[Brielle Buckler]

In this unit, we learned about how important it is for organizations to pay attention to the marketing environment for their line(s) of product(s) and/or service(s). We watched a video about Toys R Us, which went into liquidation in 2018 closing virtually all their stores throughout the world partly as a result of not focusing on the marketing environment.

This company essentially failed to adapt to a significantly changing marketing environment. They maintained their large-scale supermarket retailing model for over 50 years without considering trends in retail design, retailing itself, changing consumer needs, technology and online factors.

Based on what you read in this chapter and what you learned from the video and any additional research, list as many factors and changes that contributed to the decline in Toys R Us commercial success as you can think of. Categorize those factors into the main marketing environment components (social factors, demographic factors, economic factors, political and legal factors, and competitive factors) and rank the factors in terms of which ones were the most significant in the downfall of Toys R Us in your opinion.

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In order to receive full credit for this assignment, all components of this assignment are due by 11:59pm ET on Sunday, November 13, 2022. You should first contribute a thoughtful post of your own before viewing/commenting on the posts of others. You must respond meaningfully to at least two classmates to receive full credit for this assignment.

This assignment is worth a total of ten (10) points — 6 possible points for your original post, and up to 2 points for each of the two responses to your classmates’ posts. Students should review others’ submissions and comment meaningfully (refer to this guide from MMSU for reference) to at least two other students. For reference, here is the difference between a comment and a post — you will be using both for this assignment. Make sure to refer to our Discussion Rubric as you work on your submission.

• This topic was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Brielle Buckler.
• This topic was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Brielle Buckler.
• This topic was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Brielle Buckler.

[TerriJ]

(Reposting due to the weird issues in my original post)

 

The decline and eventual fall of the beloved toy store Toys R Us was quite unfortunate because, in hindsight, a lot of it was avoidable. It was once a powerhouse company that dominated the market for children’s toys. But due to the company’s ignorance or arrogance, possibly both, it failed to evolve with a changing society and consumer needs. The factors that I believe contributed to the decline of the once-thriving company are (ranked from most significant to least):

Social Factors – Arguably the biggest and most fatal mistake Toys R Us made was disregarding the changing trend in its primary target audience, children. As children’s interests started moving away from physical toys and shifted to technology (such as computers, video games, and tablets), their interest in the unchanging Toys R Us declined. The company’s failure to adapt and cater to the new trend of virtual entertainment kids favored only helped furthered that decline. Instead of adjusting, the company continued filling its large stores with rows and rows of toys, hoping to entice kids to play with them and the parents to purchase them. However, the popularity of video games and other technology geared toward kids continued to increase while interest in physical toys sunk. It all resulted in a massive loss of sales for Toys R Us.

Competitive Factors – A technology-advancing society continued to be a problem for the stagnant company. With consumers turning to the convenience of online shopping, Toys R Us, which lacked an internet presence, couldn’t compete with other stores/businesses that offered online retail shopping. Additionally, the company struggled to compete with other companies/stores that attracted away shoppers by offering lower toy prices.

Economic Factors -Even after being sold and investors hoping the company could bounce back from its low stocks, it was hopeless. With the company being undercut by its competitors who offered customers lower prices and fast online shopping, Toys R Us couldn’t catch up financially. With the company still operating as simply a toy store and the toy industry declining at an annual rate of 3.1% from 2012-2017, combined with internal struggles, the company wasn’t able to go public. Remaining private meant the company was unable to pay down some of its debt and continued to struggle.

Political and Legal Factors -Because the company did not have a strong online presence, it attempted to capture online sales by partnering with Amazon to sell its toys. While this was a good attempt to garner sales, it ended up not being financially worth it in the end. Toys R Us paid Amazon and expected exclusivity, but Amazon started selling third-party items. The already financially strained company became even more strained after taking Amazon to court for failure to keep up their end of the deal. While they did win the lawsuit, the time lost battling in court could have been spent setting up their own online retail website.

Demographic Factors – Toys R Us was a toy company that catered primarily to children. Because their demographic was so limited, as the toy industry suffered a decline due to a loss of interest in physical toys and an increase in technology, the company had no other products to help maintain its profits.

 

[Besnik Shakiri]

Hello Terri,

Throughout your post I certainly enjoyed and agreed with all the points being made in regard to Toys R Us mistakes as a company. I definitely agree a huge mistake on their end was them primarily focusing only on children as their main target audience, because as time had went on, the same children they were trying to cater to had lost interest. It’s important for a company to know their target audience and reach customer demand under these circumstances.

[yangi]

hi Terrij,

I agree with your point of view that Toys R Us fatal mistake made was disregarding the changing trends in its targeted audience, children.  since children are nearly focused on new technology rather than toys these days. This is why Toys R Us went through losses.

[Germain Soriano]

”Arguably the biggest and most fatal mistake Toys R Us made was disregarding the changing trend in its primary target audience, children. As children’s interests started moving away from physical toys and shifted to technology (such as computers, video games, and tablets”

I agree that this was a costly mistake on Toys R Us’ behalf. However, I also believe the toy market was doomed. Technology is the new toy. Perhaps Toys R Us could’ve formed a partnership with a video game console company to produce limited edition versions to adapt to the new era.

[Regina Mezit]

Toys R Us is a toy retail store founded in 1957 by Charles P. Lazarus in Maryland. Toys R Us has been a success for decades. Toys R Us operated over 1,500 stores in 35 countries. Beginning in the early 2000s, Toys R Us began to experience difficult times, which eventually led to the sale and closure of almost all stores in the US and abroad, including Asia and Europe. Below I will describe the factors that influenced the closure of stores.

Social factors

Toys R Us handled the changing events casually and did not adapt to the environment, amid the rising tides of e-commerce, the global business world and the transition of gaming to online, Toys R Us was unable to adapt. When times were rapidly changing, the big company remained almost the same, the company was not ahead of the technology, unlike its competitors, who introduced technology and innovation. Customers who shopped at Toys R Us complained about poor merchandising, lack of staff, and simply degraded shopping experience.

Demographic factors.

Due to huge debts, the company was not able to maintain its stores not only in the US, stores began to liquidate the goods and further announced the closure. The company’s operations in Canada were equally affected by its US stores, and when the company filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and began closing stores in 2018, Toys R Us is selling its Canadian company and all associated trademarks.
In 2018, Toys R Us also began closing its European stores, starting with the UK, where they ran into £15 million in debt. Elsewhere in Europe, stores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as headquarters in Cologne were sold to Smyths. Toys R Us also announced the closure of stores in Asia and Australia.

Economic factors

Toys R Us’ huge debt impacted the company’s economy because most of the revenue went to pay off debt. By early 2005, Toys R Us was downgraded to junk bond status, which meant the company was likely to default and receive a low credit rating. With no income to reinvest in their stores, the stores became understaffed. The company’s income decreased, which eventually led to the fact that the company was unable to pay and eventually declared bankruptcy.

Political and legal factors.
In 2000, Toys R Us entered into a 10-year contract with Amazon, paying the company $50 million a year, plus a percentage of their sales, to become a toy and baby products seller on Amazon. Instead of building their own e-commerce business, Toys R Us relied entirely on Amazon. But this partnership was not successful because Amazon subsequently began working with competitors, which further hurt Toys R Us. The company sued Amazon in 2006 and was awarded $51,000, but even that didn’t save Toys R Us.

Competitive factors.

Large companies such as Target, Walmart, Costco, Kmart rapidly expanded and began to offer lower prices on consumer goods including toys, Toys R Us could not compete with them. In addition, the collaboration with Amazon that did not become successful led to the collapse because Amazon launched competitors into its market and Toys R Us were unable to compete with them with such huge debts.

