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Retail Analytics Report
Boomerang Commerce
Retail Solutions
info@boomerangcommerce.com
November 2015
TOYS
Retail Analytics
November, 2015
Consumer Toys
Data Research by Boomerang Commerce
Executive Summary
Key findings include: Jet competes most closely on price with
Amazon, Walmart attracts shoppers with the largest assortment
overlap with Amazon, and Toys "R" Us is not afraid to be the
most expensive while it simultaneously discounts toe-to-toe on a
third of their assortment overlap. There appear to be
opportunities to generate incremental margins by extending
assortments and boosting prices where Amazon chooses to
discount minimally or not at all.
In this edition of the Boomerang Commerce Retail Analytics
Report, we investigate the toy category, examining price data from
Amazon, Toys "R" Us, Game Stop, Walmart, Target and Jet. We
use Boomerang’s proprietary indices, the Price Perception Index
and Product Assortment Index, to analyze gross prices and
weighted basket prices, as well as the uniqueness of each retailer’s
assortment, and their overlap.
Toys are a unique category because they are so strongly driven by
seasonality, by the popularity of recent movies and by megahit
video game sales.
2
Retail Analytics
November, 2015
Consumer Toys
Data Research by Boomerang Commerce
Across the 1,200 toy items covered in this month’s report, Jet came
closest to matching Amazon’s prices followed by Target and
specialist Game Stop. Walmart was priced more than 7% higher,
and Toys "R" Us was nearly 10% higher than Amazon, based on
their weighted Price Perception Index (PPI) rankings. On the
sampled product assortment, Walmart has the largest overlap with
Amazon, with a Product Assortment Index (PAI) of 40%. Startup
Jet already has built up its assortment impressively to match Target
and Toys "R" Us in the 26% to 28% range. Finally, GameStop has
the least overlap with Amazon close to 15%.
ALL Products
$100.70
$102.76
$102.77
$107.38
$109.79
26.11%
27.16%
14.64%
40.16%
28.52%
*Based on the sample of 1200
products collected by Boomerang
Commerce. Walmart has 356
matching products, Target has 188,
Jet has 204, Toys “R” Us has 204 and
Game Stop has 112.
Toys "R" Us priced toy items
nearly 10% higher than
Amazon.
$100.00 100%
3
PRICE PERCEPTION
INDEX
PRODUCT ASSORTMENT
INDEXRETAILER
Amazon
$110
$105
$100
$95
BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX
PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
Retail Analytics
November, 2015
Consumer Toys
Data Research by Boomerang Commerce
Amazon
PRICE PERCEPTION
INDEX
PRODUCT ASSORTMENT
INDEXRETAILER
HEAD Products
For head (popular) toy
products, Walmart has by far
the greatest inventory overlap
with the Amazon baseline.
Toys "R" Us head product
prices were the most expensive
in the research basket.
Jet posted the lowest average
head prices, running only 2.5%
above Amazon pricing. Then
came Target, 5% higher than
Amazon prices. Jet also
competed most broadly with
Amazon on price; the majority
of its head products in the
sample are priced below the
same products at Amazon.
$102.52
$105.12
$106.86
$108.10
$111.92
31.00%
34.25%
17.50%
46.25%
35.25%
$125
$115
$105
$95
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Price of Head Items Compared to Amazon
A slight majority of Jet’s head
products in the sample were
priced below Amazon.
*Based on the sample of 400 products
collected by Boomerang Commerce.
Walmart has 185 matching products, Target
has 137, Jet has 124, Toys “R” Us has 141
and Game Stop has 70.
67
17
63
19
29
6
18
55
104
91
$100.00 100%
BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX
4
PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
SAME
LOWER-PRICED
HIGHER-PRICED
33
43 169 12 49
85
Retail Analytics
November, 2015
Consumer Toys
Data Research by Boomerang Commerce
PRICE PERCEPTION
INDEX
PRODUCT ASSORTMENT
INDEXRETAILER
CORE Products
In core (medium popularity) toy
products, Jet’s prices were the
lowest in the group. Not only was
its PPI below Amazon’s, but 2/3
of its core products in the study
were priced lower than at
Amazon. The others are priced
well above Amazon, from
Walmart at +7% up to Toys "R"
Us where sampled core prices
were 22.5% above Amazon’s
prices on the same items.
