Website Closers® presents a highly successful eCommerce business in the 3D Play Rugs Vertical for Kids. It has won over a significant customer base: parents looking for safe, fun, and creative toys for the little ones that will keep them off electronic devices. The global toy industry is a massive one, expected to add $30 billion in profits through 2025. The segment for children up to age 3 is expected to grow even faster, bringing in $39 billion by 2025. Parents are increasingly willing to spend on items for their children, particularly smart toys that help with their children’s development. Research indicates that smart toy sales will surpass $15.5 billion in revenue by 2022. This brand fits perfectly into that niche field, marketing educational toys that are designed to be both fun and a creative way of learning. As a result of their innovation, this company has enjoyed skyrocketing sales, recognition on NBC and ABC news programming, it has been chosen for the Toy Award by Good Housekeeping Magazine, and has a fast-rising wholesale distribution channel with top retailers such as TJX, Marshalls and Barnes & Noble. The company’s success demonstrates that innovation within the field of toys is possible.
This family business was launched in 2016 to manufacture and distribute their own unique play carpets, designed by a team of architects that feature different settings, including traffic, a mini city, beach houses and farms. Parents can add their child’s favorite figures, toys, dolls, or stuffed animals for a complete play set where the kids can discover their imagination and creativity while playing on the rug.
The rugs were also designed to be healthy to use; they are stain-resistant, made using non-toxic dyes and fabric, and hypo-allergenic. Their products are manufactured for the company and sourced in Turkey. While their play carpet collection represents 80% of sales revenue, the company has expanded to include a host of toy accessories, including cars, planes and trucks, dolls, and farm animals. They now have 45 SKUs, and their products are fully patented and trademarked. With an average order value of $104, online sales channels include the company’s Shopify website and on their Amazon storefront. In fact, Amazon has become the brand’s top selling platform, making up 38.8% of sales. The company benefits as well from glowing reviews on the site, particularly from parents who say their child loves their play carpet and uses it daily. In fact, their typical customer is a parent of children up to age 9, looking for high quality toys that are reasonably priced.
While this brand’s products have touched a chord with parents, the company has done exceptionally well with the wholesale market. In addition to Amazon, the company has been selling its products through retailers to both toy and novelty shops, and to a growing number of big box retailers, such as TJX, Beall’s Outlet, Marshalls, Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy’s and other shops, many of which have become repeat customers.
Orders have grown and they now ship 8-15 consumer orders daily, and up to 30 shipments through Fulfillment by Amazon. The company stocks up to $80,000 worth of inventory in their 5,000 square foot warehouse, and there is low seasonality effects to their business.
The brand has benefitted tremendously from favorable coverage on the top social networks, but they also have a strong digital marketing plan that’s been key to their success. Their social media marketing campaign has been particularly effective that’s provided a significant boost to their organic traffic. The brand also has long-term partnerships with influencers on Instagram and TikTok, which has resulted in $8 in sales for every $1 spent on influencers. The company’s brand ambassadors have been highly efficient at driving traffic to their site while demonstrating how their products can be used and they have helped them leverage their network media endorsements. The company also has an educational blog on its website, which is a key part of their SEO program. Combined with their social media marketing, this has given the brand 2,000+ average monthly visitors.
This company has a lot of momentum right now, putting them in the ideal position to scale quickly. There are multiple opportunities for doing that. The best option would be expanding the company’s retail presence. The company just received its first orders from Barnes & Noble bookstores and Kroger stores, and as the toy industry remains a very healthy and vibrant one, the company could target other large retailers for additional expansions. The strong publicity the company has received on programs such as Good Morning America should be a key selling point to those retailers, and the company has the added advantage of attracting retailers looking for high quality toys that are not sourced in China.
Expanding SKUs would be another excellent scale option. The company could create a wide variety of accessories that could be used on their play carpets, as well as new themes for those carpets. They could be equally successful in introducing toys that reflect the STEM learning programs or Montessori themed complimentary toys for their repeat customers. Based on their success so far, there’s no question that more SKUs would drive sales exponentially. There are additional marketing opportunities. The brand could begin running PPC ads on Amazon to drive traffic to that site and use PPC ads on Google to do the same for their Shopify website. With an email database of 2,000+ subscribers, the company has a great opportunity to use email marketing for special deals, promotions and upselling new products.
Videos of their toys being happily used by kids would be an effective method for expanding the customer base, particularly on sites such as YouTube and TikTok that have such massive followings. The brand benefits from the fact that the carpets are now a trending product on social media among moms.
This is a full-time business that has five employees, including a full-time digital marketing and social media manager and an accounting and supply chain manager, and a part-time warehouse worker, customer support representative, and sales manager.
While toys are an evergreen product, unique toys are gaining an advantage among millennial parents, who appreciate the opportunity for their child to have fun and learn at the same time. This brand has excelled at that approach. Their national exposure has been equally valuable in expanding sales. A buyer has an opportunity to take their products loved by parents, kids, and retailers alike, and find the right path to significant new growth.