I think what killed Toys R Us was the inability to innovate. With the growth of e-commerce and the transfer of games to online, the company has not been able to adapt. Competitors quickly reacted to the changing trend and began to innovate in their business. Toys R Us, ignoring this, failed to make their stores look more attractive.

[TerriJ]

Hey Regina,

“I think what killed Toys R Us was the inability to innovate.”

I loved the way you phrased this. To me, it’s a perfect summary of why Toys R Us eventually failed as a company. After watching the video I realized the company was not innovative at all. They remained stagnant and refused to progress with a changing society around them. I wonder if they were simply unaware of the warning signs, or if they arrogantly believed that they would never fail since they thought kids would always want toys to play with.

[Regina Mezit]

I think the problem was that the vice president was very concerned that the company had a lot of debt and the inability or even inability and perhaps not the desire of the company to move on to innovation. Perhaps the company believed that children were still interested only in toys, not relying on the fact that modern children are very dependent on innovations.

[Saleema Haniff]

Hi Regina ,

I agree with your statement “Toys R Us were unable to adapt”. Their lack of interest and ability to create products that are modern has caused them to fail. I believe that Toys R Us thought that their company was already successful , so they did not see the need to innovate. This is a very poor way to think in business because the world will eventually move on without you. This is what happened to Toys R Us, children resorted to modern toys and games and lost interest in their products.

[Saleema Haniff]

Hi Terri,

I agree with your demographic factor. They were limited by selling products only to children. They did not have any products to appeal to the rest of the world population, therefore, they did not have anything to fall back on.

[Nabeel]

Hi Regina,

I agree with your response to demographic factors. Children have lost interest in their products. They had so much debt and failed to make changes.

[Amit Roy]

Hi Regina,
I agree with your competitive factors how the large companies have expanded to began the lower prices on consumer goods, how the company can not adapt to the growth of e-commerce and the transfer of games to online that definitely killed the business for the Toys R Us.

[Allison]

Allison Molina

Marketing:

Social Factors:

ToysRus’ lack of knowledge of how social factors can affect a business causes for the company to fail, which then leads to the closing of the company. ToysRus failed to educate themselves in the changes society has made and the interest of kids. ToysRus did not adapt to changing factors, and kept the same consistent production they have had since their start. Failing to realize that technology was growing at an exponential rate, and lack of adaptation caused this company to fail. Kids no longer had a great interest in the products ToysRus provided, technology at fault for this, causing a greater interest in kids when it came to virtual games.

 

Economic Factors

Toys “R” Us inability to adapt to change in society caused a huge decline in their economy. The company fell into great debt, where paying off the debt was were most of the companies income went to. Also competitors were creating great competition for the company, and the company was unable to compete back, which resulted in a loss for ToyRus. These are some of the economic factors that caused failure for the brand.

 

Demographic Factors:

With the economy and social factors declining the demographic factors of the company began to decline as well. The customers that once were known to ToysRus, which were children, were no longer as interested in what ToysRus had to offer, therefore the company’s competition was winning.  Since the toy industry was suffering a lack of interest/ decline, because kids were no longer interested in the idea of a physical toy, ToyRus really suffered from this decline, causing the company to eventually close.

 

Political and legal factors

Toys “R” Us lack of modernization, and adapting to new ways of buying in society, which is online shopping, left Toys “R” Us many issues, that added to the many reasons why Toys “R” Us ended up in bankruptcy. ToysRus entered a deal with Amazon, to help sell toys online through Amazon, in hopes to see better sales, only left Toys “R” Us in the worst position. Amazon was unable to keep their end of the deal, involving third parties for sales of toys, not benefiting ToyRus as said in the deal, made the company proceed with a lawsuit against Amazon. When ToysRus ended up winning the lawsuit, they were in a broken position, where they needed to file for bankruptcy, not even the money won from the lawsuit was enough to save the company. According to analysis, had the company spent the same amount of time and effort in creating their own online system as they did with the legal proceedings, ToyRus would have had better chances at surviving.

 

Competitive Factors

One can say that the main reason ToysRus went bankrupt and failed as a company was due to the lack of creating competition for their competitors. Since technology and online shopping was growing, this created competition for ToysRus, and ToysRus was unable to proceed efficiently. The companies did not proceed to create an online presence for their customers, or rather look into creating toys that adapted to the likes of modern children, therefore leaving the company in a bad position leading to the closing of the company in its entirety.

 

• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Allison.

[Alex Lopez]

Hello Allison,

I liked how you pointed out that Toys R Us was greatly effected by the lawsuit they had with amazon, hearing that they spent as much as they did on their online system feels like if it had never involved itself with amazon, would have had a much greater chance to grow and market themselves online.

[Ivan Ramos]

Hello Alisson,

I agree with the Economic Factors post. Toys R Us’ failure to keep up with the changing times is what likely led them to form business agreements that hurt the company, their ability to recoup losses and maintain their market share. Had the company developed an e-commerce presence early on, maybe they would be in a better economic situation today.

[Syeed Salvant]

Hey Allison,

I agree with you on Toys R Us lacking the ability to create any compition for their competitors.  They had success with their business model and never changed it so when technology and the way kids enjoy games evolved Toys R Us was left in the psst.

[Leila J]

<span data-preserver-spaces=”true”>During “Toys R Us” Peak decades in the 80s and 90s, they were the number one toy store in the world. The chain had over </span><span data-preserver-spaces=”true”>100 stores</span><span data-preserver-spaces=”true”> in the country, becoming this phenomenon to the point where it went global by opening stores in The UK to Japan. The Toy company was so prominent that it was reported that it profited 480 million in sales in 1980. At one point, Toys r us seemed unbeatable. Sadly things took a turn for the company due to the company’s lousy marking management and not adapting to the changing marketing environment. There are many reasons this company failed, and I’m going to list the factors that contributed to the decline in Toys R Us. </span>

<span data-preserver-spaces=”true”>I’m ranking from most essential to least.</span>

<span data-preserver-spaces=”true”>Competitive factors</span>

<span data-preserver-spaces=”true”>I think Competaive factors played a significant part in the decline of the Company because Toys R us failed to change with the times and its strategies when it came to selling. Toys r us failed to adapt to the low prices of its competitors like Target, Walmart, Etc. Competing on Low prices alone helped dwindle the company’s spotlight. It’s hard to be a toy company that sells toys, and competitors do the same but at a lower price. And Competitors had the advantage of adapting to the world of technology of selling toys online like amazon. I feel that the company should have used the price penetration strategy and Gone online to attract customers away from competitors; maybe they would still be in business.</span>

<span data-preserver-spaces=”true”> Demographic factors</span>

<span data-preserver-spaces=”true”>The demographic factors of Toys R’ Us were another considerable reason for its failure was the store’s locations, prices, and what families they marketed towards. Toys r us mainly marketed toward middle-class families, Because the prices were always high, and many low-income families couldn’t afford to purchase many toys there. And the locations of the stores were always in middle-class areas. From my personal experience, The toys in toys r us were always expensive, and my family couldn’t afford to buy me a thirty-dollar barbie anytime I wanted one. Going to toys r us was like a special occasion for a kid like me due to my family being low-income, and it probably was for other kids too. Toys R Us’s problem was not broadening its marketing brand for all children with different incomes. They should have set better prices and put the stores in other neighborhoods. If toys r us did this, they would have made ten times more money and stayed in business.</span>

[xue,wang]

Toys ‘R’ Us – After closing more than 100 stores in succession, the world’s largest toy retailer will close the remaining 740 stores in the United States, while selling more than 200 stores in Canada and operations in Germany, Japan and other countries. Consecutive losses began in 2015, and continued to lose $164 million in the first quarter of 2017. The last two stores in the U.S. were also closed recently. Toys “R” Us stores in New Jersey and Houston, Texas will be closed due to the impact of the epidemic on offline retail, according to a statement from Tru kids, a shareholder of Toys “R” Us. This means that Toys “R” Us will no longer be found in stores in the United States. I consider the following analysis of the factors behind the decline of once thriving companies.

