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Invention: Stroller Fan - marketing report
SUMMARY
This marketing report includes individually compiled information concerning the specific idea for an invention known as the 'Stroller Fan' invention. The information specifically focuses on the potential for marketing this new invention in the present day world market, most specifically in the United States but also in some other countries as provided by specific research. The information is up-to-date so as to reflect the current market but also includes specific information about the history of this marketplace as well a comprehensive overview of the demographic and type of market that this specific product would likely do well in. The potential for large scale sales in the particular demographic is extremely positive and the research will reflect this fact through specific sales statistics of related markets and demographics. These specific markets are discussed in terms of their relevance to the 'Stroller Fan' product and are given consideration in terms of the related advertising and marketing strategies that they may have for this particular product. Several small sections are also included which discuss alternate utilizations of the product as well as estimated production costs if this product were to be offered to the general public. Finally, a section about the inventor and a general listing are included as part of the report. It is presumed that this report will clearly show that the invention known as the 'Stroller Fan' is an excellent idea considering the present day market situation and that it will likely win considerable success as a new product in today's marketplace.
OVERVIEW
The Stroller Fan is an idea for an invention which would make it a lot more comfortable for a baby to ride along in a stroller because it would provide an attachable fan to the stroller which would blow cool air on the baby while he or she was riding along. The device incorporates a small box fan with either a clip or a rope that can attach to the stroller canopy and hang in front of the baby's face. The device runs on batteries and would be a great addition to any stroller. It would bring both comfort to the baby and peace of mind to the parents who typically worry about their babies in hot environments where strollers are often used.
When you consider the number of parents who own baby strollers and the fact that the Stroller Fan provides such an important service to parents whose most precious value is their child, it is hard to believe that this device has not sold more widely already. A key demographic are the baby boomers and an even younger generation of parents who typically place family values at the top of the list for product purchases. They represent a huge potential of sales.
The baby boomlet has been driving shoppers to snatch up the most innovative new strollers, high chairs and accessories for their children. The hot themes this year: safety, convenience and economy. As the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association heads into its annual exposition at the International Apparel Mart, the 'Good Things on the Horizon' theme reflects optimism for the industry's growth and strength in today's market. Supporting the growth are Baby Superstore, LiL' Things and Toys 'R' Us' as well as Babies 'R' Us.
What these retailers and discounters are chasing are the huge sales opportunities resulting from the high birth rate. Sales of juvenile products have more than doubled in the past decade. Hot merchandise categories include coordinated bedding and wall decor. Car seats, strollers, cribs, playpens and play seats continue to drive volume, while new twists to old designs provide updated merchandise selections. Deborah Albert, JPMA director of public relations, said that 'transformers' are among the juvenile products expected to grow in importance at retail. Each transformer is designed to serve various functions, sometimes geared to growth stages of infants and toddlers.
Lynn Cohn, VP, merchandising for LiL' Things, confirmed that 'multi-use and development-oriented items are very important,' citing convertible cribs and bassinet/play yards as prime examples. These products easily convert into new configurations as children's needs change. Examples of current introductions: Three in One Funchair by Litas, a division of Holzman Enterprises, can be converted into a high chair (JPMA certified) and into a rocker play seat. Once the child weighs more than 60 lbs., it can be transformed into a desk. Eternity Crib by Baby's Dream Furniture can be made into a single or a double bed. Wheel Gear, a child carrier by Tough Traveler, can be used as a stroller. Sleepytime Portable Rocker/ Bassinet by Summer Infant Products can rock like a cradle or can be made stationary for use as a bassinet. Innovative Rock'n Roll Stroller by Goodbaby International Group can convert from a full-size stroller into a cradle.
An idea to combine the Stroller Fan with a colorful design or changing light pattern for the child to be entertained by is only one of many ideas that might be used to help market this product.
New products that combine several functions include Binkykids' Musical Pacifier, which soothes the baby by playing one of three melodies, and Gentle Vibes by Playskool, which clips onto cribs and carriers and provides calming vibrations, shutting off automatically after 20 minutes. Among licensed merchandise, Winnie the Pooh seems to be the property that is sweeping the field. New Pooh designs in bedding and accessories are giving this popular license--no longer exclusive to Sears--a huge surge in demand.