Walmart carried 28.5% of the
baseline core products; Jet was
next with less than 18% overlap
with Amazon. The five retailers’
relatively low Product
Assortment Index ranges suggest
they might find opportunity to
expand core assortments and
capitalize on traffic they
achieved by competing via price
on head products.
$100.00
$107.03
$109.48
$111.92
$122.49
100%
28.50%
12.50%
9.75%
15.50%
Price of Core Items Compared to Amazon
Apart from Jet, the other four
retailers were priced from 7%
to 22.5% above Amazon on
core items.
*Based on the sample of 400 Core
products collected by Boomerang
Commerce. Walmart has 114 matching
products, Target has 50, Jet has 71, Toys
“R” Us has 62 and Game Stop has 39.
$98.71 17.75%
5
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
58
15
47
12
6
3
6
21
44
29
SAME
LOWER-PRICED
HIGHER-PRICED
31
1612 3 24
25
Amazon
$120
$110
$100
$90
BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX
PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
Retail Analytics
November, 2015
Consumer Toys
Data Research by Boomerang Commerce
TAIL Products
Across 400 tail (low popularity)
products, Walmart was priced
above Amazon on ¾ of the [tail]
toy products that both retailers
carry, Walmart’s Price
Perception Index places it at just
1.3% higher-priced than
Amazon. The other four
retailers, taken collectively, are
priced significantly below
Amazon on tail products. This
indicates opportunity for them
to generate margin by raising
prices. There is potential for
endless-aisle assortment
expansion programs, both online
and in brick and mortar,
enabling profitable growth in tail
items.
$34.41
$50.37
$88.44
$100.00
$101.28
0.75%
0.25%
2.25%
100%
14.25%
Price of Tail Items Compared to Amazon
PRICE PERCEPTION
INDEX
PRODUCT ASSORTMENT
INDEXRETAILER
*Based on the sample of 400 Tail
products collected by Boomerang
Commerce. Walmart has 57 matching
products, Target has 1, Jet has 9, Toys “R”
Us has 1, and Game Stop has 3.
For items of low popularity,
Jet and Walmart under-priced
Amazon but none of the
retailers had 10% of
Amazon's assortment.
$59.13 0.25%
6
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
43
1
7
1
1 1
SAME
LOWER-PRICED
HIGHER-PRICED
5
16 3
9
Amazon
$120
$90
$60
$30
BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX
PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
Retail Analytics
November, 2015
Consumer Toys
Data Research by Boomerang Commerce
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
TOYS “R” US
GAME STOP
WALMART
JET
TARGET
OVERLAP COMPARED TO AMAZON *
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
TOYS “R” US
GAME STOP
WALMART
JET
TARGET
OVERLAP COMPARED TO AMAZON *
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
TOYS “R” US
GAME STOP
WALMART
JET
TARGET
OVERLAP COMPARED TO AMAZON *
Brand Assortment Analysis
We analyzed 1200 items across 479 unique brands,
including popular names like Disney and Microsoft. The
majority of products in our research basket were
prominent brands. We measured how often these brands
appeared as SKUs at major retailers relative to Amazon.
Nintendo was a major presence at all 5 retailers; Disney
was consistently at 4 of the 5. The Vtech selection at
Walmart nearly matches (77%) the Vtech choices at
Amazon. You could barely find Melissa & Doug at
Walmart, but the assortment of Melissa & Doug is
plentiful at Jet and Toys "R" Us.
Disney
Melissa & Doug
Nintendo
Vtech
Microsoft
1
2
3
4
5
43
35
30
26
22
Brands with
Highest Assortment
Rank
Selection
CountBrand
7
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
TOYS “R” US
GAME STOP
WALMART
JET
TARGET
OVERLAP COMPARED TO AMAZON *
* If Amazon had 100 Melissa & Doug items in its research sample, Jet had 60.
Nintendo, Microsoft, and Disney
are in ample assortment at
nearly every retailer, while for
Melissa & Doug, you’d probably
choose Jet or Toys“R”Us.
