Bengaluru – June 8, 2021: Flipkart Group’s’ wholesale entity in India and Ace Turtle, India’s leading omni-channel enablement platform, announced today that a joint venture company set up by them has secured licensing rights for Toys“R”Us (TRU) and Babies“R”Us (BRU) in India through a strategic arrangement with WHP Global, the controlling shareholder of Toys“R”Us. With this arrangement, the world’s most loved and trusted toy and baby brands, Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us, will now be available to consumers online through sellers in India.
Flipkart will utilize its unmatched reach and expertise in technology and customer experiences, coupled with Ace Turtle’s omni-channel technology enabling buy-online and ship from store/pick up from store, endless-aisle, and other technological innovations. The collective expertise of Flipkart and Ace Turtle establishes them as the partner of choice for Toys“R”Us’s business growth in India. This launch will strengthen Toys“R”Us’s brand presence and business, and further contribute to India’s growing toy sector.
Over the last few years, the selection of products under the Toys & Games category on Flipkart has grown enormously. In 2020, the platform recorded growth of close to 100%, with consumers shopping online for their toys and baby care needs as they continue to stay indoors.
Commenting on this partnership, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Chief Executive Officer, Flipkart Group, said, “As a homegrown platform, we are constantly striving to build meaningful partnerships that are centred around the needs of our users. We are focused on ensuring that our users across India have access to a wide range of quality products made available by brands and sellers on our platform. With the Toys“R”Us global standard of quality, Indian consumers will now have access to many toys and babycare products. This partnership with Ace Turtle and WHP Global will see both firms bringing the best of their domain knowledge and expertise to innovate and provide customer-centric product selections that have value and quality at the core. In addition, we believe this partnership will encourage efforts to grow the toy manufacturing industry in India.”
Speaking on the partnership, Nitin Chhabra, CEO, Ace Turtle, said, “Toys“R”Us is the world’s leading toy brand and has been bringing joy to millions of children across the globe. Something which the Indian consumers need right now. The Flipkart group, India’s leading omni-channel enablement platform – Ace Turtle and the world’s leading toy brand, Toys“R”Us, are coming together to deliver future-ready consumer experience across online to offline. It’s a win-win for Indian consumers.”
Yehuda Shmidman, Chairman & CEO at WHP Global and Toys“R”Us stated, “We are excited by the tremendous potential of this new partnership, as India is one of the fastest growing consumer markets in the world with real spending power among a rapidly growing population. We look forward to working closely with Flipkart and the Ace Turtle team to build Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us into the leading destination for toy and baby products in India.”
For more than 70 years, Toys”R”Us has been a global leader in the toy category celebrating the joys of childhood with kids of all ages, and Babies”R”Us has been the trusted destination for all new and expecting parents. Geoffrey the Giraffe, the beloved mascot of Toys”R”Us for more than 50 years, is adored by millions of kids and their families around the world. This brand power remains as Toys”R”Us and Babies”R”Us generate more than US$2 billion in global retail sales annually through nearly 900 branded stores and e-commerce businesses in 25+ countries.
According to industry data, India’s toy industry is predominantly unorganized, comprising ~4,000 small and medium enterprises. The exports for this sector are limited to about US$100 million, leaving massive opportunities for local manufacturing to thrive. Earlier this year, the Government of India had organised a toy fair intending to make India a global hub for the production and the sourcing of toys, in turn boosting the economic engines for the sector. This strategic arrangement will endeavour to create new and exciting growth opportunities for local toys’ manufacturers/sellers in India including MSMEs.
