Toys R Us are currently hosting a series of make and take events at their stores. You go along, make a Lego model from a small kit, and then take it home - for free.
In theory.
They've published a blog post about it, which is about as vague as it gets, with a link to their store locator. Unsurprisingly, parents have commented on the blog post asking the obvious question: "when is it at my local store?" As of now, there are almost a dozen such queries.
No replies.
So I did the next obvious thing: I phoned the local store (using the store locator, naturally). "Let me check... yes. You come to the store and can make a Lego model and then take it home, post pictures on the website. It's while stocks last because children take the model home... starts at 9:00 am tomorrow."
Guess who was there with two children at 9:05 the following morning?
No Lego at the front desk. None at the click and collect desk. Two children growing increasingly impatient as we were directed to the front, the back, the Lego, and even the Star Wars corner. The helpful lady I spoke to you on the previous day was nowhere to be seen and neither was her manager. No, no Lego had come in.
We didn't stay. The children were too upset for me to spend time on the Christmas shopping we had planned and I had to promise them treats on the way home. I'm sorry to say that I won't be revisiting my local store for some time - the extra cost compared to online stores isn't worth it (the expert advice and opportunity to see the toys "for real" are decreasing in value).
The comparison with online brings me to an interesting conclusion: Toys r Us have a deeply flawed online strategy. Firstly, I found out about the free Lego offer from a Google alert I've set up for Free Lego, which actually found this page from BT. TRU didn't exactly make an effort to reach out and advertise it.
Secondly - when they did promote it, it was on their blog, but 1) they didn't post details of stores, dates and times - parents like these sorts of minor details - and 2) worse still, they haven't replied to any of the queries about those details. It's a blog - it isn't offline media like a poster; it's interactive and if you have a blog, then you really need to respond to comments on it.
And then there is the lack of communication between online and offline - only some of the staff seemed to know about the website promotion. And the execution? Non-existent, almost. There's a whiteboard at the front of the store promoting upcoming events in coloured pen, but that's about it. My local independent store is doing better at this.
Will I return to Toys r Us? Possibly, but I think it's unlikely I'll be taking my children - assumimg they'll even want to come along.
No comments:
Post a Comment