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
TOYS “R” US
GAME STOP
WALMART
JET
TARGET
OVERLAP COMPARED TO AMAZON *
Retail Analytics
November, 2015
Consumer Toys
Data Research by Boomerang Commerce
Category: Video Games
Video games are a key
category where a single
product can outsell a
Hollywood blockbuster. Jet
comes closest on price
competition, at just 3.9% over
Amazon, but had a Product
Assortment Index of just 14%.
The other four retailers had a
product overlap of 38% or
higher, showing widespread
commitment to the category.
Walmart carried nearly half of
the video games sampled at
Amazon. It may not always be
an advantage to overlap with a
competitor that has Amazon’s
pricing power, but being
stocked on traffic-drivers like
popular video games is crucial
in the holiday season.
Availability of Items
Found in the Sample
$103.93
$105.29
$106.60
$110.23
$106.28
14.07%
48.24%
41.71%
38.19%
45.23%
PRICE PERCEPTION
INDEX
PRODUCT ASSORTMENT
INDEXRETAILER
Every toy retailer knows it needs
to be selling video games.
Except for Jet, the group all had
product overlap above 38%.
$100.00 100%
8
5+ Retailers
25.1%
4 Retailers
15.6%
3 Retailers
12.1%
2 Retailers
10.1%
Only Amazon
37.2%
Amazon
$110
$105
$100
$95
BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX
PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
Retail Analytics
November, 2015
Consumer Toys
Data Research by Boomerang Commerce
Category: Action & Toy Figures
In Action & Toy Figures,
Walmart has the smallest
price differentials compared to
Amazon, with a Price
Perception Index of 102,
and the highest Product
Assortment Index at 29.35%.
Toys "R" Us stood out in the
field with sharply higher
pricing at 20.5% higher than
Amazon. We found that 57%
of the Action & Toy Figure
SKUs in the research basket
are offered only at Amazon.
On those 115 SKUs, Amazon
therefore has no major
competition.$102.00
$106.26
$107.03
$109.06
$120.48
29.35%
6.97%
16.92%
22.39%
20.90%
PRICE PERCEPTION
INDEX
PRODUCT ASSORTMENT
INDEXRETAILER
Availability of Items
Found Among Retailers 57% of the Action & Toys Figures
products are offered only at Amazon.
$100.00 100%
9
5+ Retailers
6.5%
4 Retailers
12.4%
3 Retailers
9.0%
2 Retailers
14.9%
Only Amazon
57.2%
Amazon
$120
$110
$100
$90
BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX
PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
Retail Analytics
November, 2015
Consumer Toys
Data Research by Boomerang Commerce
5+ Retailers
Category: Puzzles
In the Puzzles category, Jet
has the largest overlap with
Amazon’s assortment in the
Report sample, and is also
Amazon’s toughest competitor
on pricing with a Price
Perception Index of just
100.3. Toys "R" Us has a
higher Product Assortment
Index (overlap with Amazon’s
sample assortment in Puzzles)
at 19% than Walmart does, at
18% -- and pricing that jumps
out due to being 18% higher
than Amazon’s.
$100.31
$108.63
$113.85
$118.44
N/A
27.36%
17.91%
12.44%
18.91%
N/A
PRICE PERCEPTION
INDEX
PRODUCT ASSORTMENT
INDEXRETAILER
Availability of Items
Found Among Retailers
Here’s a small puzzle: Jet picked
this category to battle Amazon
head on, with a product overlap
of 27.4% and pricing that is
nearly a match.
$100.00 100%
10
5+ Retailers
2.5%4 Retailers
7.0%
3 Retailers
16.9%
2 Retailers
11.9%
Only Amazon
61.7%
Amazon
$120
$110
$100
$90
BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX
PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
Retail Analytics
November, 2015
Consumer Toys
Data Research by Boomerang Commerce
Discount Analysis
Of the mass merchants, Amazon and Walmart discount widely,
at 44% and 42% of their sample inventory. Target limits its
discounting on toys to a narrower selection, just 8% of the
research sample – but cuts deep with 30% median discount
levels. This matched Game Stop, which also discounts narrowly
(7% of its sample) and deeply (25%).