Social factors：Toys R Us will not deal with changing events, not adapting to the new environment, 1 the impact of online shopping. Buying the same toy from various online channels is generally more than 10 dollar cheaper than R Us, and it is more convenient and fast.2 The impact of online games Today, children have access to mobile phones, tablets and other electronic devices much earlier, and they are more willing to play online games, which greatly robs children of their time on traditional toys.

Demographic factors：Toys ‘R’ Us, a toy company for children, has its own limitations. Coupled with the development of computers and PS5 video games, and customers like to shop online, prices can be compared and this leads to customer churn.

Economic factors;Even though they’ve improved their e-commerce sites and lowered product prices, they can’t resist sluggish sales, and $5 billion in debt has overwhelmed Toys R Us’ last line of defense. In an industry where change happens suddenly, new trends Or when technology emerges, companies can’t actually survive this drastic industry change because it requires a drastic shift in thinking, culture, and overall organizational structure, often the exact opposite of what made the company successful in the first place

Political and legal factors：At first, the company did not have a strong online presence so it obtained online sales by partnering with Amazon to sell its toys. While it was a good attempt, it wasn’t financially worth it in the end. Toys R Us paid Amazon and hoped to get some money, but it turned out that Amazon partnered with a third party. lead to wrong choices. Eventually Amazon went to court to make it more difficult for an already financially troubled company because he didn’t succeed in building his own website, although they did win the lawsuit and get compensation.

Competitive factors; Because of these big companies like BJ’S. Target, Walmart, Costco, Macy’s., not only can they have lower purchase channels, but they also have more abundant products and convenient network channels. Coupled with the failure of Toys R Us to join amazon, it was unable to attract more customers, resulting in sky-high bond prices, and finally filed for bankruptcy.
I think the ultimate reason for the failure of Toys “R” Us is that it does not know how to keep pace with the times, does not know how to innovate, and is conservative in thinking

[TerriJ]

Hi Xue, Wang,

“Toys ‘R’ Us, a toy company for children, has its own limitations. ”

I agree with your point. The company’s target audience was children. Yet when the company noticed that children were losing interest in physical toys, they did nothing. With such a limited target audience, the company should have done everything in its power to adapt to what children wanted. Instead, they ignored their consumer wants and remained unchanged. I think Toys R Us severely underestimated technology and the popularity of virtual entertainment.

[Alex Lopez]

Hi Xue, Wang.

I liked reading your post and how you brought up that a lot of children would rather play online games and how the development of technology such as the ps5 and new computer components. I have seen how the market for electronics always fluctuates when a new item comes out which also drives down the price for older products which with toy markets things tend to stay the same price.

[Aumi]

Hello Xue Wang,

You helped me understand in a deeper and slightly different perspective all of the things that contributed to ToysRUs downfall. This company had a very slow way to react to the changes surrounded them. They were at disadvantage if we compare them with big companies that had way more channels and resources, and even the capability of lowering their prices way more. Their best bet to become number 1 again it would’ve been to adapt and innovate. But they were very stuck in their old ways of thinking, like you mentioned. Ironically that was what allowed them to reach success once, but it was no longer what the customers wanted or needed.

[Nabeel]

Hi Xue, Wang,

I agree with your response to social factors. The company has stayed the same as time changed. Even though they have shut down I feel like it was a childhood memory for everyone.

[Amit Roy]

Hi Xue Wang,
I definitely agree with your demographic factor that toys r us a toy company for children has it’s own limitations that how can they drive their business to the other way so that they can adapt the online platform and the online business that they have struggling with and they can have easily turn the table if they have adapted the business platforms that were offered through out their times. So that they can still be running today.

[Germain Soriano]

Xue, Wang,

”Buying the same toy from various online channels is generally more than 10 dollar cheaper than R Us. ”

One of the benefits of online shopping is the ability to compare prices with ease. I’m curious if Toys R Us had a price match policy to combat lower priced competitors.

[Besnik Shakiri]

Toys R US, Like most popular brick and mortar stores of its time, Failed to adapt out of its comfort zone as they relied on their tried and true methods of business to operate, Ultimately leading up to their demise. As a saying goes, Nothing remains the same and I feel like that is an important thing these big businesses fail to consider. They do not leave room  to grow in an ever expanding market.

social factors- When it comes to social factors, Toys R Us had failed to consider the social climate in which the company could grow and thrive against other retailers. They very specifically catered and centered the business around in person shopping methods, not considering the online market as beneficial to themselves while their target demographic, children, seemed to shift  as well into a more online oriented world as time has went on. Children wanted to be online more than inside of a Toys R Us for amusement as years went on.

demographic factors- With each generation of children that were Toys R Us shoppers, they slowly began to notice a decline in children interest in Toys until that decline came very destructive that children were rapidly growing more interested in the internet of todays world, more than toys as in the past. Their demographic was changing and they could not seem to revoke interest.

economic factors- Leading up to their demise, Toys R Us had found themselves in overwhelming debt with no ways or means to fix it because of declining company sales and bigger losses of revenue as the years went on. Toys R Us had already began to see larger declines in sales, as other big name companies beat out their prices letting consumers shop elsewhere. This leads to Toys R Us filing for bankruptcy.

 

political and legal factors- In an attempt for revival, Toys R Us had tried a partnership with amazon to improve E-commerce and hopefully get themselves running into a flooding market again. This was semi successful until their lawsuit with amazon. As the company was already struggling, legal fees and being a third party did not help the company out in the long run, leaving them in even more problems than before.

and competitive factors- Toys R Us just simply could not keep up with the competition. They failed to get a head start in the online shopping growing demand. Customers wanted a shift to easier accessibility through online shopping and other retailers were already doing it prior to Toys R Us making the adaption. Stores such as Walmart, target and online retailers like eBay were already beating TRU before they could find their footing to revive the company.

[yangi]

Toy R Us is one of the biggest global companies that sold toys and mainly focuses on children’s products. Toys R Us was founded in 1957, its first store was built in April 1948. The company closed all of its US, British, and Australian locations, and filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and 2018. I will be discussing the factor that affected the company below:

Social factor:
Toys R Us faced a major fall in its overall revenue due to the fact that the company wasn’t changing the preference of its consumers because kids tend to enjoy new entertainment such as virtual reality and online games that come with evolving technology. Toys R us didn’t seem to focus on changing marketing strategies and relied on the same old product which made them lose their customers.

Competitive Factor:
Since the massive growth of technology, there are companies that satisfied customers’ needs with new innovative products which Toys R Us couldn’t do. Customers can compare the prices and customer service between companies because of e-commerce which made Toy R us errors noticeable. They couldn’t live up to customer satisfaction compared to their competitors.

Economic factor:
Managing different locations with high debt was difficult for toys r us which made them close their location and finally the last two US stores. Since they failed to build a strong online presence, this allowed other competitors to take advantage of consumer trends. This leads to the downfall of Toys R Us.

Demographic factor:
In the age of e-commerce, and online gaming children are interacting more digitally and there is no demand as before. Kids are less interested in toys which leads to the demise of the company.

political and legal factors
when technology emerged Toys R Us industry declined at an annual rate of -3% from 2012 to 2017. These started Toy R Us with a huge loss at the hand of the online retail company Amazon. In 2000, Toys R Us made a partnership with amazon, which allowed the online retailer to sell toys. Toys R Us started depending on amazon to sell their product which might have been the wrong decision for Toys R Us.