Cohn said that portability and convenience rate high among consumers' priorities. She added that good POP signage and knowledgeable sales associates are key to moving new items with higher than opening price points. 'When the customer doesn't set out to buy this specific product, the ability to demonstrate features and benefits in the store is vital,' she said.
Few industries have been as successful as the juvenile products industry in convincing consumers to increase spending. From an extra car seat for grandma's Buick to a jogging stroller for navigating potholes, the list of baby goods products now considered 'necessities' has grown exponentially in the last few years.
Research has shown that 75% of toy buyers with kids under 18 bases their purchase on whether the item will be safe without supervision, 65% on whether it's non-violent and 58% on whether it leaves something to the child's imagination.
The Stroller Fan is a great idea that would be welcomed by a large number of parents who use a baby stroller daily. It provides an excellent solution to the problem that many parents discover when they cannot keep their baby cool during a hot stroll. The device points directly toward the user's convenience and to a very common situation for parents. It is likely that this device would enjoy considerable success if it were introduced into this market.
In order to understand this market better and to understand how it would best suit this new device known as the Stroller Fan, it will now serve to examine the history of this market.
HISTORY
Baby strollers have come a long way in a history that spans nearly three hundred years. The evolutionary journey of the baby buggy is full of pits and stops, but it is a path clearly marked through history by several very big turns.
William Kent, a garden architect from England, designed the first known baby carriage for the third Duke of Devonshire in 1733. Kent, remembered more for his radical garden designs than for his carriage idea, created the baby carriage in the shape of a shell that a baby could sit in. It was decorated with a snake design and used a harness to be pulled by a goat. It also was designed with springs so that the Dukes children could ride in comfort.
Kent's design caught on, and soon baby carriages were springing up in wealthy circles around Europe. They were amazingly detailed works of art, but they were considered luxuries at the time. The everyday middle class and working poor of the time could never afford such an extravagant baby toy.
In the years that followed, several important design changes were made to the style of the baby carriage. Most importantly, they were equipped with handles. This was important because up until that time carriages and prams were designed as miniature horse-drawn carriages. They were built to be pulled by dogs or ponies instead of by parents. The new handles meant that the emphasis was on convenience for parents instead of a child's entertainment value.
In the 1840s the baby carriage experienced its first big break when Queen Victoria bought three push-style baby carriages from the Hitchings Baby Stores of Ludgate Hill. These carriages were like many baby carriages of the time-they were too tall to be safe and too unstable to be really useful. In those days, however, it was the royalty who set the fashions. By purchasing the carriages, Queen Victoria ensured that by the following year anyone who wanted to be part of high society had a baby carriage to push their children around in.
These nineteenth century models had names to reflect the need for people to be associated with royalty. Model names like Duchess or Princess were common. The Windsor and Balmoral models were also fairly popular, and they were named after famous royal homes.
It is interesting to note that when the first prams and carriages appeared in the late nineteenth century, they were banned from public footpaths as other four wheel vehicles were. Several women were prosecuted for pushing their babies on these public walking areas, but the law eventually decided that new mothers with baby carriages didn't pose enough of a safety risk to be persecuted.
On June 18, 1889, a man named William H. Richardson walked into a Baltimore patent office with an idea that forever changed the baby carriage.
His idea was for a baby carriage that used a special joint to allow a bassinet to be turned to face the operator or face away as in conventional prams of the day. In essence, he created the first reversible baby carriage. Several changes he made also went into the axles, which allowed for greater turning ability. Up until that time, baby carriages had solid axels that did not allow for independent wheel movement. The front wheels turned together, and the back wheels turned together. Richardson's carriage allowed for the wheels to turn individually-which meant that the vehicle could turn 360 degrees in a much smaller turning radius. Many of Richardson's design modifications are still in use today.
