to $1.4 it cost us a lot more money to buy in toys and other toys were just not viable to buy anymore. Multiple retailers buy their Xmas stock Feb/March which was a time of maximum uncertainty and lowest exchange rate so it is feasible they decided just not to buy so much stock especially if they knew they would need to increase retail prices We were faced with the decision of either "cost engineering" our goods to take cost out or find a way to add value. We took the latter option and have partnered with some fair trade co-operatives to produce fair trade knitted and cotton crochet toys and rag dolls. It would be nice to think that other companies were forced to make the same sort of decisions so that when everything normalises again we do not go back to importing all of our toys based on price and no other considerations We are looking forward to launching our new range of Fair Trade soft toys and rattles in January so come along and see us at Top Drawer in January!
Well done to Ikea05 Nov 2009 When I found an article about Ikea's soft toys in The Telegraph I did not expect to like what I read. As a soft toy and teddy wholesaler we have always been a bit suspicious of the amazingly low prices of Ikea toys and I expected to read about poor working conditions and child labour. However I was completely wrong. Ikea are currently running a promotion to give 1Euro to Unicef for every soft toy bought in the run up to Xmas which is great on its own but culturely they seem to be in a league of their own when it comes to how they address issues in their factories If they find that any of their suppliers have used child labour, or that the labour force is not been treated as they should then instead of discontinuing the factory and potentially making the lives of the workforce even worse they address the issues which has caused the situation. Effectively they treat the problem not the sympton So a big hand to Ikea and especially to a lady called Marianne Barner who appears to be the driving force behind Ikea's policy and attitude. I still can't imagine how they manage to make them so cheaply but I suppose thats what happens if you sell over 5million toys a year! While we are handing out accolades how about one to Asda who refuse to open on Boxing Day. Both Sainsburys and Tescos are opening stores -it is entirely voluntary for staff to work and they are paid more to do so, but I prefer Asda's attitude towards Boxing Day working. They think it should be a day of rest and I agree with them!
Disney refunds USA parents over Einstein claims29 Oct 2009 Did you know that Disney has agreed to refund parents who bought the Einstein DVDs? The DVDs are so popular in the USA that it is estimated that a third of american babies between 6 months and 2 years have an Einstein DVD. Their popularity is because it was claimed that they can increase your child's intelligence simply by watching TV. This is based on research from children rescued from Romanian orphanages which showed that neglected children who were re-homed before they were 2 made amazing recoveries. Those who were fostered after 2 struggled to develop rheir IQs and cognitive ability normally It was then theorised that if neglect in the first 2 years caused brain damage then stimulation would lead to additional intelligence. A whole industry grew up around this theory a core part of which was the Einstein DVDs. This theory is now being challenged and the American pressure group Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, threatened Disney with a class-action lawsuit for “unfair and deceptive practices” over Baby Einstein, unless refunds were offered. Now as a soft toy and teddy wholesaler we may be biased but we are quite happy to make a claim based on no research except our own experiences that playing with a soft toy is much better for a young child than watching TV. We have seen children laugh more and interact more with toys than they ever do with a TV So lets make sure babies get given knitted toys this Xmas rather than DVDs. It might not make them super intelligent but it will no doubt make them laugh! It will make us quite happy too!
Has Ebay gained respectability or lost its way?20 Oct 2009 There was a time, not so very long ago, that Ebay was seen as the territory of amateur or slightly dubious businesses Many wholesalers would not allow their goods to be supplied to Ebay sellers ostensibly to protect their brand but mostly due to a snobbish attitude to Ebay As a soft toy and teddy wholesaler we have accepted Ebay sellers for many years. Many people started their businesses on Ebay before progressing on to add websites and/or retail outlets and we have some great ebay sellers. Our only provision is that retail prices were set at an acceptable level. We had previously found that some new sellers mistook the gross profit for income without taking in to account Paypal and Ebay fees and they then set retails at a very low level Today Debenhams has become the first department store to have an offical online presence on both Amazon and Ebay. Their Ebay store is professional and clearly branded. It is being used as a clearance store but definitely not in a "pile it high, sell it cheap" way Many stores have outlets on designer outlet villages to sell discontinued or over stocked items but I would guess that Ebay has significantly more traffic than even the busiest outlet village So does this mean that Ebay is now respectible? Or does it mean that it has sold out to the big high street stores to the detriment of its loyal shops. We have watched as the calibre of Ebay sellers has increased significantly and we will be interested to see now whether the introduction of Debenhams (and presumably many more high street stores) will be benefical to them or not Will it increase the footfall to the website as it becomes more main stream or will it squeeze out the very shops who made it successful in the first place? What do you think?
