So what are retailers looking for when they make their choice of which brands to stock, and what in turn are suppliers and brands doing to help give their product the best chance of being sold successfully in store?

What works for the retailers

From a retailer's point of view, when it comes to success in a competitive market, it's not so much about which products sell best in what category, it's more about knowing your market, having a clearly defined and well thought-out strategy and sticking it to it like glue.

As Caroline Bettis, Nursery Buyer for John Lewis explains, ‘Any credible nursery retailer will stock key brands in each core category, but for John Lewis, the key to our success is in where we differentiate from the others. It's a challenge to continually find new inspiring and innovative products, but that's where we are successful.'

She cites the toys and gift categories as areas where John Lewis has had real hits recently with ranges such as Noonoo organic and Anne Claire petit toys. And when it comes to getting it right in the core categories (wheeled goods and car seats for example) it's all about making choices based on a clear business strategy.

‘If you ask mums-to-be which brands they've heard of, you'll probably get a different list from each woman,' says Caroline. ‘So you have to decide which brands you want to take depending on who you are trying to attract, what your overall business strategy is and, of course, also how profitable that category is for you.'

For John Lewis, for example, choice is based on whether the brand is right for the target market, whether the margin and profit it affords the store stack up and there is also the consideration of whether a brand will be able to uphold the John Lewis service element - in other words, whether it has integrity and good after-sales service.

Perhaps understandably smaller independents who were approached for this feature were less inclined to give away details of their sales and marketing strategy and were reluctant to tempt fate by talking about what's working currently. However, they were happier to talk about what it is they look for in terms of support from suppliers and key brands when it comes to clinching sales.

The support from suppliers

Set against the current climate, a good working relationship between supplier and retailer has never been more important - both sides needs it more than ever, as it's in both parties' interests that sales are made - a point echoed by both Jeremy Michin, Sales Director at Hippychick and Alan Halsall, Chairman of Silver Cross.

So what support can retailers, in particular the smaller independent nursery retailers, who still form the heartland of the nursery industry, expect from brands and suppliers? We spoke to a handful of key names to find out how they're working to ensure a smooth ride for everyone...

Selena Russel, Director, Cheeky Rascals

‘We're a trade supplier, so our whole strategy is based on putting the retailer at the forefront. We work stores in a way that it doesn't force them to compete against other stores in their area. We also train local retailers and spend lots of time ensuring they understand all the products and their USPs so the customer gets the one that's right for them.

When it comes to point of sale material, even if space is limited it's important a product is displayed well. A retailer, especially a smaller independent only has a limited amount of time to explain to a customer how a products works, so it helps them if consumers are able to pick up the key information about a product from the point of sale material and product packaging.

We try where we can to give our suppliers the benefit of our marketing experience. It's also an ambition of ours to start working closely with some independent stores helping them to enhance their local marketing, too.'

Jeremy Minchin, Sales Director, Hippychick

‘The retailer-supplier relationship only works if the retailer can sell the right combination of products that we offer. We work with them as a team - what's in their interests is in ours, too. We don't expect retailers to place a big first order - they can dip their toe in the water to start with and we sell to them on a sale-or-exchange business. We keep carriage paid orders low at £200 and we supply product information leaflets and continually look to ensure that we are giving retailers the appropriate material to display the products well.

We also give retailers incentives regarding payment, we encourage them to order form the trade side of our website and give them a pro forma discount when they pay by BACS or credit card - it helps our cash flow and also makes us more attractive to them because their margin is instantly increased. We also give retailers a cheaper price when they order bigger volumes.

We're increasingly active in sending out newsletters, new product information and images for on-line and support our retailers with visits from our sales reps and help them to order the right stuff. We also drop-ship (direct despatch). We go to all the trade fairs; I feel strongly they're an opportunity for product training with our retailers and I don't think you can ever pass up an opportunity. And we're actually here - you can ring up and get hold of a real person. There's no third party fulfilment house, and that can make all the difference for a small shop that needs to fulfil a little job there and then.