[yangi]

Toy R Us is one of the biggest global companies that sold toys and mainly focuses on children’s products. Toys R Us was founded in 1957, its first store was built in April 1948. The company closed all of its US, British, and Australian locations, and filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and 2018. I will be discussing the factor that affected the company below:

Social factor:

Toys R Us faced a major fall in its overall revenue due to the fact that the company wasn’t changing the preference of its consumers because kids tend to enjoy new entertainment such as virtual reality and online games that come with evolving technology. Toys R us didn’t seem to focus on changing marketing strategies and relied on the same old product which made them lose their customers.

Competitive Factor:

Since the massive growth of technology, there are companies that satisfied customers’ needs with new innovative products which Toys R Us couldn’t do. Customers can compare the prices and customer service between companies because of e-commerce which made Toy R us errors noticeable. They couldn’t live up to customer satisfaction compared to their competitors.

Economic factor:

Managing different locations with high debt was difficult for toys r us which made them close their location and finally the last two US stores. Since they failed to build a strong online presence, this allowed other competitors to take advantage of consumer trends. This leads to the downfall of Toys R Us.

Demographic factor:

In the age of e-commerce, and online gaming children are interacting more digitally and there is no demand as before. Kids are less interested in toys which leads to the demise of the company.

Political and Legal factors

When technology emerged Toys R Us industry declined at an annual rate of -3% from 2012 to 2017. These started Toy R Us with a huge loss at the hand of the online retail company Amazon. In 2000, Toys R Us made a partnership with amazon, which allowed the online retailer to sell toys. Toys R Us started depending on amazon to sell their product which might have been the wrong decision for Toys R Us.

 

[Alex Lopez]

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Social Factors-1</span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Many children now have electronics as young as Below the Age of 5, I have seen children prefer Watching YouTube over playing with actual toys, Many children today like seeing their toys move and talk as they were real, and you can now watch it anytime as compared to having to watch cartoons at select times on Tv and sometimes they would play shows that you would not like.</span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Competitive Factors- 2</span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>The variety of competition that Toys R Us had to face also made it harder for them to succeed. With other big brand names such as Target, Walmart and Kmart have options for people to buy products online and have it be shipped to their houses. These companies also did not have massive debt, so that gave them the upper hand as Toys R Us could not proceed in adapting to the market if it had money to pay off. A lot of competition had also tried to </span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Economic Factors-3</span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>During the last 2 decades, the rise of technology deeply affected Toys R Us as many children would get more interested in things such as phones rather than a figurine. The company also did not try advertising its brand on social media and would only focus on tv ads or posters. In contrast, competitors had already begun selling some of their products online which took away customers from Toys R Us. It has also had a lot of slow sales and with the recent covid-19, it’s like a nail in the coffin as in-person shopping was shut down completely for a period of time.</span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Demographic Factors-4</span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>The huge number of stores around the world was also costing the company a lot of money, even while they failed to adapt to technology which further accelerated the company’s downfall. In 2017 when the company filed for bankruptcy and began to reduce its presence by shutting down many stores with only a few remaining. Toys R Us was also only marketed toward children, which inhibited the growth of the company as most of the time the shopping would be done by parents, and they would try looking for cheaper options. I remember being a child and there was a Toys R Us and a Kmart 10 feet across from eachother and </span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Political and Legal Factors-5</span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys R Us had many troubles as well that affected the company being able to adapt to shopping online. The partnership that they had with Amazon only hurt the company in the end as Amazon had taken them to court which cost Toys R Us money as they had to hire Lawyers, they won that case and were compensated. The Money was not enough to help them get back on their feet because of the extreme debt the company had.</span>

[Alex Lopez]

Social Factors-1
Many children now have electronics as young as Below the Age of 5, I have seen children prefer Watching YouTube over playing with actual toys, Many children today like seeing their toys move and talk as they were real, and you can now watch it anytime as compared to having to watch cartoons at select times on Tv and sometimes they would play shows that you would not like.

Competitive Factors- 2
The variety of competition that Toys R Us had to face also made it harder for them to succeed. With other big brand names such as Target, Walmart and Kmart have options for people to buy products online and have it be shipped to their houses. These companies also did not have massive debt, so that gave them the upper hand as Toys R Us could not proceed in adapting to the market if it had money to pay off. A lot of competition had also tried to

Economic Factors-3
During the last 2 decades, the rise of technology deeply affected Toys R Us as many children would get more interested in things such as phones rather than a figurine. The company also did not try advertising its brand on social media and would only focus on tv ads or posters. In contrast, competitors had already begun selling some of their products online which took away customers from Toys R Us. It has also had a lot of slow sales and with the recent covid-19, it’s like a nail in the coffin as in-person shopping was shut down completely for a period of time.

Demographic Factors-4
The huge number of stores around the world was also costing the company a lot of money, even while they failed to adapt to technology which further accelerated the company’s downfall. In 2017 when the company filed for bankruptcy and began to reduce its presence by shutting down many stores with only a few remaining. Toys R Us was also only marketed toward children, which inhibited the growth of the company as most of the time the shopping would be done by parents, and they would try looking for cheaper options. I remember being a child and there was a Toys R Us and a Kmart 10 feet across from eachother and

Political and Legal Factors-5
Toys R Us had many troubles as well that affected the company being able to adapt to shopping online. The partnership that they had with Amazon only hurt the company in the end as Amazon had taken them to court which cost Toys R Us money as they had to hire Lawyers, they won that case and were compensated. The Money was not enough to help them get back on their feet because of the extreme debt the company had.

[Saleema Haniff]

Week C assignment

Founded by Charles P. Lazarus in 1957, Toys R Us was one of the leading toy retail store for children. The first Toys R Us store was located in Washington D.C before expanding to over 1000 stores countrywide and eventually worldwide. In 1978, they began trading under the New York stock exchange as a public company. Unfortunately, due to several mismanagement factors, Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in 2017 which lead to the eventual closure of all their stores.