When World War One drew to a close just before 1920, the ensuing baby boom opened the market for baby carriages to all but the poorest families. It was during this time that the issue of safety really took hold for baby carriage designers, and over the next several years some very important modifications were added. Footbrakes became a standard feature on all baby prams and carriages. The baskets on prams were deepened so that children would have a more difficult time escaping from them. Also, most carriages were lowered, so that any child resourceful enough to get out of their basket would have a shorter trip to the ground below. Several designs were used in the twenties and thirties, but eventually the high sided, large wheeled carriage that we still see today became the norm in baby carriage design.
Aesthetically, rubber and plastic parts became more common on prams and buggies, replacing the old wicker and wood models of earlier years. Chrome also became more prevalent, starting with basic chromium plated joints used to replace expensive brass ones and later moving to every exposed piece of metal. By the 1950s, baby carriages were a must have for any new parents. Cheap materials and safe designs made buggies fashionable again, and this time everybody could afford them.
In 1965 an aeronautical engineer from London named Owen Maclaren listened to his daughter complaining about her trip from the United States to Britain with her old pram in tow and decided to help her out. Realizing that her problem was that she needed something compact and lightweight enough that it could be stored away when not in use, Maclaren used his knowledge of airplane manifolds to build his daughter a baby buggy that could do all those things and more. What he invented was the umbrella stroller, the first true baby "buggy" and he forever changed the baby carriage world with it. Using a light-weight aluminum frame that could fold down into a compact size, Maclaren developed his stroller to have amazing load-bearing capabilities as well as being safe enough for his grand child to ride in.
Strollers quickly replaced prams and carriages as the vehicle of choice for new parents, a trend that continues to this day. Aspects of Maclaren's buggy can be found in literally every single baby buggy and stroller available in today's markets-a testament to his genius.
These days, baby strollers are just as popular as they were fifty years ago. New strollers are continually being designed and upgraded in an effort to attract customers. Today's baby buggies are light and simple to use, but full of bonuses like air filled tires, steering wheel activity bars, and drink holders. At the same time, every effort has been made to make them stylish and attractive as well.
Buggies have branched out into other markets. Now special buggies are made for new babies and toddlers. There are heavy, full sized luxury strollers and tiny fold away light-weight ones. Designers have come up with ways to combine prams and buggies, and to turn car seats into easy-to-use baby buggies. You can even buy a triple baby stroller for triplets! Designers also make use of space age plastics and composite metals that make buggies lighter and safer than at any point in history.
In the 1980s a man named Phil Baechler decided he wanted to go for a run with his son in tow. Realizing that the standard baby wheels on his stroller would never survive a good run, he decided to replace them with bicycle tires from his garage. After a couple designs he finally came up with one that worked-and the three-wheeled "Baby Jogger" was born. Now known widely as jogging strollers, this has been another fundamental design shift in the style and use of the baby buggy.
The baby jogging stroller has lead to other modifications, such as off-road tires for parents who like to get out of the city in their spare time, and several types of carriage strollers used to attach to bicycles. The face of the stroller is literally changing every day. Who knows what the next great buggy design will be?
The baby buggy has come a long way from the early carriages and prams of the eighteenth century to the modern jogging strollers on the streets today. One thing has always remained, however. People will always need a convenient way to get babies from point "A" to point "B". This in itself has secured the baby buggy's place in the world of child care.
This historical trend of manufacturing and sales represents a very important development for the great potential market for the Stroller Fan. This potential will now become the main focus of the following Media Potential section for this device.
INVENTOR PROFILE
Sabrina Sutton is the inventor of the Stroller Fan which is offered as a convenience to parents like she and her husband who own a stroller and simply want to make it a more comfortable ride for their children. It thereby extends the capabilities of their stroller through the addition of a clip on or hanging fan.
ALTERNATE UTILIZATIONS
A device like the Stroller Fan could also be used in other places besides just a baby stroller but its main intention would simply be as a cooling device for babies who are riding in a stroller.
MEDIA POTENTIAL
In terms of the incredible potential that exists for a new product like the Stroller Fan, it is obvious that there's a large segment of the population that has great potential as buyers of this kind of item.
