Merchandising and promotions done well help speed children's video product off shelves, retailers told SN.
"Similar to other movie titles, it is important to clearly communicate which children's video titles we offer, and utilize engaging promotional materials and signage to capture the interest of the customer," said Doug Roe, entertainment category manager, Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh. "We work closely with our vendor partners and production studios to ensure that we have in-store promotional materials in place to help communicate our video offering to children and their parents, as appropriate with respect to space allowance."
Since most children's video purchases come from impulse, said Bill Bryant, vice president, sales, Ingram Entertainment, La Vergne, Tenn., supermarkets "can promote the category best by placing the display in a high-traffic area of the store." Cross-promotional opportunities work well, he added, "but the best way to sell children's video is to prominently merchandise it, again, in a high-traffic area of the store."
Family titles are located next to the children's section at McMaken's Supermarkets McVideo, Brookville, Ohio. "They used to be joined," said Theresa Daniels, video manager, "but just this last month, we separated them. When I first started working, it was just a rule that any animated title went into family. But then they came out with [anime] and things like that, so you couldn't say that just because it was animated, it was a children's movie. But generally, children's will have cartoons, and then when you step up to the family, it's something like Mary Kate and Ashley, or 'Princess Diaries."'
The category used to be McMaken's largest in video, but the growth of DVDs has led to a rise in action and comedy titles.
McMaken's McVideo generally makes use of standing displays. At present, the store is using such displays for titles like "Brother Bear," "Finding Nemo" and "The Three Musketeers." A display for "Shark Tale," said Daniels, has been offered to her. "Normally, they're free," she pointed out, "and this time, it's going to cost me postage. But I said I definitely wanted it."
B&R Stores, Lincoln, Neb., doesn't do a lot of cross promoting with kids titles, and Bob Gettner, video buyer/coordinator, said he has "a lot of issues" with grocery vendors. "I sometimes don't find out if there are any cross-promoting partners until the movie hits the street. I feel that the vendors sometimes do a poor job communicating that."