Amazon and Toys “R” Us stood out for discounting widely (44%
and 32% respectively), and deeply (24% for both retailers). Jet,
true to its promise, did not discount.
Discount Frequency
MEDIAN DISCOUNT
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
11
When it comes to selling toys
below list price, Amazon and Toys
“R”Us discount widely and deeply.
Target and Game Stop both
discount narrowly and deeply.
42%
44% 24%
8%
32%
30%
17%
24%
7% 25%
NA
PRODUCTS IN INVENTORY WITH A DISCOUNT
0%
Retail Analytics
November, 2015
Consumer Toys
Data Research by Boomerang Commerce
Example Products
On Splatoon by Nintendo, a popular head item, Amazon undercuts its competitors, offering it at $55.99.
The closest competitors – Target, Game Stop, and Toys "R" Us, sell it at the list price of $59.99. Jet is
substantially higher at $67.24 With such head items drawing traffic online, and guiding customer
perception, Jet appears out of step on this SKU.
On a sample tail product, Lego Lord of the Rings from Warner Home Video Games. Amazon’s price is
$36.69, not quite one percent below list price, but far higher than the other retailers who stock it.
Judging from the number of reviews, this product has a following at Game Stop. Tail products where
Amazon barely discounts offer opportunity for other retailers to increase prices without adversely
impacting shopper sentiment or unit sales. Core products, with much higher unit volume, may also be
ripe for new assortment and margin strategies.
Splatoon
By Nintendo
HEAD TAIL
LEGO Lord of the Rings
By Warner Home Video Games
$55.99
$61.11
$59.99
$67.24
$59.99
$59.99
4.5
N/A
5.0
N/A
4.7
4.3
RETAILER PRICE PRICE
508
N/A
5
N/A
109
69
$39.69
N/A
N/A
N/A
$19.99
$19.99
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
4.7
4.3
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
10
33
This illustrates a fairly
common situation:
Amazon discounts on a
hot product and goes
unchallenged price-wise,
while on slower-moving
tail items, Amazon may
be the most expensive by
a large spread.
12
RATING
(OUT OF 5)
RATING
(OUT OF 5)
# OF REVIEWS # OF REVIEWS
Retail Analytics
November, 2015
Consumer Toys
Data Research by Boomerang Commerce
Report Terminology
To account for variance in products offerings
at each retailer, we chose to use Amazon as
the baseline due to its position as the largest
online retailer. Our indices are based on
Amazon Best Seller items as well as a selected
assortment of medium and low popularity
products. This creates a broadly representa-
tive basket of items to use for measuring each
retailers’ product prices, weighted basket
price and product availability. For each prod-
uct category (toys, electronics, home and
garden, etc.), we assume that the top 20% of
products are head items, the middle 50% are
core items, and the remaining 30% are tail
items. Based on this assumption, we select
400 random items from each popularity tier
for our analysis, for a total of 1,200 items.
Methodology
We used these proprietary measurements and
indexes developed to precisely track price and
assortment of a wide basket of items sold
online.
Price Perception Index – A proprietary
index tracking gross price difference and
movements across the six online retailers
covering a basket of 1200 products (SKUs).
Price Perception Index is normalized to
Amazon to establish a relative baseline. It is
weighted to accurately reflect the pricing of
“head”, “core” and “tail” items across the same
six retailers covering 1200 products.
Product Assortment Index – A proprietary
index reflecting the selection of products across
five major retailers. Product Assortment Index
is normalized to Amazon to establish a relative
baseline. It is weighted to accurately reflect the
pricing of “head”, “core” and “tail” items across
the same five retailers covering 1200 products.
Head – This is a description of frequently
purchased, popular products list among the
Amazon Best Sellers. Head products most
strongly influence customer perception of
whether a product is expensive or inexpensive.
Core – This is a description of products of
medium popularity that are regularly
purchased but are not among Best Sellers and
are not as popular as head products.
Tail – This is a description of infrequently
purchased products having the least impact on
customer perception of whether a retailer is
expensive or inexpensive.
