Can Amazon bring back the toy market?
Toys ‘R Us’ bankruptcy is Amazon’s gain this holiday season, as the e-commerce giant will send out a toy catalog to subscribers.
When Toys ‘R Us was still in business, they would send out a catalog of hundreds of pages of toys to its consumers – this would encourage these people to come into a store and buy toys or order online. However, now that the once-dominant toy store no longer exists, Amazon will fill that void with their own catalog.
Details for the catalog are far from certain, though. Amazon will face troubles around price-listing, as one of the best perks around the platform is that thousands of sellers have different price points for the same products. Plus, these prices can change daily, making a catalog seemingly pointless. Toys ‘R Us, on the other hand, could set their prices in stone and stick to them throughout the holiday season. If prices somehow rise, Amazon consumers could lash out against it and complain that they received false advertising about certain toys.
Despite the minute details, this may foreshadow future steps for Amazon. As Jeff Bezos continues to develop more AmazonGo stores – the cashier-less grocery stores of the future – they may begin to introduce other goods besides food and beverages, such as toys. Moreover, Toys ‘R Us suffered partially from a decreasing interest in toys, but it primarily collapsed because of poor management. If Bezos can turn this aspect around and better manage toys, they could successfully reintroduce toys into brick-and-mortar stores.
This will help Amazon diversify even further, and it will also assist struggling toy manufacturers like Mattel and Lego. While this catalog may not seem like major news, it will certainly impact many companies in various industries.
Featured image via Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson
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