Lindsay May, Retail Services Manager, Maclaren

‘Our retailers are of upmost importance to us and we totally rely on them. Stores can vary greatly from large nationals to the small high street independent, so the service and experience consumers receive may be very different. We therefore work extremely hard at educating and training our retailers to ensure the consumer gets the right Maclaren product for their requirements.

 In 2008 we introduced the Maclaren Sovereign Lifetime Warranty^TM and have had great feedback from both retailers and consumers. To communicate the SLW to our consumers we have developed a banner which fits across the foot plate of the buggy. The SLW is proving to be a great selling feature as it gives consumers added reassurance in the quality of Maclaren.

As well as SLW buggy banners we have a full menu of Point of Sale items that retailers can choose from enabling them to create a visually impactful Maclaren branded area in their store. For simplicity and consistency our POS materials are also designed with Maclaren icons which depict a product's key features and benefits.

Maclaren understands that retailers don't only sell Maclaren products; this is why we aim to provide them with the tools and knowledge to enable them to sell. We supply a Trade Folio to every store containing the full specifications and colourways for each of our products. In addition to the Trade Folio we also supply a Maclaren Training Manual and DVD which aims to educate the store staff. This is a particularly useful tool in National stores where staff turnover tends to be higher.We are continually striving to develop new and improved POS and training materials to support our retailers.'

Alan Halsall, Chairman, Silver Cross

‘At the end of the day suppliers and retailers are all in the same boat. We offer a great product that's selling consistently well and at the same time we're offering more point of sale than we ever have done. Our area managers go round to ensure retailers understand why the product is so good - our 3D for example is the best-selling on the market of its kind because there are so many great features. They support retailers, both nationals and the independents, in every way they can. You won't find our products in supermarkets or mail order catalogues because we don't want to flood the market with our product - we want to go with the retailers we feel are right for our product. Increasingly more retailers have an on-line presence but we insist on certain standards and they're all specialist nursery stores

We're very happy with the business we're doing. We're not trying to be the biggest - we could expand rapidly if we wanted to but we don't need to. We're a small team and we want the business to grow well and the brand to grow properly and we work hard to work and communicate with the retailer to that end. Developing a quality brand is more important than anything else.

Damian Butler, Head of National Accounts, Jackel

Tommee Tippee is currently the fastest growing baby accessories brand in the world and is a very successful brand here in the UK where Closer to Nature is driving the market growth.

Though grocery accounts for the majority of sales, Tommee Tippee still supports the independent trade with regular trade promotions (quarterly) designed to appeal to the consumer and to give the independents the ammunition to compete with the multiples.

 Promotions with national accounts are focused on fewer/bigger/better with an increasing number of heavily advertised baby events among the major retailers and heavy discount deals among the national accounts that don't have Baby Events.

 Promotions generally either encourage trial and raise brand awareness (pre-birth items such as Closer to Nature and the Tommee Tippee Nappy Wrapper help the consumer 'hook' into Tommee Tippee) or focus on multi-buys on core consumables to drive consumption.

Tommee Tippee offer support on many levels; off fixture displays, promotional POS, information leaflets etc - as well as offering the expertise of an experienced trade marketing team. They not only give merchandising support but have detailed data, sales information and market insights to help accounts make the most of their space and their deals. Collaboration on promotional forecasts ensure we have the correct forward stocks to maximise the promotions. Generally promotions are put forward by us and and agreed via the yearly Joint Business Plan with key accounts. It's a definite - and definitive - two way relationship, designed to help us both!

Toy Poll - What's Selling Right Now?

Just to see if you're getting the same feedback we asked a number of BPA retailers which toys were selling well this Christmas?

Sarah Maundrell from Along Came Baby in Wrexham said, ‘The Baby Einstein brand always does well. We find that once a parent buys into this brand they tend to stick to it for a few years.'

