Toys in there millions, all under one roof...it's called The Amazon Holiday of Play Catalogue! Here's my first look.

All the signs of a misspent youth

I was born in the mid eighties, meaning I'm pretty much a 90s child. In those days pre the internet, the only chance my sister and I got to see any new toys, was on a trip to Toys R Us in Aberdeen (30 miles from our home), on TV adverts, or in the Argos catalogue!

Now remember these were the days before Black Friday, Cyber Week, Singles Day and all those other made up retail events & holidays. Christmas really started in early December, with an advent calendar (still love that cheap chocolate), but I have vivid and happy memories of my Dad bringing the Argos catalogue home on Friday night after he'd done the "big shop" at Asda and my Mum giving us each a marker pen and us going through and circling the toys we'd like "from Santa."

Wow...this brings back some happy memories...here's the 1993 Argos Christmas Catalogue. (I was a Nintendo & Super Mario kid, and later definitely Oasis fan in case you wondered about my 90s allegiances!)

I'd all but forgotten those feelings, as over the years I stopped being interested in toys, and then of course the internet sort of just took over a bit for most of my shopping. Recently however as I've had my own son who's going to be 2 just after Christmas, I've had the delight of getting back into browsing for, buying and playing with toys again.

As a result I'm looking forward to this Christmas more than I have any other in a long long time! Of course a big part of this is being able to see his face and watch him explore all the joys of Christmas, but I'd be lying if I didn't also say it was because I can't wait to get out the Thomas the Tank Engine train set Santa has brought for him on Christmas day! 🎅🏻

With the huge changes that have come about in how we shop - the rise of online, mobile etc it feels like the shopping experience has become a bit sterile, when I compare it to my childhood. Perhaps that's me just being nostalgic, and I guess there's nothing to stop kids getting the Argo's catalogue (or similar store) and circling stuff for Santa. But with the rise of the YouTube & Insta influencer and unboxing videos of kids toys getting millions of hits the innocence of my youth seems to have been lost a bit for todays generations.

Which is why when I heard that Amazon were going to be posting a 70 page glossy kids toy catalogue out to millions of US homes this Christmas it raised a smile. And I know from my previous LinkedIn post about it, it caught many of my retail friends attentions to.

So I decided to do what I could to get my hands on a copy of the Amazon catalogue, or to give it, it's full name the "Amazon Holiday of Play, Ultimate Wish List for Kids", and to write up my thoughts on it, and how it falls into Amazon's wider holiday retail strategy.

Pick me, pick me, pick me

Before we start talking about the contents of the catalogue, a quick word on how Amazon have chosen to distribute it, and indeed some speculation on my part. It's obvious that Amazon have a whole ton of data from both Prime, and standard shoppers, and they've used this to target the first millions of customers to receive these. Exactly how, we of course don't know, but we do know they have a really smart targeted ad's business, so it's clear they're using similar data sets here.

In addition a smart move on there part means they've also made the catalogue available as a free Kindle download in the US just in case they missed someone. I checked the reviews of the Kindle version, and they are HEAVILY loaded towards 1⭐️ ...50% in fact. Which on face value looks terrible...until you dig in and read them, and the majority are people complaining, "we're Prime members, and we spend a ton on toys, WHY DIDN'T WE GET SENT A CATALOGUE?!" which when you think about it, is really quite a positive review for the concept, if not their selection process.

It's all about the app...but you knew that already!

From the first couple of page turns you immediately start to see how this fits into Amazon's wider plans...page #2 highlights how easy it is to order with free shipping, easy returns and also most importantly introduces the importance of the Amazon app, in shopping this catalogue!

An app I hear you cry, well yes...an app. The normal Amazon shopping app which is probably sitting on your phone or tablet right now...is comfortably the most frictionless to buy anything from this catalogue. To do this, you just scan the QR code next to the toy/gift you're interested in, using the SmileCode scanner built into the Amazon shopping app...and hey presto you can build a digital wish list or basket whilst turning the shiny glossy pages. An oh so Gen Z version of the trusty marker pens my Mum handed over!