Asda Launches Trust Campaign01 Oct 2009 Andy Bond CEO of Asda has today launched his new campaign to increase customer loyalty and trust Among many other new initiatives he intends to have webcams in farms that supply Asda so that consumers can be reassured as to the farming methods used and increase the general transparency through out Asda “Events over the past year mean that faith in big businesses is lower than it’s ever been – because people have stopped trusting what’s going on behind closed doors. So, from today, there is no ‘behind the scenes’ at Asda he said We completely agree with him that the current recession is routed in a lack of trust. When you can't trust the Banks or Politicians then its very difficult to feel secure in your future. We also agree with him that transparency and trust is a better way of building loyalty than cards and vouchers Best Years do not supply Asda. We have designed and manufactured soft toys, knitted toys and teddy bears for almost 10 years and over that time have found that when it comes to trust and transparency its better to deal with people who are equals. When you are as dominant as Asda it is too easy to impose your trading terms and working practices without thinking of the implications to your suppliers I can't claim to have Asda and Tescos queuing up to ask her us to supply them (how funny would that be) but even if they were we would still adhere to our "Just Say No" policy So we give Andy Bond a big hand for his iniative. Anything which increases the trust between consumers and businesses must be a good thing. However we will wait for the results and for feedback from his non food suppliers before we jump on to his band wagon
Tesco extends its payment terms28 Sep 2009 We see that Tescos has extended its payment terms from 60 to 90 days for its FOB suppliers What made us laugh was that a Tesco spokesman said “Tesco International Sourcing has contacted non-food suppliers to standardise payment terms to 90 days from receipt of invoice. We have an excellent record of paying on time and suppliers tell us that certainty of payment is what is important to them." Do you think he thought that statement even the slightest bit ironic? As a softy toy wholesaler we do not deal with the supermarkets exactly for this sort of reason. I wonder if there may be some more suppliers taking the same decision next year! Does Anyone Still Want To Be The Best?05 Aug 2009 There have been a lot of retailers lately announcing they are moving in to the toy market, not because they like toys but because it fits their strategy. Shop Direct has bought the Woolworths name with its massive brand recognition, Waitrose is leveraging the ranges of its sister company John Lewis and Play.com wants to extend its ranges What ever happened to wanting to be the best? Can you imagine what Selfridges would look like if the ranges had been selected solely to improve their margin? Or would Hamleys be the iconic shop it now is if they started out without any passion Selling on line is a cheaper and easier way to move in to product area because you don't need to stock stores and you can keep running costs to a bare minimum.However it also pushes you in to stocking recognised brands as they are the most searched for items and they are self explanantory when listed on line. What you don't do is pick unknown and unusual products which you believe in. Why bother dealing with a small supplier when you can deal with a couple of large ones with wide ranges and lots of licensed products? Why take a risk on an unknown toy when thousands of people search the internet for Bob the Builder everyday Its not that we mind large companies selling licensed products. There is a large market for licensed toys and multiple retailers can service it very effectively. Now that Woolworths has gone there is a large gap in the market and it makes sense for retailers such as Shop Direct and Play.com to want to fill it. However it would be nice to see a retailer moving in to toys because they thought they could do it better anyone else. How refreshing it would be to have a retailer announce that they loved the toy market and thought that they could bring a fresh perspective and masses of enthusiasm to it. Best Years are a soft toy wholesaler specialising in knitted and ethical toy ranges. We deal with the independent sector who love what they do and have a passion for their ranges. This sometimes makes them very fussy but we like that!