13
Boomerang Commerce
Retail Solutions
info@boomerangcommerce.com
Founded in 2012, Boomerang Commerce offers the first
prescriptive analytics suite for omnichannel retailers. Six of
the top 10 retailers, including Office Depot and Staples, rely
on its Retail Solutions Suite, which delivers decision
recommendations that enable retailers to proactively compete
and boost profits at scale. Built by a team from Amazon,
McKinsey, MIT and Stanford, Boomerang applies machine
learning and big data analytics to massive data quantities
across digital and brick-and-mortar channels, and it derives
superior insights and actionable business recommendations
to transform business decision makers into retail ninjas.
About Boomerang Commerce
Copyright © Boomerang Commerce, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Boomerang-Toys-RAR

  • 1. Retail Analytics Report Boomerang Commerce Retail Solutions info@boomerangcommerce.com November 2015 TOYS
  • 2. Retail Analytics November, 2015 Consumer Toys Data Research by Boomerang Commerce Executive Summary Key findings include: Jet competes most closely on price with Amazon, Walmart attracts shoppers with the largest assortment overlap with Amazon, and Toys "R" Us is not afraid to be the most expensive while it simultaneously discounts toe-to-toe on a third of their assortment overlap. There appear to be opportunities to generate incremental margins by extending assortments and boosting prices where Amazon chooses to discount minimally or not at all. In this edition of the Boomerang Commerce Retail Analytics Report, we investigate the toy category, examining price data from Amazon, Toys "R" Us, Game Stop, Walmart, Target and Jet. We use Boomerang’s proprietary indices, the Price Perception Index and Product Assortment Index, to analyze gross prices and weighted basket prices, as well as the uniqueness of each retailer’s assortment, and their overlap. Toys are a unique category because they are so strongly driven by seasonality, by the popularity of recent movies and by megahit video game sales. 2
  • 3. Retail Analytics November, 2015 Consumer Toys Data Research by Boomerang Commerce Across the 1,200 toy items covered in this month’s report, Jet came closest to matching Amazon’s prices followed by Target and specialist Game Stop. Walmart was priced more than 7% higher, and Toys "R" Us was nearly 10% higher than Amazon, based on their weighted Price Perception Index (PPI) rankings. On the sampled product assortment, Walmart has the largest overlap with Amazon, with a Product Assortment Index (PAI) of 40%. Startup Jet already has built up its assortment impressively to match Target and Toys "R" Us in the 26% to 28% range. Finally, GameStop has the least overlap with Amazon close to 15%. ALL Products $100.70 $102.76 $102.77 $107.38 $109.79 26.11% 27.16% 14.64% 40.16% 28.52% *Based on the sample of 1200 products collected by Boomerang Commerce. Walmart has 356 matching products, Target has 188, Jet has 204, Toys “R” Us has 204 and Game Stop has 112. Toys "R" Us priced toy items nearly 10% higher than Amazon. $100.00 100% 3 PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEXRETAILER Amazon $110 $105 $100 $95 BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
  • 4. Retail Analytics November, 2015 Consumer Toys Data Research by Boomerang Commerce Amazon PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEXRETAILER HEAD Products For head (popular) toy products, Walmart has by far the greatest inventory overlap with the Amazon baseline. Toys "R" Us head product prices were the most expensive in the research basket. Jet posted the lowest average head prices, running only 2.5% above Amazon pricing. Then came Target, 5% higher than Amazon prices. Jet also competed most broadly with Amazon on price; the majority of its head products in the sample are priced below the same products at Amazon. $102.52 $105.12 $106.86 $108.10 $111.92 31.00% 34.25% 17.50% 46.25% 35.25% $125 $115 $105 $95 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Price of Head Items Compared to Amazon A slight majority of Jet’s head products in the sample were priced below Amazon. *Based on the sample of 400 products collected by Boomerang Commerce. Walmart has 185 matching products, Target has 137, Jet has 124, Toys “R” Us has 141 and Game Stop has 70. 67 17 63 19 29 6 18 55 104 91 $100.00 100% BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX 4 PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX SAME LOWER-PRICED HIGHER-PRICED 33 43 169 12 49 85