To create consumer awareness of your product, you have several options, including press releases to editors of trade magazines, direct mail, classified and display ads, and speaking events and conferences with you as an expert. If your product is off-the-wall, try getting on a talk show such as The Oprah Winfrey Show or The Tonight Show, which occasionally have 'gadget' shows. 'The wackier it is, the better,' says marketing expert Joe Smith of showcasing your product on a talk show. You must be prepared to move your product: 'Once your product is shown, it will hurt you if you're not able to meet the demand.'
Being able to meet the demand becomes a much more prominent issue with any TV exposure you might garner, including home shopping channels and any type of direct-response TV. But if you're prepared, TV can be a godsend. To get yourself on a home shopping channel like HSN, QVC or the like, watch plenty of home shopping yourself, advises Marilyn Montross, director of vendor relations for West Chester, Pennsylvania-based QVC. 'And not just products in the same category as your product, but [also] different kinds of products,' says Montross, whose department fields 16,000 inquiries per year, with 90 percent of them from entrepreneurs. QVC airs more than 250 new products per week, many of them with an entrepreneurial story behind them. 'Develop an understanding of the kinds of things that sell on QVC,' says Montross, and on any channel on which you hope to sell, taking a close look at value, quality and pricing for the products.
Look at the shopping-channel Web sites for information on submitting your product once it's ready to sell; don't just drop a prototype in the marl, because 'samples would overwhelm us,' says Montross. Instead, send photos or brochures. QVC also holds an annual product-search tour event, where QVC visits cities nationwide and holds open casting calls for products. 'But you can submit anytime,' says Montross. You can showcase your product on your own TV show. Says Smith, 'Contact your local cable company, and talk to the program director about local access--' free, government-sponsored access granted to taxpayers. 'That's a full hour on cable [where] you can talk about your product,' says Smith.
Another cable-TV option is lease access which, for a small fee. Allows you to get sponsors. 'You can show your product and charge [sponsors] to have product placements,' says Smith. Any profits you make beyond that initial lease-access charge are yours to keep.
When considering the overall market potential for the Stroller Fan, consider the fact that the U.S. birth rate has been relatively stable at 4 million over the past-few years. However, space devoted to infant and toddler products and accessories has been booming as retailers look-for hot category niches to mine. This translates into robust price competition-for consumer dollars at discount chains and category killers, and it also forces retailers to develop innovative marketing techniques. Vendors are also introducing more creative and multifunctional products for value-conscious parents and grandparents.
Category-killer Baby Superstore, based in Duncan, S.C., devotes an average of 35,000 sq. ft. to each of its 63 stores for infant and toddler accessories, from diapers and formulas to large-ticket items like furniture and strollers. The chain carries 25,000 skus of merchandise, and its sales on a per-store basis increased 16% from last year to $291.2 million for its fiscal year ended January 1996.
What is driving the demand? Baby Superstore chief financial officer Jodi Taylor attributed the chain's success to three factors. 'We keep the stores fresh and innovative, our prices are competitive and sales associates are very knowledgeable,' Taylor said. The chain plans to have 80 stores nationwide by the end of its current fiscal year.
Wal-Mart, Venture, Target and Kmart all have large toddler and infant departments in prominent sections of their stores. Each offers a variety of goods such as strollers, car seats, diapers, formulas, accessories and clothing, as well as regular specials on staples and prominent signage that features large portraits of children. Taylor acknowledges that there is a lot of competition in the category from the major discounters like Toys 'R' Us and regional chains such as 1/2 Price Stores, LiL' Things and Burlington Coat Factory, as well as mom and pop stores.
The competition will heat up further this year as TRU readies the launch of its Babies 'R' Us baby superstore, set for May in the hustling metro New York town of Westbury. The 42,000-sq.-ft. store, like the other 11 planned for '96, will include a gigantic juvenile products area that is slated to feature 60 strollers and 40 high chairs in its mix. TRU also will make customer service a priority at Babies 'R' Us and in its much awaited mega store, which will combine a new TRU toy store prototype with a BRU and a Kids 'R' Us children's apparel outlet. These-units will include a hair salon and photo studio.
