Retailer View – The Entertainer

Established in the early 1980s, The Entertainer is the largest independent toy retailer in the UK.

Boasting over 150 stores nationwide, The Entertainer is hungry for expansion in the absence of now defunct competitor Toys R Us and in the wake of increased competition from online retailers such as Amazon.

·         The year to January 2018 saw an increase of 14 stores to The Entertainer’s portfolio. A further 12 stores are planned in the coming year, together with a number of store refurbishments

·         And it’s not just standalone stores fuelling The Entertainer’s expansion. Following a successful trial in 2017, 59 concessions were launched in Matalan stores in September 2018

·         Neither is it solely UK-based; The Entertainer ended the year with 19 international stores trading in four countries, and there are plans to expand into further overseas territories

The year to January 2018 saw The Entertainer post a 38% rise in profits and a 74% rise in total sales across all channels.

Having announced a 30% sales increase on its online platform, The Entertainer relaunched its website in September 2018 to support continued growth. With web sales forecast to triple over the next five years and almost 80% of The Entertainer’s web traffic coming from mobile users, the website has been designed with a mobile-first approach to enhance browsing on tablets and phones. This includes a more refined consumer journey for faster shopping, improved performance to support with increasingly high levels of traffic, and a new predictive search engine for ease when locating products.

Trade for the first half of 2018/19 has been above expectations for The Entertainer and the company is confident about delivering a strong performance for the full 2018/19 financial year.