  • 5. Retail Analytics November, 2015 Consumer Toys Data Research by Boomerang Commerce PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEXRETAILER CORE Products In core (medium popularity) toy products, Jet’s prices were the lowest in the group. Not only was its PPI below Amazon’s, but 2/3 of its core products in the study were priced lower than at Amazon. The others are priced well above Amazon, from Walmart at +7% up to Toys "R" Us where sampled core prices were 22.5% above Amazon’s prices on the same items. Walmart carried 28.5% of the baseline core products; Jet was next with less than 18% overlap with Amazon. The five retailers’ relatively low Product Assortment Index ranges suggest they might find opportunity to expand core assortments and capitalize on traffic they achieved by competing via price on head products. $100.00 $107.03 $109.48 $111.92 $122.49 100% 28.50% 12.50% 9.75% 15.50% Price of Core Items Compared to Amazon Apart from Jet, the other four retailers were priced from 7% to 22.5% above Amazon on core items. *Based on the sample of 400 Core products collected by Boomerang Commerce. Walmart has 114 matching products, Target has 50, Jet has 71, Toys “R” Us has 62 and Game Stop has 39. $98.71 17.75% 5 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 58 15 47 12 6 3 6 21 44 29 SAME LOWER-PRICED HIGHER-PRICED 31 1612 3 24 25 Amazon $120 $110 $100 $90 BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
  • 6. Retail Analytics November, 2015 Consumer Toys Data Research by Boomerang Commerce TAIL Products Across 400 tail (low popularity) products, Walmart was priced above Amazon on ¾ of the [tail] toy products that both retailers carry, Walmart’s Price Perception Index places it at just 1.3% higher-priced than Amazon. The other four retailers, taken collectively, are priced significantly below Amazon on tail products. This indicates opportunity for them to generate margin by raising prices. There is potential for endless-aisle assortment expansion programs, both online and in brick and mortar, enabling profitable growth in tail items. $34.41 $50.37 $88.44 $100.00 $101.28 0.75% 0.25% 2.25% 100% 14.25% Price of Tail Items Compared to Amazon PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEXRETAILER *Based on the sample of 400 Tail products collected by Boomerang Commerce. Walmart has 57 matching products, Target has 1, Jet has 9, Toys “R” Us has 1, and Game Stop has 3. For items of low popularity, Jet and Walmart under-priced Amazon but none of the retailers had 10% of Amazon's assortment. $59.13 0.25% 6 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 43 1 7 1 1 1 SAME LOWER-PRICED HIGHER-PRICED 5 16 3 9 Amazon $120 $90 $60 $30 BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
  • 7. Retail Analytics November, 2015 Consumer Toys Data Research by Boomerang Commerce 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% TOYS “R” US GAME STOP WALMART JET TARGET OVERLAP COMPARED TO AMAZON * 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% TOYS “R” US GAME STOP WALMART JET TARGET OVERLAP COMPARED TO AMAZON * 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% TOYS “R” US GAME STOP WALMART JET TARGET OVERLAP COMPARED TO AMAZON * Brand Assortment Analysis We analyzed 1200 items across 479 unique brands, including popular names like Disney and Microsoft. The majority of products in our research basket were prominent brands. We measured how often these brands appeared as SKUs at major retailers relative to Amazon. Nintendo was a major presence at all 5 retailers; Disney was consistently at 4 of the 5. The Vtech selection at Walmart nearly matches (77%) the Vtech choices at Amazon. You could barely find Melissa & Doug at Walmart, but the assortment of Melissa & Doug is plentiful at Jet and Toys "R" Us. Disney Melissa & Doug Nintendo Vtech Microsoft 1 2 3 4 5 43 35 30 26 22 Brands with Highest Assortment Rank Selection CountBrand 7 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% TOYS “R” US GAME STOP WALMART JET TARGET OVERLAP COMPARED TO AMAZON * * If Amazon had 100 Melissa & Doug items in its research sample, Jet had 60. Nintendo, Microsoft, and Disney are in ample assortment at nearly every retailer, while for Melissa & Doug, you’d probably choose Jet or Toys“R”Us. 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% TOYS “R” US GAME STOP WALMART JET TARGET OVERLAP COMPARED TO AMAZON *