Crib walkie-talkies and transmitter systems have also become quite popular. Baby Superstore recently offered a $5 discount on a Fisher-Price monitor that normally sells for $34. At Kmart, baby monitors are the most popular safety items said spokeswoman Laura Mahle. The chain carries both Gerry and Fisher-Price monitors, which retail for about $30 to $40. Another strong-selling product for the chain is the Playtex no-spill training cup for $2.99. Mahle said that a curved-tap bottle by Johnson & Johnson is also popular, and the chain will add a similar battle from Evenflo in March Price points will range from $1.50 to $2.50
While the large discounters offer competitive prices, owners of specialized infant and toddler concepts said that there is room for stores that offer extensive customer service. For example, Mark Widdicombe, co-owner of the 11,000-sq.-ft. Baby Town in West St. Louis County, Mo., said that his store has been extremely successful since it opened a year ago. He said -that his most popular items are from The First Years. He added that Winnie the Poohlicensed merchandise, which includes a trainer cup with two handles, is doing well. Another popular item is the Happy Cabana by Evenflo, a traveling play yard designed for both indoor and outdoor use, which retails for $99.
Widdicombe said that he is confident that he 'has found his niche' in offering more extensive customer service, especially for mothers who are expecting their first child and 'need to have their-hand held a little bit.' Baby product consumer Jan Wallach who has four sons- an infant, 2-year-old twins and a 5-year-old-said that when she was expecting her-first child, she needed more advice on what products to buy. Now she shops at several different discounters to get the best price.
Perhaps what's spurring families to shop for value items is the great price range on all baby products. A parent can spend $700 on a high-quality crib at Lewis of London, or as little as $100 at a discounter. In the end, there are two schools of thought on major infant purchases: 'Some people buy the highest-quality stroller so it will last, but other people say it will get dirty and receive a great deal of abuse and buy the cheapest possible item that will get the job done,' Wallach said.
Although a cheap price is certainly attractive, it is a strange niche in the market where the high-end stroller market, which exploded in 2003 with the introduction of the $760 Bugaboo Frog to America's parks and sidewalks, continues to grow. With the ever-expanding price tags -- consider the limited edition Maclaren GB Type AU, selling for more than $4,200 -- comes a popular and casual pastime for parents pushing little ones out on the town: stroller hawking. Curiosity, envy or just a compulsion to keep tabs on ever- evolving feats of stroller engineering drive stroller hawks, who glance with eagle eyes not just at the cute baby passing but the handsome carriage holding her.
And though Chicago's stroller hawks aren't shooting pictures of, say, actor Tobey Maguire pushing baby daughter Ruby in a gray and pink Bugaboo Cameleon ($900, without accessories like sun parasols or warming foot muffs), they've got a firm handle on stroller hierarchy, from the Orbits to the Gracos to the Peg Peregos. 'These strollers are a status symbol,' said Amy Silverstein, 34, who brought her 3-year-old daughter Jessica to Felleger Park at Belmont and Damen avenues in a Peg Perego Pliko. 'It's like a car. You can make a statement about your priorities. It's a statement.'
Silverstein owns five strollers and is on the lookout to add to the collection. Her second daughter is due in September, and with the second child comes the double stroller. Jenn Frey of Lake View didn't set out to stroller hawk when pushing daughter Kate, 8 weeks, in Felleger Park recently. The hawking just happened. 'I guess you just notice the different strollers, different wheels, different colors,' she said, standing next to her Peg Perego Pramette, which she described as 'light and easy' for carrying up the stairs to her apartment.
Jim McGowan said he didn't do enough research before purchasing an Eddie Bauer Grow stroller for daughter Susie, now 2 years old. With another baby on the way, he has a Hawkeye out for a stroller for two. McGowan said he doesn't stroller hawk for celebrity-driven strollers, like Bugaboos -- 'my wife might, but I don't really' -- but does have his eye on something besides a two-seater. 'I like the big tires,' he said. Amy Cataldo of Lincoln Park says she has been stroller hawking for about two years. 'I'm keeping track of all the double strollers out there,' she said. She, 3-year-old son Joshua and 15-month-old daughter Abigail use their Mountain Buggy Urban double stroller every day, she said. 'Did I get a good value for what I paid?' she asks herself when seeing the different strollers. 'Did I spend my money well?'