Organic vs Fair Trade soft toys29 Jul 2009 A report by the Food Standards Authority out today, 29th July, has stated that there are no health benefits to eating organic food As a soft toy wholesaler we are not best placed to comment on the health benefits of organic food. However over the last 2 years we have been actively trying to move to ethical ranges. We have always been extremely careful with who we bought from but there was a natural progression and at first we investigated organic cloth However the issue with organic is that although the cloth itself may be made with organic cotton its progress from there could be identical to any other mass produced toy. Being made with organic cloth was not a guarantee in itself that the toy was made ethically The other issue was that to be certified organic takes time and money. The rag dolls we are buying are made from organic cloth but we cannot make this claim offical because the farmers are too poor to go through the certification process. Many of them are also too poor to afford the chemicals which is why their crops are organic! All these issue lead us down the path towards Fair Trade toys rather than organic. Some of our more organised workers co-operatives also have organic cloth but others do not. On balance we are happier to work with suppliers who are actively concerned with their communities and the impact of their manufacturing rather than just buying organic cloth. By their very nature they tend to be concerned with their environment and we have been humbled by what they have achieved. As a matter of interest we now only source from one factory in China although we have a second factory we would be happy to work with. soft toys sell well even in a recessionMattel and Mothercare report strong results 17 Jul 2009 It appears that the toy and baby markets are a good place to be during a recession Mothercare has just reported sales up by almost 10%. UK sales were up 5%, International sales were up 32% (almost 30 stores were opened during this period) and Home Delivery 17% Sales in the UK were helped by the Early Learning Centre inserts in Mothercare stores
Mattel's sales were not as positive with sales down 19% but profits jumped by 82%. The sales decline was put down to cautious retailers who are keeping their inventory tight (Mattel itself has cut its inventory by 13%), and a lack of movie tie-in ranges There is some less positive news with Toy City the Irish retail chain going in to administration, and Nikko, the RC specialist also going down but all in all the toy sector is proving more resilient than many would have given it credit for Best Years are a soft toy wholesaler and not in the same league as Mattel and Mothercare but we are pleased to tell you that our sales are up too and we are looking forward to the Xmas season
why we don't sell our knitted toys to Amazon07 Jul 2009 In response to concerns raised by our independent customers we have decided to stop selling our range of toys directly in to Amazon Our decision was helped along by the following blanket email from Amazon 2009 Purchasing Terms Additional Marketing Allowance - 3.5% based on net receipts for the full trading year Volume Rebate - minimum 3.5% retro for achieving a 2009 turnover at least equal to 2008 turnover (based on net receipts for the full trading year) Returns agreement - full right of return on all products including damaged, defective and recalled goods or 2.5% based on net receipts for the full trading year Payment terms - payment terms are 60 days EOM, or 2.5% early payment discount on 30 days EOM To be honest we did not try to negotiate and I am sure that the buying team would have been reasonable but why bother? Amazon's pricing is probably one of the biggest issues our retailers have to deal with and as a toy wholesaler specialising in supplying the independent stores we were happy to walk away But now you know how they achieve their retails (but don't tell Amazon we told you!)
Cheap soft toys and why are knitted toys are not discounted02 Jul 2009 I was listening to an interesting discussion about discounting last week (don't laugh, just pity Liz who has to work with me!) The consensus semed to be that there were 2 very distinct reasons why businesses cut prices
In retail we are more geared up to offering promotions as unless we sell food our products have a very long shelf life However if you continually promote then consumers will come to expect a discount and will not buy without one (think furniture retailers) If you get in to this situation then you have undermined the actual value of your product - just how much should a sofa cost?! In toys Woolworths also did this and took a considerable market share on the basis of cheap toys. But as we have seen volume is vanity and profit is king. Anyway one can sell cheap products but more retailers have collapsed at the value end of the market than premium The opposite of this is Whisky and Perfume manufacturers who will not discount the price of the product however tight sales are as they believe that their products are aspirational and therefore cutting prices is counter intuiative Best Years, as a soft toy wholesaler, offer price promotions for 2 distinct reasons. We have a Sale once or twice a year to clear the remnants of stock where we have decided not to re-buy the line. Stocks are usually very limited so the trade price can be cut substantially. We also offer promotions at trade fairs as we do like to see our customers at trade fairs. this is not just for the pleasure of your company but also because seeing all our ranges in the flesh makes you more likely to buy a wider range than when buying from the website
Customers Stick to their Guns on Fair Trade toys18 Jun 2009 Sainsbury's announced their results today and in amongst the positive data there was one statistic which we found very interesting While sales of their basic food ranges were up 50% sales of their RSPCA Freedom Food have also quadrupled It appears that despite the much heralded trading down consumers are still sticking to their principals We noticed this at the Pulse exhibition when our fair trade and hand made soft toys and rag dolls were more popular than our value range of teddies and baby toys As a soft toy wholsaler we try to offer a diverse range of soft toys and teddies but we are putting a lot of effort in to increasing our hand made and ethically sourced ranges Consumers are undoubtedly being more cautious but this does not mean that they are prepared to give up on their principals so if you haven't tried our Fair Trade range look out for new products at competitive prices this autumn. They will cost you more than our value range but they may gain you new customers which we are sure will be as