  • 8. Retail Analytics November, 2015 Consumer Toys Data Research by Boomerang Commerce Category: Video Games Video games are a key category where a single product can outsell a Hollywood blockbuster. Jet comes closest on price competition, at just 3.9% over Amazon, but had a Product Assortment Index of just 14%. The other four retailers had a product overlap of 38% or higher, showing widespread commitment to the category. Walmart carried nearly half of the video games sampled at Amazon. It may not always be an advantage to overlap with a competitor that has Amazon’s pricing power, but being stocked on traffic-drivers like popular video games is crucial in the holiday season. Availability of Items Found in the Sample $103.93 $105.29 $106.60 $110.23 $106.28 14.07% 48.24% 41.71% 38.19% 45.23% PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEXRETAILER Every toy retailer knows it needs to be selling video games. Except for Jet, the group all had product overlap above 38%. $100.00 100% 8 5+ Retailers 25.1% 4 Retailers 15.6% 3 Retailers 12.1% 2 Retailers 10.1% Only Amazon 37.2% Amazon $110 $105 $100 $95 BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
  • 9. Retail Analytics November, 2015 Consumer Toys Data Research by Boomerang Commerce Category: Action & Toy Figures In Action & Toy Figures, Walmart has the smallest price differentials compared to Amazon, with a Price Perception Index of 102, and the highest Product Assortment Index at 29.35%. Toys "R" Us stood out in the field with sharply higher pricing at 20.5% higher than Amazon. We found that 57% of the Action & Toy Figure SKUs in the research basket are offered only at Amazon. On those 115 SKUs, Amazon therefore has no major competition.$102.00 $106.26 $107.03 $109.06 $120.48 29.35% 6.97% 16.92% 22.39% 20.90% PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEXRETAILER Availability of Items Found Among Retailers 57% of the Action & Toys Figures products are offered only at Amazon. $100.00 100% 9 5+ Retailers 6.5% 4 Retailers 12.4% 3 Retailers 9.0% 2 Retailers 14.9% Only Amazon 57.2% Amazon $120 $110 $100 $90 BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
  • 10. Retail Analytics November, 2015 Consumer Toys Data Research by Boomerang Commerce 5+ Retailers Category: Puzzles In the Puzzles category, Jet has the largest overlap with Amazon’s assortment in the Report sample, and is also Amazon’s toughest competitor on pricing with a Price Perception Index of just 100.3. Toys "R" Us has a higher Product Assortment Index (overlap with Amazon’s sample assortment in Puzzles) at 19% than Walmart does, at 18% -- and pricing that jumps out due to being 18% higher than Amazon’s. $100.31 $108.63 $113.85 $118.44 N/A 27.36% 17.91% 12.44% 18.91% N/A PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEXRETAILER Availability of Items Found Among Retailers Here’s a small puzzle: Jet picked this category to battle Amazon head on, with a product overlap of 27.4% and pricing that is nearly a match. $100.00 100% 10 5+ Retailers 2.5%4 Retailers 7.0% 3 Retailers 16.9% 2 Retailers 11.9% Only Amazon 61.7% Amazon $120 $110 $100 $90 BUBBLE SIZE REPRESENTS PRODUCT ASSORTMENT INDEX PRICE PERCEPTION INDEX
  • 11. Retail Analytics November, 2015 Consumer Toys Data Research by Boomerang Commerce Discount Analysis Of the mass merchants, Amazon and Walmart discount widely, at 44% and 42% of their sample inventory. Target limits its discounting on toys to a narrower selection, just 8% of the research sample – but cuts deep with 30% median discount levels. This matched Game Stop, which also discounts narrowly (7% of its sample) and deeply (25%). Amazon and Toys “R” Us stood out for discounting widely (44% and 32% respectively), and deeply (24% for both retailers). Jet, true to its promise, did not discount. Discount Frequency MEDIAN DISCOUNT 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 11 When it comes to selling toys below list price, Amazon and Toys “R”Us discount widely and deeply. Target and Game Stop both discount narrowly and deeply. 42% 44% 24% 8% 32% 30% 17% 24% 7% 25% NA PRODUCTS IN INVENTORY WITH A DISCOUNT 0%