And while the bloom has not yet faded on the Bugaboo, the next big thing in strollers -- and stroller hawking -- is set to launch Aug. 15. That's when a snap-in child car seat is scheduled to be released to fit the Quinny Buzz stroller, said Antonio Aros, lead salesman at the Right Start, 2121 N. Clybourn. He predicts already brisk sales of the Quinny Buzz will skyrocket.
The Quinny Buzz, which features a gas hydraulic lift for opening and closing the stroller and 'bright and hip' colors like orange and lime green, is currently the top seller in Europe, with a basic price tag of $500. The car seat is $150 and a bassinet attachment is another $190. Jill Eckert of North Center steers 4-month-old son William in a green Quinny Buzz, which she said generates a lot of gawking -- and stroller hawking. 'I've been out and about with it and we've had quite a few people asking where we got it,' she said. 'Everybody is looking at it.' She said she didn't want a Bugaboo because they're too mainstream. The Quinny Buzz is different and new. 'We'll be trendsetters, right, William?' she said, looking into her cooing baby's eyes. 'We'll be trendsetters.'
Regardless of the interest in high-en, it is still very important to recognize the value of cheaper products when introducing a new product to the market. Bringing up baby can cost a bundle. Even as Congress considers a $500-per-child tax credit to families, new parents nationwide face child-raising costs that range from $6,300 to $13,000 for the first three years excluding hospital costs and day care, according to a government study. Clothes alone in the baby's first year could consume that $500 credit. For many parents, the solution is to be wiser shoppers. After the go-go years of the '80s often marked by high living and profligate spending the '90s have become more family-oriented, more cost-conscious. 'The country may be catching up with Wisconsin. People love to bargain-shop today,' says consumer author Alan Fields. 'It's not so much about being cheap as it is shopping smart.
By showing themselves to be persnickety shoppers, parents are forcing the $28 billion-a-year baby-products industry to cater to them. For instance: So many diaper-makers are elbowing for room around America's changing tables that low prices make parents less loyal to brands. Kimberly-Clark Corp., which makes Huggies diapers at its Lake View plant in Neenah, has had to drop diaper prices 16% to stay in the fray. But instead of trying to be the cheapest diaper, Kimberly-Clark has been working to distinguish Huggies as the most innovative, with frequent improvements in comfort, fit, absorption, compactness and texture. The Osh-Kosh company has had to cut operating costs to keep prices down on its popular children's wear. That has forced it to rely on more imports, for one thing. The company also is designing more interchangeable outfits that can help stretch a child's wardrobe. Also, it's selectively expanding where it's selling its stuff including its own catalogs and factory outlets to meet parents' growing propensity to shop around.
Tamiko Simmons walked down the aisles at the Babies 'R' Us store, checking items off her list: crib, stroller, bouncer chair, car seat, bathtub, feeding pillow, sippy cups, mobile, blankets, toys and of course, diapers. Expecting her second child, Simmons was buying everything new again. But shopping is much easier now than when she had a baby 10 years ago. Back then, 'I had to go to many different stores,' she said. In the meantime, Toys 'R' Us created Babies 'R' Us, its one-stop shop for baby products, where she could get it all, and where the nation's No. 2 toy retailer has found a very comfortable and lucrative niche.
Babies 'R' Us reported a 16 percent increase in operating earnings to $57 million, a 10.4 percent increase in total sales and a 1.3 percent increase in comparable store sales despite the tough retail environment. Fifty Babies 'R' Us stores have opened in the last 30 months, and 20 more are scheduled to open this year. Another 25 are being renovated to be more spacious. 'We know that we have our guest with us for a very short time,' said Elliott Wahle, president of Babies 'R' Us, referring to the store's customers. 'Typically it is at the pre-natal stage and until the child is about a year old. So we try to make the store relevant for her and try to help her make the transition to a Toys 'R' Us guest.'