The other reason you'll need to have your SmileCode scanner handy is they have declined to include any prices at all...which is a sneaky and very sharp move on their part. I remember my Mum setting Santa's spend limit (how did I not work it out?) to avoid disappointment on the big day. But by keeping the prices hidden, its encouraging customers to shop the app...which then brings them into Amazon's digital world of personalised recommendations, and 1 click buys! Clever clever Amazon!

By not setting prices in print, they're also very cleverly allowing their dynamic pricing strategy to survive, even with this physical catalogue. Of course this also allows for future exclusive promos, or even dynamic pricing for individuals.

A whole new frontier for brand/platform engagement

There are so many brand tie ups across the 70 pages it's tough to count, but it's clear Amazon have worked closely with the big hitters to ensure the great and the good of kids toys are represented. It's here that I think the SmileCode scanner trick is at it's best, as each of the brands can have their own Scan & Shop content, which of course leads the customer to a much fuller product catalogue on the shopping app. Many of the products also include a tiny little "Amazon Exclusive" in the information about them at the bottom of the page, again driving home the message you've come to the right place!

There's a healthy smattering of Amazon goods mixed in with the toys and other electronics brands...I have to be honest I didn't know until today that Amazon sell an Echo Dot Kids Edition, and of course an Amazon Fire HD tablet for kids. Again I think this is a really neat way of seeding these ideas, because I sure as hell wouldn't have gone searching for "smart speaker for my 6 year old" (in 4 years time maybe my son would have asked my smart speaker about that himself...)

And if the 70 odd pages of toys, games, electronics, and much much more wasn't enough, the very last page includes a little section on Amazons new toy subscription clubs, and the good old Amazon gift cards too!

Nostalgia sells

It's no surprise that one of the best selling children's books today (on Amazon of course) is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", which of course we all remember from our own childhoods and buy for our kids. Put shortly, nostalgia sells! For all those 70s, 80's and early 90's kids who are now parents, this is definitely the sort of initiative they'll love. It's this nostalgia that Amazon have tapped into here, and I would imagine should this be successful we may start to see other retailers starting to try similar things in the years to come!

"How does this all fit into the wider story Ed?" I hear you cry

I don't work at or with Amazon, so I don't know, but there's a few obvious areas which it might be worth calling out, and indeed potential for the future of their Holiday catalogue.

Considering how integral the Amazon app, and the scanner is to the shopping journey, this represents an obvious new customer acquisition tool for Amazon. This goes hand in hand with their offer of free shipping on all holiday purchases regardless of spend. The strategy is clear -> Get people hooked on the ease of use during the holidays and then transition them into an Amazon Prime membership for the rest of the year too!

Indeed the subject of new customer acquisition is an interesting one, because of course this is also a brilliant way of grabbing the younger customer hearts and minds...who of course will become the future big consumers, and Amazon will hope, customers.

The amount of data that Amazon hold on those of us who do shop regularly with them has clearly given them a huge leg up over many other retailers, that's not news for anyone, but the opportunity this rich data provides to tailor who receives this catalogue, and who knows in future possibly even a semi personalised catalogue in future years.

Many have assumed and commented that this is a big Amazon play to capture the recently fresh customers of Toys R Us, and whilst this is naturally a big opportunity, I'm really interested to see if Amazon toy catalogues start landing in mailboxes outside of the US next year and beyond! We shall have to wait and see what 2019 brings.

That is pretty much a wrap folks, (every pun intended) I hope this has been useful, and as always I'd love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments below 👇, and if you could give this a 👍 and a share with any of your retail friends, I'd really appreciate it!

PS. If anybody would like a copy of the Amazon Holiday of Play catalogue please do drop me a dm and I'll send it over! 🎁

PPS. All views are my own but free speech doesn’t pay the bills. My social posts don’t represent the view of my employer at all.