  • 12. Retail Analytics November, 2015 Consumer Toys Data Research by Boomerang Commerce Example Products On Splatoon by Nintendo, a popular head item, Amazon undercuts its competitors, offering it at $55.99. The closest competitors – Target, Game Stop, and Toys "R" Us, sell it at the list price of $59.99. Jet is substantially higher at $67.24 With such head items drawing traffic online, and guiding customer perception, Jet appears out of step on this SKU. On a sample tail product, Lego Lord of the Rings from Warner Home Video Games. Amazon’s price is $36.69, not quite one percent below list price, but far higher than the other retailers who stock it. Judging from the number of reviews, this product has a following at Game Stop. Tail products where Amazon barely discounts offer opportunity for other retailers to increase prices without adversely impacting shopper sentiment or unit sales. Core products, with much higher unit volume, may also be ripe for new assortment and margin strategies. Splatoon By Nintendo HEAD TAIL LEGO Lord of the Rings By Warner Home Video Games $55.99 $61.11 $59.99 $67.24 $59.99 $59.99 4.5 N/A 5.0 N/A 4.7 4.3 RETAILER PRICE PRICE 508 N/A 5 N/A 109 69 $39.69 N/A N/A N/A $19.99 $19.99 N/A N/A N/A N/A 4.7 4.3 N/A N/A N/A N/A 10 33 This illustrates a fairly common situation: Amazon discounts on a hot product and goes unchallenged price-wise, while on slower-moving tail items, Amazon may be the most expensive by a large spread. 12 RATING (OUT OF 5) RATING (OUT OF 5) # OF REVIEWS # OF REVIEWS
  • 13. Retail Analytics November, 2015 Consumer Toys Data Research by Boomerang Commerce Report Terminology To account for variance in products offerings at each retailer, we chose to use Amazon as the baseline due to its position as the largest online retailer. Our indices are based on Amazon Best Seller items as well as a selected assortment of medium and low popularity products. This creates a broadly representa- tive basket of items to use for measuring each retailers’ product prices, weighted basket price and product availability. For each prod- uct category (toys, electronics, home and garden, etc.), we assume that the top 20% of products are head items, the middle 50% are core items, and the remaining 30% are tail items. Based on this assumption, we select 400 random items from each popularity tier for our analysis, for a total of 1,200 items. Methodology We used these proprietary measurements and indexes developed to precisely track price and assortment of a wide basket of items sold online. Price Perception Index – A proprietary index tracking gross price difference and movements across the six online retailers covering a basket of 1200 products (SKUs). Price Perception Index is normalized to Amazon to establish a relative baseline. It is weighted to accurately reflect the pricing of “head”, “core” and “tail” items across the same six retailers covering 1200 products. Product Assortment Index – A proprietary index reflecting the selection of products across five major retailers. Product Assortment Index is normalized to Amazon to establish a relative baseline. It is weighted to accurately reflect the pricing of “head”, “core” and “tail” items across the same five retailers covering 1200 products. Head – This is a description of frequently purchased, popular products list among the Amazon Best Sellers. Head products most strongly influence customer perception of whether a product is expensive or inexpensive. Core – This is a description of products of medium popularity that are regularly purchased but are not among Best Sellers and are not as popular as head products. Tail – This is a description of infrequently purchased products having the least impact on customer perception of whether a retailer is expensive or inexpensive. 13
  • 14. Boomerang Commerce Retail Solutions info@boomerangcommerce.com Founded in 2012, Boomerang Commerce offers the first prescriptive analytics suite for omnichannel retailers. Six of the top 10 retailers, including Office Depot and Staples, rely on its Retail Solutions Suite, which delivers decision recommendations that enable retailers to proactively compete and boost profits at scale. Built by a team from Amazon, McKinsey, MIT and Stanford, Boomerang applies machine learning and big data analytics to massive data quantities across digital and brick-and-mortar channels, and it derives superior insights and actionable business recommendations to transform business decision makers into retail ninjas. About Boomerang Commerce Copyright © Boomerang Commerce, Inc. All rights reserved.