Of course, happy customers will return when they have another child, as did Padmaja Sai, whose first child, Janvi, is 3 and whose second, Ashna, is due in a few weeks. 'I am using the same crib because it cost so much, but for smaller items like a bath tub, the blankets and the washcloths, I decided to buy everything new,' Sai said. 'It's psychological. I can't use three- year-old stuff for a new baby.'
With the average age of mothers rising and 42 percent of households now dual-income, spending on babies has gone up. And new mothers want the convenience of big retail chains, said Wendy Liebmann, president of WSL Strategic Retail, a marketing and retail consulting firm. 'That's why there is so much activity in big box retail and an expansion in chain stores like Babies 'R' Us,' she said. Meanwhile, Babies 'R' Us is expanding its offerings to include services such as photo studios in 40 stores. The stores offer baby care seminars and classes, free car seat installation inspections and online services. They also have a gift registry -- to lure not just new or expectant parents, but their friends and relatives as well.
As the mass market has captured more of the juvenile products business, middle-of-the-market retailers have adapted their merchandising to take into consideration both the success and demographic trends that have created these new sales opportunities. Retailers over the past several years have revisited the merchandising of kids' products, often developing formal or informal sections specifically devoted to layette and infant products.
Among the more recently active, Wal-Mart Canada reorganized and expanded its selection of baby and kids products a couple of years ago to give customers a better shopping experience by taking products that were diffused across several departments and locating them conveniently together. The trend arrived in Canada just about the time it was hitting full steam in the United States' mass market. Zellers also has rethought the kids department in recent years, adding play areas and parent-friendly seating in some stores to make it easier to shop children's departments.
Creating one's own brand has been important in the development of baby and toddler products at the mass market. Just weeks ago, Kmart and Martha Stewart relaunched the Martha Stewart Everyday infant and toddler collection, giving the mass market another initiative in the children's home goods arena. Originally debuted in 1999, Martha Stewart Everyday Baby program was completely reconfigured for the relaunch with new designs and products and the line is getting a fresh packaging treatment, said Nicole Dowswell, a Kmart spokesperson. Like other MSE programs, the whole line is designed with pieces that naturally match. 'You can coordinate the whole nursery,' she said. That element of the program may have widespread appeal, but certainly makes conscientious gift giving easier. Price points range from $3.99 for a three-pack of cotton waterproof flannel lap pads to $39.99 for a three-piece crib bedding set.
Efforts to establish themselves as destinations for layette and infant products weren't limited to broadliners, as evinced by the expansion of Kids 'R' Us and Burlington Coat Factory initiatives both within the store and as part of new format developments. Yet, once established as dominant in stuff for the small step, mass-market retailers kept refining their approach. The next step in the progression was in branding. Massmarket retailers have been successful not only in developing their own labels, but in taking labels traditionally associated with department stores into their own assortments as well.
In large measure, recent product, packaging and merchandising innovations have targeted audiences beyond the core demographic of parents. For instance, interest in children's domestics rallied a couple of years ago, with many introductions aimed at the department store channel. By targeting older consumers such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, family friends, etc., who may have more money floating around than harried parents, vendors hoped to drive new sales. Doting grandparents, aunts, uncles and even siblings and friends often have more disposable income than parents, the reasoning went, and can be coaxed into making more upscale purchases.
Still, Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing, cautioned that putting too much emphasis on the role of secondary purchasers such as grandparents in categories such as domestics or even toys can be a mistake. Particularly for the luxury goods buyer, it's the parents, affluent and generally with a single child, who do the splurging. This suggests a dichotomy with the mass market. Certainly, Target's Baby Tykes wall is designed to gain impulse purchases from parents, but it also targets a wider audience, more evidence that mass marketers are interested in the secondary purchasers. Less affluent consumers may well have more children and thus, longer-lived grandparents who have fewer demands on their income may be a better target there.