Social Factors – These factors may include cultural norms and expectations, health consciousness, population growth rates, age distribution, career attitudes, health and safety. Unfortunately, Toys R Us did not adjust their products to suit the changing world we live in. Their primary focus are children which they disregarded the fact that children too change with the times. Today, children are now interested in technology and not just physical toys. Almost every game can now be played virtually using technology such as the computer, video games, cell phones or tablets. Almost every house hold today owns at least one of these devices. Toys R Us lack of modernisation caused the interest of many children to shift away from the store. Instead, children visited stores that offered new upgraded games. Toys R Us continuation of producing the same toys , which eventually remained on their shelves, lead to the closure of their company.
Competitive Factors- Online shopping is now an easy and more convenient way to shop. Toys R Us lack of online/internet presence led to other companies who did have one to have an advantage. In addition, other companies offered the same products at lower prices along with new and advanced games. These factors made it impossible for Toys R Us to compete with large companies such as Walmart, Costco, Macy’s, Target and Kmart. Additionally, they further hurt themselves by teaming up with Amazon in hopes of having their products sold online. This was unsuccessful as Amazon teamed up with other toy retailers who had similar products at affordable prices. Toys R Us could not compete with these prices since they were in debt already. Competitors ability to adapt to the changing trends and Toys R Us inability to innovate and adapt is one of the biggest factors that contributed to their failure.
Economic Factors- As previously mentioned, Toys R Us was also unable to compete due to the huge debt that they were in. Most of their revenue went towards paying off their debts. Due to the low sales they were experiencing in stores and a low credit rating , Toys R Us had to go into pocket to help pay off their debts. They eventually became understaffed as they lacked sufficient income to restock their stores and pay their staffs. Eventually, Toys R Us had to file for bankruptcy due to the lack of income. Their only option was to liquidise their assets.
Political and Legal Factors- In 2000 , Toys R Us entered into a 10 year contract with Amazon in an attempt to garner sales online. They paid Amazon $50 million a year and a percentage of their products. This was another one of Toys R Us biggest setbacks, as they relied solely on Amazon website to sell their products, instead of creating their own e-commerce. Amazon began to sell toys from other competitors on their website, which led to an even bigger decrease in sales and increase in debt for Toys R Us. In 2006 Toys R Us sued Amazon for $51,000 for selling their competitors’ products. This unfortunately, was not sufficient to pull them out of their debt. Toys R Us was in a deep financial hole due to their lack of modernisation , innovation and inability to compete. Their competitors, on the other hand, were successful due to not only their ability to modernise their products, but also to modernise the way people can shop (online).
Demographic Factors- Toys R Us catered primarily to children. This meant that they only had a portion of the world’s population that used their products. Their demographic was limited to children which would mean that they needed to keep them interested in their products. Sadly, Toys R Us was unable to do so, which made them lose the only demographic they had. Children resorted to what kept them interested (technology and upgraded toys). Toys R Us had no other products to suit any other demographic of the population to fall back on.
The company’s huge debt affected not only their US branch, but also Canada and eventually all their stores around the world. All stores began to liquidate their goods to help pay their debts. After filing for bankruptcy in 2017, Toys R Us began to close their stores in 2018. Their stores in the UK , Canada, Germany, Austria, Switzerland , Asia and Australia, all closed their doors.

[Ivan Ramos]

Hi Saleema,

I agree with your Demographic Factors post. Toys R Us had a global impact on the toy market. Their global partners had to follow suit and cut their losses after the company filed for bankruptcy. Suppliers were also greatly affected since it became a risky financial and business decision to continue supplying the toy company, fearing that they wouldn’t be compensated for their work

[Leila J]

During “Toys R Us” Peak decades in the 80s and 90s, they were the number one toy store in the world. The chain had over 100 stores in the country, becoming this phenomenon to the point where it went global by opening stores in The UK to Japan. The Toy company was so prominent that it was reported that it profited 480 million in sales in 1980. At one point, Toys r us seemed unbeatable. Sadly things took a turn for the company due to the company’s lousy marking management and not adapting to the changing marketing environment. There are many reasons this company failed, and I’m going to list the factors that contributed to the decline in Toys R Us.
I’m ranking from most essential to least.

Competitive factors

I think Competaive factors played a significant part in the decline of the Company because Toys R us failed to change with the times and its strategies when it came to selling. Toys r us failed to adapt to the low prices of its competitors like Target, Walmart, Etc. Competing on Low prices alone helped dwindle the company’s spotlight. It’s hard to be a toy company that sells toys, and competitors do the same but at a lower price. And Competitors had the advantage of adapting to the world of technology of selling toys online like amazon. I feel that the company should have used the price penetration strategy and Gone online to attract customers away from competitors; maybe they would still be in business.

Demographic factors

The demographic factors of Toys R’ Us were another considerable reason for its failure was the store’s locations, prices, and what families they marketed towards. Toys r us mainly marketed toward middle-class families, Because the prices were always high, and many low-income families couldn’t afford to purchase many toys there. And the locations of the stores were always in middle-class areas. From my personal experience, The toys in toys r us were always expensive, and my family couldn’t afford to buy me a thirty-dollar barbie anytime I wanted one. Going to toys r us was like a special occasion for a kid like me due to my family being low-income, and it probably was for other kids too. Toys R Us’s problem was not broadening its marketing brand for all children with different incomes. They should have set better prices and put the stores in other neighborhoods. If toys r us did this, they would have made ten times more money and stayed in business.

[Nabeel]

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys “R” Us is one of the world’s leading retailers of toys, children, clothing, and baby products. It was founded in Washington, DC in June 1957. The first store was built in April 1948.  Toys “R” Us had 800+ stores in 49 states including the United States. It failed because of society changes and customer needs. Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy in 2017, and started closing in June 2018. They were worn down by $8 billion in debt and growing competition from online rivals.</span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Social Factors:</span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys “R” Us failed to adjust and adapt. For the business world, it is important to know and keep up with the changes. The company stayed the same as time changed. Technology became big in the business world. Toys “R’ Us failed to keep up with the technology and adapt to the changes that attract customers. </span><span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Online shopping became the easiest way to shop, however when the company opened its online site, it had many technical errors and it was too late to catch up. </span><span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Technology did not only take over online shopping, but online gaming. Online gaming started to attract kids more than physical toys. </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Competitive Factors: </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys “R” Us failed due to not being able to compete with other companies like Amazon, Target, Walmart, Kmart, etc.. The little online presence they had with Amazon was also lost. Competitors saw the company was ignoring and failing to adapt as the world of technology was growing, so they took advantage of it. Competitors started creating products that involved technology, which attracted children. They not only had a larger online presence, a variety of different toys, but also sold products at lower pricing which brought more customers. </span>

 

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Demographic Factors:</span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys “R” Us was a store for children. However, those children lost interest in their products. The company was falling apart and even people saw their business was not going so well. They failed to make changes to its business and eventually had so much debt. They were hoping holiday sales would keep it floating for a little longer. But unfortunately it didn’t work out, so the company had announced in January that it would close 180 of its roughly 800 stores in the U.S. </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Economic Factors: </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Amongst Toys “R” Us failures to adapt, make changes, and compete with other companies, they misled their vendors, prior to and during its bankruptcy. The company continued to order toys especially during the holidays. An article came out about Toys “R” Us struggles, which led to 40% of vendors wanting cash on delivery and refused to ship products knowing they might not get paid. Additionally, thousands of employees were getting laid-off  and were not getting their severance, but after protests employees were paid some of the severance. The company was declining in all ways, which led to bankruptcy. </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Political and Legal Factors: </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Due to the companies lack of adapting and using technology as an advantage to the business industry, they were falling behind. They quickly needed to create an online presence, so they partnered with Amazon. In the 2000’s they had entered a 10 year partnership with Amazon. However, Amazon started selling third-party products. Toys ‘R” Us sued Amazon and wanted to get out of the partnership. Although they won in court, all the money they had made was not enough for the years they lost and then they lost their online presence.</span>

[Nabeel]

Toys “R” Us is one of the world’s leading retailers of toys, children, clothing, and baby products. It was founded in Washington, DC in June 1957. The first store was built in April 1948. Toys “R” Us had 800+ stores in 49 states including the United States. It failed because of society changes and customer needs. Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy in 2017, and started closing in June 2018. They were worn down by $8 billion in debt and growing competition from online rivals.

Social Factors:
Toys “R” Us failed to adjust and adapt. For the business world, it is important to know and keep up with the changes. The company stayed the same as time changed. Technology became big in the business world. Toys “R’ Us failed to keep up with the technology and adapt to the changes that attract customers. Online shopping became the easiest way to shop, however when the company opened its online site, it had many technical errors and it was too late to catch up. Technology did not only take over online shopping, but online gaming. Online gaming started to attract kids more than physical toys.

Competitive Factors:
Toys “R” Us failed due to not being able to compete with other companies like Amazon, Target, Walmart, Kmart, etc.. The little online presence they had with Amazon was also lost. Competitors saw the company was ignoring and failing to adapt as the world of technology was growing, so they took advantage of it. Competitors started creating products that involved technology, which attracted children. They not only had a larger online presence, a variety of different toys, but also sold products at lower pricing which brought more customers.