valuable to you as it is to us Best Years welcome customer complaints17 Jun 2009 We loved the Sainsbury's documentary this week where the wonderful Niall created a customer surgery in store so that customers have some where very obvious to take their complaints to Best Years are a small soft toy wholesaler, not a massive retail chain but we love customer complaints. Its in the nature of retailing that you do not have time to compliment suppliers when things work so complaints are the only feedback we routinely get Recently we decided to improve the popular and successful knitted T Rex. It soon became obvious that some of our customers did not like the new improved version and just wanted the original one back. What we hope is that the way we handled the complaints gave our customers the confidence to continue to work with us. No one in business is naive enough to believe that everything always run smoothly, but here at Best Years we pride ourselves on taking all feedback seriously and resolving issues as quickly as possible However if you ever have enough time to let us know when we are doing things right then that would also be fab! Want to say something. Please email gaynor@bestyears.co.uk
Knitted toys on twitter30 Apr 2009
As a soft toy wholesaler we use both Twitter and Facebook Basically we think that Twitter is just another way to communicate with people Twitters largest age group is 35-44 years of age accounting for 25.9% of all users 63% of users are male UK Twitter traffic trebled in 2009 and is still growing an astonishing rate There are well over 8 million Twitter users worldwide. 53% Earn over £40,000 p/a 63% Have at attained a college education or higher So to return to the question of how is this useful to small business and how as a gift shop, or even as a soft toy wholesaler you can use Twitter then we think it has several uses
www.michaelhyatt.com/2008/05/the-beginners-guide-to-twitter.html
Who is twittering in your area www.twittermap.com
Funnily enough we came to Facebook as a business well after we went on to Twitter. We see many of our customers use it to talk to their customers and friends but as a business to business forum we would love to see our Facebook pages as a way of debating and discussing things which we think are important to our industry. We also use it to post images of new products which are not yet in stock so keep checking in to see exclusive previews Click here to see our facebook page Partnerships31 Mar 2009 The current economic climate may not be the most comfortable of places to be trading in but it has had the benefit of making us look outside our comfort zones to ensure our business continues to grow. One of the major decisions we have made is to partner with another soft toy wholesaler, a company called UKIC.Whereas we specialise in knitted toys UKIC have a wide range of traditional plush
Trust Best Years and our knitted toys04 Mar 2009
I was listening to a rather earnest discussion on the radio about our current economic situation and one of the contributors made the point that we are not so much suffering from an economic crisis but rather a crisis in trust. Institutions which we have always trusted implicitedly have shown themselves to have feet of clay. Who would have thought even a year ago that we would have come to distrust our whole banking system so quickly and thoroughly? Sterling has shrunk in value and major retailers are collapsing like a stack of cards. Lack of trust has seized up the system so that normal commerce has become significantly more difficult In view of this I would like to clarify Best Years situation Best Years are a soft toy wholesaler. We sell soft toys, plush and knitted toys. In August 2009 we will celebrate our 10th anniversary. You can trust that we will still be here in August 2010, August 2011 and we will celebrate the Olympics with you in August 2012. You can trust that we will continue to design and manufacture high quality soft toys. You can trust us to work with only the most reputable manufacturers and in fact we are working hard to increase the % of our own soft toy ranges being fair trade. You can trust us to deal fairly with both our customers and our suppliers. Nothing ever runs smoothly all the time but we endeavour to sort out any issues promptly and fairly. We are happy to get emails and phone calls however small the query may be so if you have any questions please do get in contact Phone � 01327 262189 Email � Gaynor@bestyears.co.uk Useful information and websites (hopefully)28 Feb 2009
This year I decided that it would help if we understood the workings of search engine so I enrolled on a couple of Business Link courses and they were fab. Here are a couple of top tips from the days I went on � Hopefully you will see the impact on the next our website over couple of months
Selling soft toys in a recessionMarketing Research 30 Nov 2008
In Mintel's October report "Marketing to Tomorrows Consumer" Mintel makes the point that this is the first time that the internet generation has experienced an economic downturn and Mintel predicts that they will react very differently to older consumers
They have classified consumer responses to hard economic times in the following ways
Bargain Hunters 77% Stay at Homes 61% Back to Basics 25% Comfort Seekers 34%
Obviously there is overlap, ie you can be a Bargain Hunter and a Stay at Home
Bargain hunters still like to shop but seek out the best deals, often using the internet to do so Demographics are Female (who are more likely to enjoy shopping as a hobby and would be reluctant to give it up altogether), C1/C2, Family and 3rd age
Back to Basics � a combination of eco concerns and economic downturn means a more make do and mend, grow your own mentality. Demographics Female, 55-64, E and A/B. More likely to be in Wales and South West
Stay at Homes � make a virtue out of economic necessity. For instance they will entertain at home when cannot afford to go out and will buy things to make their home nicer rather than spend money on going out Demographics 25-34, family lifestyle group. ABC. People who have to pay a babysitter on top of the cost of an evening out
Comfort Seekers � reluctant to give up on little luxuries such as chocolates, flowers and home accessories Demographics � Male, over 55, ABC and retired, Broadsheet readers
In terms of marketing Mintel say that the �we�re in this together� message is the best way forward, The best thing about this is that smaller companies will have an advantage over corporations with this stance! We are a soft toy wholesaler and not a market research company but I hope that this information is of use over what is looking like to be a difficult year
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