The evolution of the kids' biz hasn't stalled even with the broadening of target customers. Danziger said that for this Christmas season a central driver of gift giving generally has been relationships, and the dynamic applies to baby and toddler goods. 'We're seeing as hot gift items this year items that are personal and reflect personal relationships with a person,' she said. With gift baskets assembled for newborns, for instance, mass-market retailers have been in on the development of this latest trend. Toys 'R' Us has been particularly keen to ride the wave, developing a Web site called Gifts 'R' Us dedicated to personalized gift giving for children. The site is based on ongoing efforts by Toys 'R' Us, said Greg Ahearn, vp of marketing, encouraging management to 'look at what's going on out there in the market and really try to find niche ideas.'
The Stroller Fan is a timely and legitimate solution to a serious problem. It will make riding your bay much easier for both the child and the parents. This is a solution that many consumers would welcome and which would likely bring in a great market success.
PRODUCTION COST ESTIMATE
A Stroller Fan like the one discussed by Sabrina Sutton would likely be produced at an extremely low cost especially in the case of bulk manufacturing from foreign countries. It is estimated that one Stroller Fan device would cost somewhere between $5 and $20 to produce depending on the complexity of design and the bulk of manufacturing.
SUMMARY AND LISTING
The Stroller Fan is an idea for an invention which would make it a lot more comfortable for a baby to ride along in a stroller because it would provide an attachable fan to he stroller which would blow cool air on the baby while he or she was riding along. The device incorporates a small box fan with either a clip or a rope that can attach to the stroller canopy and hang in front of the baby's face. The device runs on batteries and would be a great addition to any stroller. It would bring both comfort to the baby and peace of mind to the parents who typically worry about their babies in hot environments where strollers are often used.
When you consider the number of parents who own baby strollers and the fact that the Stroller Fan provides such an important service to parents whose most precious value is their child. A key demographic are the baby boomers and an even younger generation of parents who typically place family values at the top of the list for product purchases. They represent a huge potential of sales.
The baby boomlet has been driving shoppers to snatch up the most innovative new strollers, high chairs and accessories for their children. The hot themes this year: safety, convenience and economy. As the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association heads into its annual exposition at the International Apparel Mart, the 'Good Things on the Horizon' theme reflects optimism for the industry's growth and strength in today's market. Supporting the growth are Baby Superstore, LiL' Things and Toys 'R' Us' soon to debut Babies 'R' Us.
What these retailers and discounters are chasing are the huge sales opportunities resulting from the high birth rate. Sales of juvenile products have more than doubled in the past decade. Hot merchandise categories include coordinated bedding and wall decor. Car seats, strollers, cribs, playpens and play seats continue to drive volume, while new twists to old designs provide updated merchandise selections. Deborah Albert, JPMA director of public relations, said that 'transformers' are among the juvenile products expected to grow in importance at retail. Each transformer is designed to serve various functions, sometimes geared to growth stages of infants and toddlers.
When considering the overall market potential for the Stroller Fan, consider the fact that the U.S. birth rate has been relatively stable at 4 million over the past-few years. However, space devoted to infant and toddler products and accessories has been booming as retailers look-for hot category niches to mine. This translates into robust price competition-for consumer dollars at discount chains and category killers, and it also forces retailers to develop innovative marketing techniques. Vendors are also introducing more creative and multifunctional products for value-conscious parents and grandparents.
In large measure, recent product, packaging and merchandising innovations have targeted audiences beyond the core demographic of parents. For instance, interest in children's domestics rallied a couple of years ago, with many introductions aimed at the department store channel. By targeting older consumers such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, family friends, etc., who may have more money floating around than harried parents, vendors hoped to drive new sales. Doting grandparents, aunts, uncles and even siblings and friends often have more disposable income than parents, the reasoning went, and can be coaxed into making more upscale purchases.
The Stroller Fan is a great idea that would be welcomed by a large number of parents who use a baby stroller daily. It provides an excellent solution to the problem that many parents discover when they cannot keep their baby cool during a hot stroll. The device points directly toward the user's convenience and to a very common situation for parents. It is likely that this device would enjoy considerable success if it were introduced into this market. This is a solution that many consumers would welcome and which would likely bring in a great market success.