Demographic Factors:
Toys “R” Us was a store for children. However, those children lost interest in their products. The company was falling apart and even people saw their business was not going so well. They failed to make changes to its business and eventually had so much debt. They were hoping holiday sales would keep it floating for a little longer. But unfortunately it didn’t work out, so the company had announced in January that it would close 180 of its roughly 800 stores in the U.S.

Economic Factors:
Amongst Toys “R” Us failures to adapt, make changes, and compete with other companies, they misled their vendors, prior to and during its bankruptcy. The company continued to order toys especially during the holidays. An article came out about Toys “R” Us struggles, which led to 40% of vendors wanting cash on delivery and refused to ship products knowing they might not get paid. Additionally, thousands of employees were getting laid-off and were not getting their severance, but after protests employees were paid some of the severance. The company was declining in all ways, which led to bankruptcy.

Political and Legal Factors:
Due to the companies lack of adapting and using technology as an advantage to the business industry, they were falling behind. They quickly needed to create an online presence, so they partnered with Amazon. In the 2000’s they had entered a 10 year partnership with Amazon. However, Amazon started selling third-party products. Toys ‘R” Us sued Amazon and wanted to get out of the partnership. Although they won in court, all the money they had made was not enough for the years they lost and then they lost their online presence.

[Ivan Ramos]

Toys “R” Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer founded by Charles P. Lazarus in 1957. Its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Pasippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, during the post-war baby boom. While the expansion of Toys “R” Us was great, the rise of online retailers such as Amazon and other merchant retailers cost the toy company its share of the toy market, which led to filing for bankruptcy in 2018.

Social Factors –
With the rise of e-commerce, businesses globalizing and interactive gaming being converted to the online space, Toys R Us failed to adjust and adapt to the changing market climate. When the market was changing at a rapid pace, the toy company stayed pretty much the same. I have come to think that big companies are less likely to take risks. Most of them who think they are too big to fail often get out paced by their smaller, more innovative competitors. Most customers found online shopping suits their buying habits better. The company lost most of their momentum because it didn’t stay ahead of the technology, which the new generation embraced.

Competitive Factors –
As Toys R Us began losing to the competition in technology, innovation and adapting to the market environment, it began competing on price alone. They slashed prices to their products the lowest which did not prove to be a disadvantage. Going for the lowest price point was not the best solution long term because there was always a cheaper alternative.The company was no competition for the rise of e-commerce retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target.

Economic Factors –
Toys R Us economic decisions led the company to further contribute to the fall of the beloved retailer. The Toys R Us formed an agreement with Retail Dive which effectively gave them control of the company. News publications alleged that Toys R Us possibly misled their suppliers. Leading up to and during its bankruptcy, Toys R Us kept ordering products that it knew it might not pay for. Even after filing for bankruptcy, the company continued to place orders on extended terms and apply pressure to the suppliers. This posed a great risk for suppliers because they were uncertain if they would ever get paid for their work.

Political and Legal Factors –
Toys R Us set itself back when they agreed to a 10 year contract to be the exclusive vendor of their toys on Amazon. Amazon started allowing other toy vendors to sell their products on its platform in spite of the deal and in 2004 Toys R Us filed a lawsuit to end the agreement. If Toys R Us was aware and acted on the changing market environment, they would have had the opportunity to develop its own e-commerce presence early on. Lack of modernizing the way they do business is what likely led to the toy company to bankruptcy.

Demographic Factors –
Toys R Us demographic factors were somewhat limited, and likely played a role in its downfall. The company’s target audience were children and their parents or family. The industry as a whole declined due lack of interest in physical toys. Most exclusive toys are now considered a collection item instead of something young people use to play with. I read an article published by Business Insider and the headline read “Toys R Us says millennials not having kids hurt the company-and it could be because of a looming democratic time bomb”. As stated in the beginning of the paper, the toy company launched its first store when the baby boomer generation was young, which made up the largest generation in US history. Toys R Us’ decline in sales began in the early 1990s when the US started to see a gradual drop in births and declined even more during the 2008 recession.

[Ivan Ramos]

<b>Toys “R” Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer founded by Charles P. Lazarus in 1957. Its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Pasippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, during the post-war baby boom. While the expansion of Toys “R” Us was great, the rise of online retailers such as Amazon and other merchant retailers cost the toy company its share of the toy market, which led to filing for bankruptcy in 2018. </b>

 

<b>Social Factors – </b>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>With the rise of e-commerce, businesses globalizing and interactive gaming being converted to the online space, Toys R Us failed to adjust and adapt to the changing market climate. When the market was changing at a rapid pace, the toy company stayed pretty much the same. I have come to think that big companies are less likely to take risks. Most of them who think they are too big to fail often get out paced by their smaller, more innovative competitors. Most customers found online shopping suits their buying habits better. The company lost most of their momentum because it didn’t stay ahead of the technology, which the new generation embraced.</span>

 

<b>Competitive Factors</b><b> – </b>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>As Toys R Us began losing to the competition in technology, innovation and adapting to the market environment, it began competing on price alone. They slashed prices to their products the lowest which did not prove to be a disadvantage. Going for the lowest price point was not the best solution long term because there was always a cheaper alternative.The company was no competition for the rise of e-commerce retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target. </span>

 

<b>Economic Factors – </b>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys R Us economic decisions led the company to further contribute to the fall of the beloved retailer. The Toys R Us formed an agreement with Retail Dive which effectively gave them control of the company. News publications alleged that Toys R Us possibly misled their suppliers. Leading up to and during its bankruptcy, Toys R Us kept ordering products that it knew it might not pay for. Even after filing for bankruptcy, the company continued to place orders on extended terms and apply pressure to the suppliers. This posed a great risk for suppliers because they were uncertain if they would ever get paid for their work. </span>

 

<b>Political and Legal Factors – </b>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys R Us set itself back when they agreed to a 10 year contract to be the exclusive vendor of their toys on Amazon. Amazon started allowing other toy vendors to sell their products on its platform in spite of the deal and in 2004 Toys R Us filed a lawsuit to end the agreement. If Toys R Us was aware and acted on the changing market environment, they would have had the opportunity to develop its own e-commerce presence early on. Lack of modernizing the way they do business is what likely led to the toy company to bankruptcy.</span>

 

<b>Demographic Factors – </b>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys R Us demographic factors were somewhat limited, and likely played a role in its downfall. The company’s target audience were children and their parents or family. The industry as a whole declined due lack of interest in physical toys. Most exclusive toys are now considered a collection item instead of something young people use to play with. I read an article published by Business Insider and the headline read “Toys R Us says millennials not having kids hurt the company-and it could be because of a looming democratic time bomb”. As stated in the beginning of the paper, the toy company launched its first store when the baby boomer generation was young, which made up the largest generation in US history. Toys R Us’ decline in sales began in the early 1990s when the US started to see a gradual drop in births and declined even more during the 2008 recession. </span>

<br style=”font-weight: 400;” /><br style=”font-weight: 400;” />

[Amit Roy]

