New chain of toy stores in strong collaboration
Kids Coolshop is booming with new toys stores in a pressured market where competition is fierce
The chain has started installing electronic shelf labels in its physical stores.
The electronic price tags are linked to a strong e-commerce engine and must help ensure competitive prices across all channels.
Kids Coolshop was launched in 2017 through a unique collaboration between a physical toy universe and the e-commerce platform Coolshop.com. At Kids Coolshop in Horsens, formerly part of the ‘Legekæden’, toys and entertainment for kids have been sold for over 40 years. Together with five of Denmark’s largest toy stores, the owner of the Horsens store, Søren Westenholtz Nielsen, chose to enter a purchasing and marketing collaboration with Coolshop and thereby established Kids Coolshop as Denmark's new toy chain.
- With Kids Coolshop, we ensure the right combination of physical stores with a strong e-commerce engine and one of Denmark's largest buyers of toys. At the same time, we can benefit from Coolshop's many years of experience with a state-of-the-art system for sales, warehousing, logistics and online customer service, says Søren Westenholtz Nielsen.
Through Kids Coolshop's total shopping volume, Kids Coolshop can be the first with the latest toys. At the same time, the toy chain has dared to go other marketing ways with Kids Coolshop.
Want to merge e-commerce and physical commerce
In addition to the physical store in the center of Horsens, Søren Westenholtz Nielsen also has solid experience from e-commerce, and therefore it was natural to take the next step in terms of merging the two worlds even more together - and install electronic price tags at Kids Coolshop.
- We chose to invest in electronic price tags for our physical store, so we could get the opportunity to react much faster and link prices in the store to the prices at Coolshop.dk, says Søren Westenholtz Nielsen.
The link between online shopping and the traditional store provides the opportunity to create the right combination for customers at Kids Coolshop. Many of the stores have experienced great growth in both size, profits and sales after becoming part of Kids Coolshop. Today, Kids Coolshop is nationwide with 16 stores in Denmark.
Flexible solution - can be expanded as needed
Unlike other systems with electronic price signage, the solution from Delfi Technologies offers a 100% online setup with a light infrastructure, where you simply just need a wireless antenna and a mobile app to get started. The wireless antenna is responsible for the two-way communication between the electronic price tags and the POS system. When a price change occurs online at Coolshop.com, the price of the specific product in the physical store, is automatically changed as well.
- The advantage of the system from Delfi Technologies is that we can expand as needed. We can easily connect new electronic price tags if we want to. In practical terms, we have started with a selected range in the store and then we continuously expand to other items as it fits in, Søren Westenholtz Nielsen explains.
New business opportunity
Recently, the opportunity arose for new premises close to the Kids Coolshop store in Horsens. Søren Westenholtz Nielsen got the opportunity for more square meters, which could be used to concentrate on a larger selection within gaming, gadgets and computer accessories. Therefore, at the end of August 2020, a brand-new specialty store was opened under the name Games N ’Gadgets.
The new store is full of games and accessories from the best suppliers on the market with the very latest products for gamers and playful people. At the same time, you can also find lots of special board games and gadgets as well as popular characters from famous movies, series, games and much more.
From the very beginning, the decision was made to install electronic price tags throughout the Games N' Gadgets store, which is connected to Coolshop.com. The store can be visited at Hospitalsgade 11 in Horsens, close to the Kids Coolshop store.