Rachel Hall, Director of Baby2K.com feels the Jané Indy Team Walker is a particular hit with children at the moment. Rachel commented, ‘The noises and lights of this product are a real attention grabber and it tends to be the first thing that children go to when they come into the store. We really are selling a lot of these at the moment.'

Julie Baughan from Olivers Babycare in Winchester, a recent regional winner of the BPA Retailer of the Year awards said, ‘Pintoy from John Crane Ltd is always popular and seems to be doing well at the moment, we feel wooden toys are always a best seller.'

Kevin Clarkson, Director of Paul Stride said, ‘You can't go wrong with a traditional wooden baby walker. These are always popular amongst both parents and children and will always sell better than some of the plastic toys that are around today.'

Mel Morgan-Worley from Lullabys says its the Wheelybug from Hippychick, a favourite that's been around for a while. She commented, ‘They are always really popular but in the run up to Christmas - sales of them go wild. The traditional toys from East Coast always sell well too.'

In case you missed it the Chancellor has reduced VAT with effect from 1st December making the standard rate payable 15% dropping from 17.5%. Any questions? Read on...

I'm a VAT registered business - what do I have to do?

If you're a cash business, (shops, hairdressers, and takeaway restaurants generally are), you should be using the new rate on all your cash takings from 1 December unless the cash is for goods taken away before 1 December 2008 - (this is probably where the customer has an account). In these circumstances the sale occurred before 1 December so the old rate applies.

Invoices

If you're a business that sells mainly to other VAT registered businesses and have to issue VAT invoices, the new rate applies to all invoices issued on or after 1 December unless you supplied the goods or services more than 14 days before you sent the invoice, or you were paid for them before 1 December 2008.

Do I have to pass on the cut as a price cut?

The government is calling on all businesses to pass on the tax reduction to consumers through low prices but ultimately decisions on prices are for businesses rather than government.

What about tills/software?

Most packages will be able to accept the new 15% rate without any difficulty otherwise you'll need to contact your software supplier. HMRC says it will be supportive of businesses making the change and won't expect businesses to put everything in place overnight. You may also be able to change your electronic till yourself but if not you'll need to contact your till supplier for assistance. Don't worry if your till had not been amended to calculate 15% rather than 17.5% by 1 December because you can always calculate the VAT manually.

What do I do about my VAT return?

No changes here. When the period covered by the return crosses over the1 December 2008 you just add the VAT on sales at the old rate to the VAT onto the new rate. This total goes into Box 1 of your VAT return.

What do I do if a supplier charges me the old rate from 1 December? Can I just pay the new rate?

You will inevitably receive invoices after 1 December charging 17.5% for purchases made before the change - simply claim the 17.5% back.

What if a customer pays the lower rate for an invoice issued before 1 December? Can HMRC intervene on my behalf?

No, if the customer refused to pay the invoice you would need to pursue the debt in the normal way as this would be a civil matter

What if I received part payment in advance of the invoice before 1 December?

VAT is due at the old rate on the money received. Use the new rate on the post 1 December part of the payment only.

What about when I'm providing a continuous service (work in progress) which spans 1 December?

Simply account for the VAT when you issue a VAT invoice or you receive payment whichever is the earlier. Invoices issued or payments received on or after 1 December will be subject to the new rate.

What about sales spanning before and after the 1 December?

If you've received a payment or sent out an invoice before 1 December for goods/services which you'll deliver after 1 December then you can choose to pay VAT at the new rate on the amount already received or invoiced. You don't need to tell HMRC about this but you'll need to issue a credit note to your customer if you have already issued a VAT invoice showing the old rate of VAT.

What about the special VAT schemes for small businesses?

The Cash Accounting and Annual Accounting Schemes remain unchanged but the Flat Rate Scheme (FRS) percentages are changing to reflect the new rate of VAT. If you are on the FRS please refer to the additional information on the HMRC website. You'll need to use the new rates for your sector from 1 December 2008.

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