Week C Assignment

Toys R Us is an American toy, clothing and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids. the company was founded in 1957, it’s first store was built in April 1948. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and 2018 closing all of its US, British, and Australian locations, with the last US stores closing in 2021. Operations in other international markets such as Asia and Africa were less affected, but chains in Canada, parts of Europe and Asia were eventually sold to third-parties.
Social Factors- Over the years Toys R Us has experienced a significant decline in the overall revenues. This was mainly due to the fact that the company wasn’t dynamic enough to change its strategies in the face of changing consumer preferences of the preferred online portals. They haven’t adapted the new modern way of selling items like maintaining the online platform they just have the old way of selling things that are not acceptable as times changes they also have to make some changes and make changes with the time to catch and attract customer so that the kids will go to the stores or the ads on television or radio or other platforms that are used today to gain and attract customers.
Demographic Factors- The factors that changed the company that the kids are getting attracted toward the online games or online e-games they are not getting interested in the physical toy games that this company makes as that is the modern era that is taking over on everything like new phones, new gaming consoles, new portable gaming modules that are coming to with the time that the company didn’t switch or evolve to transform their business and the marketing that they should have done with time to time to make the business stand for the long run by making accessible to people by the online platforms and the new things for the kids to attract them to buying the toys and other things.
Economic Factors- Financial Market Structure and Availability of Capital at Reasonable Rates – The quantitative easing policy of Federal Reserve has led to liquidity flooding all across the global financial markets. Toys R Us can borrow cheaply under such circumstances, and they were not able to compete due to the debt that they were in and they are swamping into the debts more as the days were going they don’t have the fixed structure that can save them from this disaster and they were just going in, and the revenues they are earning are going towards their debt that they had to pay off so eventually they are not making any money that they can save or invest in another things or another platforms. As they are letting their stores to go off, laying off their staffs as they were not making a lot money from the stores that they had and the company had to file for bankruptcy due to the lack of income and they were not having the strategy of how to get things back as they have just entered to the new business era that they should have joined back a long then but they were late to join the business that they have created for themselves.
Political and Legal Factors- The company didn’t get the start of their online business so they partnered and merchandise with the amazon to open their online business hoping that they would eventually enter the online business but amazon is a platform for all business so other other competitors also sell their products at the cheaper price than the Toys R Us and that’s a fall for the company as they are a large retail business chain they could have opened their own online business site instead they partnered with amazon to sell on amazon and the company took amazon to the court that they won the battle but it’s of no point that they only won $51,000 and their competitors were doing business to the modern way that people are shopping and want to shop in online to save their time and getting the things that they want.
Competitive Factors- Big companies like Walmart, Macy’s, Costco and other big retailer have move with the times to get in to the business and created such big force of the platform and the choice of toys that the kids and grab while their parents are shopping and with a lot cheaper prices that the companies have purchase for as they are making their money through different ways as the kids are shopping for the toys they parents are buying other stuff and at reasonable prices that they want to buy and they shop online also if they want as they have their own online platforms that people can shop. And to join with amazon also backfire them as they were not making any money out of anything, and was not able to attract more customers, that eventually led them to file for bankruptcy. The ultimate failing of this company was for as it didn’t evolve with the times as the whole business platform was changing and that every business was entering on online platforms and they didn’t keep the pace with the time that eventually led them to fail.

[Syeed Salvant]

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys R Us was a staple of my childhood, at any moment when you entered a Toys R Us establishment you would see a store full of kids excited to buy toys but as we all know success is not everlasting especially in business.  Whatever does not evolve will eventually die out and this is essentially what happened to Toys R Us. </span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Social Factors – Toys R Us was not socially adept and they either were not aware of this or did not have the business acumen to adapt to the times. Technology has been our evolution and If you do not keep up you can get left behind when it comes to business. Toys can now be ordered online and be acquired in 24 hours through that process and physical toys continue to lose their popularity now that there are options like gaming consoles, and mobile games which have grown immensely in popularity. These factors are what led to Toys R Us failing socially. </span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Demographic Factors – Toys R Us catered to childrens with their toys but they only sold physical toys, when the market eventually evolved it was the beginning of the end for </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys R Us because they did not evolve along with it. </span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Economic Factors – Toys R Us economically collapsed, their competition was one step ahead of them and as a business they didn’t put in enough work to keep up or match the ambition of their new competitors. Toys R Us ended up filing for bankruptcy because of how much money they were losing and have not recovered since. </span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Political and legal factors – Toys R us patterned with Amazon after signing a ten year exclusive  deal they paid Amazon fifty million dollars a year for the right to have Amazon sell their toys exclusively. Following the success of this partnership Amazon decided to include the competition of Toys R Us which prompted them to sue and they did go on to win but the damage had already been done, Toys R Us no longer had Amazon and they had no online presence of their own. </span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Competitive factors – Toys R Us was blown out of the water by their competition, they were inert when it came to the development of their product, they were blinded by the previous success they had. Other businesses had lower prices and were familiar with the online market </span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Competitive factors, Social Factors, Economic factors, demographic factors, political and legal factors</span>

 

[Syeed Salvant]

(Reposting because my original post is not visible)

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>      Toys R Us was a staple of my childhood, at any moment when you entered a Toys R Us establishment you would see a store full of kids excited to buy toys but as we all know success is not everlasting especially in business.  Whatever does not evolve will eventually die out and this is essentially what happened to Toys R Us. </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Social Factors – Toys R Us was not socially adept and they either were not aware of this or did not have the business acumen to adapt to the times. Technology has been our evolution and If you do not keep up you can get left behind when it comes to business. Toys can now be ordered online and be acquired in 24 hours through that process and physical toys continue to lose their popularity now that there are options like gaming consoles, and mobile games which have grown immensely in popularity. These factors are what led to Toys R Us failing socially. </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Demographic Factors – Toys R Us catered to childrens with their toys but they only sold physical toys, when the market eventually evolved it was the beginning of the end for </span><span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys R Us because they did not evolve along with it. </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Economic Factors – Toys R Us economically collapsed, their competition was one step ahead of them and as a business they didn’t put in enough work to keep up or match the ambition of their new competitors. Toys R Us ended up filing for bankruptcy because of how much money they were losing and have not recovered since. </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Political and legal factors – Toys R us patterned with Amazon after signing a ten year exclusive  deal they paid Amazon fifty million dollars a year for the right to have Amazon sell their toys exclusively. Following the success of this partnership Amazon decided to include the competition of Toys R Us which prompted them to sue and they did go on to win but the damage had already been done, Toys R Us no longer had Amazon and they had no online presence of their own. </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Competitive factors – Toys R Us was blown out of the water by their competition, they were inert when it came to the development of their product, they were blinded by the previous success they had. Other businesses had lower prices and were familiar with the online market </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Competitive factors, Social Factors, Economic factors, demographic factors, political and legal factors</span>

 

[Germain Soriano]

<div class=”elementToProof ContentPasted0″>Businesses must always be aware of changes in their market and respond accordingly. Failure to do so will result in a shuttering business. Sadly, my favorite childhood store, Toys R Us, is a perfect example of a failed business. Toys R Us didn’t adopt changes to social, competitiveness, economic, and demographic factors.</div>
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<div class=”ContentPasted0″>1) Social Factors: The biggest social factor was the shift to modern technology. Although Toys R Us attempted ecommerce with their failed alliance with Amazon, Toys R Us didn’t attempt to make their own user-friendly website while they were hemorrhaging funds and sales in their lawsuit against Amazon.  It wasn’t until 2014 that Toys R Us established their website, by then, it was too late. Moreover, children were preferring tech gadgets like video games consoles (such as the PlayStation) and mp3 players. These new technological gadgets were perfect substitutes to the trendiest toy and was more desirable because of the higher utility.</div>
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<div class=”ContentPasted0″>2) Competitiveness Factors: An array of substitute options sold by competitors also aided in the demise of Toys R Us. Stores such as Kmart and Walmart sold similar looking toys. The third-party toys sold by retail competitors weren’t of similar quality to the toys made directly by the manufacturer, but they were similar looking in appearance, and could be purchased as a reasonable price. Moreover, retail competitors had a competitive advantage because families could purchase other products (like clothing and household essentials) in addition to toys.</div>
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<div>3) Economic Factors:  A weak American economy in the early 2000’s impacted the sales of Toys R Us.  Stagnant wages, a slow job market, and inflation reduced the purchasing power of families. A weak economy results in lower sales.</div>
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<div>4) Demographic factors: Toys R Us target demographic was children. This demographic age is short-lived because children grow up.  Additionally, children don’t have incomes, so Toys R Us sales was at the mercy of the income made by their families.</div>
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[katellyn ahuatl]

