Amazon has crucial lead in key holiday category
When it comes to toys and games, Amazon's breadth of assortment far outdistances its competitors.
Amazon has over six million items in its toys and games category, according to a report by Boomerang Commerce that compares the top retailers' pricing, promotion and assortment of this holiday season's popular toys and games. Walmart maintains the U.S. retail world’s second-broadest assortment, with fewer than a million. Target offers just over 16,000 items.
In one analysis of a basket of popular toy items, Walmart had a 75% product overlap with Amazon. Target had a 30% overlap with Amazon, and Toys“R”Us had a 29% product overlap.
In Boomerang’s 2015 and 2016 reports, Target lagged in competitive pricing. This year, the retailer has risen to become the most competitive in terms of pricing for this sample of toys. For the basket of popular items on Amazon, Target was only 5% more expensive than Amazon, whereas Jet was 8% more expensive, and Toys“R”Us and Walmart were 13 percent more expensive.
The report also found that supply chain chain issues vex Jet, Walmart and Toys "R" Us. Although Walmart and Jet had the greatest overlap with the sample of Amazon’s products, Walmart was out of stock on 16% of the most popular items, and Jet was out of stock on 20% at the time of our analysis. This was also the case at Toys“R”Us where 22% of the most popular matched items were out of stock.
“Based on data from Boomerang Commerce’s analysis, Amazon’s strategy is to closely monitor every major retailers’ holiday pricing, which makes consumers the real winners in the holiday shopping season,” said Boomerang Commerce CEO Guru Hariharan. “The toys category is a strong indicator for which retailers are up for the challenge and which fall short. This season’s winners will need to accelerate efforts to compete with Amazon on pricing, product assortment, product availability and customer service.”
Amazon has over six million items in its toys and games category, according to a report by Boomerang Commerce that compares the top retailers' pricing, promotion and assortment of this holiday season's popular toys and games. Walmart maintains the U.S. retail world’s second-broadest assortment, with fewer than a million. Target offers just over 16,000 items.
In one analysis of a basket of popular toy items, Walmart had a 75% product overlap with Amazon. Target had a 30% overlap with Amazon, and Toys“R”Us had a 29% product overlap.
In Boomerang’s 2015 and 2016 reports, Target lagged in competitive pricing. This year, the retailer has risen to become the most competitive in terms of pricing for this sample of toys. For the basket of popular items on Amazon, Target was only 5% more expensive than Amazon, whereas Jet was 8% more expensive, and Toys“R”Us and Walmart were 13 percent more expensive.
The report also found that supply chain chain issues vex Jet, Walmart and Toys "R" Us. Although Walmart and Jet had the greatest overlap with the sample of Amazon’s products, Walmart was out of stock on 16% of the most popular items, and Jet was out of stock on 20% at the time of our analysis. This was also the case at Toys“R”Us where 22% of the most popular matched items were out of stock.
“Based on data from Boomerang Commerce’s analysis, Amazon’s strategy is to closely monitor every major retailers’ holiday pricing, which makes consumers the real winners in the holiday shopping season,” said Boomerang Commerce CEO Guru Hariharan. “The toys category is a strong indicator for which retailers are up for the challenge and which fall short. This season’s winners will need to accelerate efforts to compete with Amazon on pricing, product assortment, product availability and customer service.”