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys R Us founded by Charles P. Lazarus in Maryland </span><span style=”font-weight: 400;”>was one of the world’s leading retailers of toys, children’s clothing, and baby products</span><span style=”font-weight: 400;”> for over a decade operating in 1,500 stores in 35 countries. Although the popularity of Toysrus only lasted a few because in 2018, seventy years later, they filed for bankruptcy and closed its stores worldwide. </span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Social Factors: </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys R Us as a company failed to adapt to new changes that came within the environment. Being engaged with society is a crucial part of ruining a successful business. They had little to none </span><span style=”font-weight: 400;”>efforts to present themselves in a more engaging and attractive way to attract more customers</span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Economic Factors</span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toy R us struggled to keep up with the profit margins as technology strived in comparison to “old school” toys.  The lack of locations contributed to their economies failing since there were only a few locations getting started which didn’t come close to the three competitors. Toysrus was finding themselves in debt which was growing down and was forced to shut down one store at a time and at the end, making them less stable compared to others which led to more people going online for their toys, which brought them to amazon and other retailers.</span><span style=”font-weight: 400;”> Accessibility</span><span style=”font-weight: 400;”> was key to their downfall </span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Demographic Factors:</span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Toys R Us’s other mistake was their limitation of products carried for their customer. ToysRus was solely focused on a one targeted audience which was children. This strategy was ultimately one of their biggest mistakes. As we know the rising and growing era of how children are, there was a shift from wanting toys to wanting electronics or hands on. Toysrus failed to keep up with </span><span style=”font-weight: 400;”>technology, unlike its competitors which were embracing technology and innovation to adapt to the changing preferences and buying habits of the new generations.</span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Political and legal factors: </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>When it comes to the political and legal terms we see that Toysrus was led to bankruptcy in the courts due to the contract they signed with Amazon. The contract was based on an agreement where Amazon agreed to carry ToysRus products which ideally was a good idea to gain more money through an online presence. This quickly turned around when Amazon started selling third party products at lower prices putting them in competition. When Toysrus saw this pattern they took Amazon to court in hopes they can get out but it was too late, they ended up losing more money to them and falling behind in there e- e-commerce efforts and profits. </span>

 

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Competitive Factors:  </span>

<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>When it comes to huge companies like Toys R Us they have to keep in mind that there’s other competitors alongside selling the same product or similar at lower prices. Especially in the growing era we live in today companies shouldn’t depend on one way or marketing their products. Toys R Us was faced not only with competitors like target , walmart, kmart but also online shopping started to take over and many customers went to the one that sold the items for the lowest prices which ToysRus failed to contribute and change which ultimately led that to be in debt and was too far along to turn around since the competition was already doing so good with their marketing and sales advertisement.</span>

[katellyn ahuatl]

Toys R Us founded by Charles P. Lazarus in Maryland was one of the world’s leading retailers of toys, children’s clothing, and baby products for over a decade operating in 1,500 stores in 35 countries. Although the popularity of Toysrus only lasted a few because in 2018, seventy years later, they filed for bankruptcy and closed its stores worldwide.

Social Factors:
Toys R Us as a company failed to adapt to new changes that came within the environment. Being engaged with society is a crucial part of ruining a successful business. They had little to none efforts to present themselves in a more engaging and attractive way to attract more customers

Economic Factors
Toy R us struggled to keep up with the profit margins as technology strived in comparison to “old school” toys. The lack of locations contributed to their economies failing since there were only a few locations getting started which didn’t come close to the three competitors. Toysrus was finding themselves in debt which was growing down and was forced to shut down one store at a time and at the end, making them less stable compared to others which led to more people going online for their toys, which brought them to amazon and other retailers. Accessibility was key to their downfall

Demographic Factors:
Toys R Us’s other mistake was their limitation of products carried for their customer. ToysRus was solely focused on a one targeted audience which was children. This strategy was ultimately one of their biggest mistakes. As we know the rising and growing era of how children are, there was a shift from wanting toys to wanting electronics or hands on. Toysrus failed to keep up with technology, unlike its competitors which were embracing technology and innovation to adapt to the changing preferences and buying habits of the new generations.

Political and legal factors:
When it comes to the political and legal terms we see that Toysrus was led to bankruptcy in the courts due to the contract they signed with Amazon. The contract was based on an agreement where Amazon agreed to carry ToysRus products which ideally was a good idea to gain more money through an online presence. This quickly turned around when Amazon started selling third party products at lower prices putting them in competition. When Toysrus saw this pattern they took Amazon to court in hopes they can get out but it was too late, they ended up losing more money to them and falling behind in there e- e-commerce efforts and profits.

Competitive Factors:
When it comes to huge companies like Toys R Us they have to keep in mind that there’s other competitors alongside selling the same product or similar at lower prices. Especially in the growing era we live in today companies shouldn’t depend on one way or marketing their products. Toys R Us was faced not only with competitors like target , walmart, kmart but also online shopping started to take over and many customers went to the one that sold the items for the lowest prices which Toysrus failed to contribute and change which ultimately led that to be in debt and was too far along to turn around since the competition was already doing so good with their marketing and sales.

[Aumi]

Assignment C
Toys R Us used to be the most influential company of toys in America just a couple of decades ago. Since the moment it was founded in 1957, throughout the following years this brand showed a promising and stable future being the number one nightmare for its competitors. It seemed that there was no other path for their future than to expand and grow. Nevertheless, the company saw the end of its glory days because, among other factors, it failed to pursue new tactics to maintain its value in the outgrowing market of toy’s companies and ended up filing bankruptcy in 2017.

I’m going to be ranking some of the main marketing environment components that I consider were significant in the downfall of Toys R Us.

1)Demographic Factors: The company failed to execute the necessary changes to keep the brand as appealing for the new generation of kids who are more captivated by electronics, video games and social media. When a company fails to listen and provide their target population with the things that they’re interested in, the demand on the brand will naturally decay. For this reason, I believe that their main mistake was not listening to their customers’ needs.
2)Social Factors: As a toys’ brand the public that it used to target was kids. This company has existed since 1957, back then the interests of this group were totally different to the kids today, however this didn’t necessarily mean that it would be harder for them to reach their demographic. The way that companies influence the population has changed overall with the technology era. This brand lost the opportunity to evolve into creating a deeper and effective presence through technology as a means to promote themselves.
3)Political and Legal Factors: The company’s intentions to expand their horizons to the online market was a good strategy in theory. They stipulated a partnership with Amazon in which they would pay for exclusively. However, Amazon did not respect the deal and started selling toys from ToysRUs competitors. After terminating the deal and winning the lawsuit to Amazon, ToysRUs had to start their online presence from scratch, but by that moment it was too late to make any difference.
4)Competitive Factors: Despite the increasingly changing times, ToysRUs stated pretty much the same from its beginnings to the end. It was a very big company, for which huge changes and innovation were impossible to achieve at a fast pace. Unfortunately, the emerging competitors such as Walmart and Target were able to provide an experience that satisfied their consumers’ needs. There was nothing unique that would separate ToysRUs from many other innovative brands.
5)Economic Factors: After their past failures this company became an unsustainable business. They were in an urgent need of rebranding in order to keep up with their competitors. Unfortunately, by the time that they realized this, they couldn’t do anything as they were facing a huge debt.

[Author]

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