Week 2 Case Study
Toys “R” Us
During the 1980’s Japan’s GDP “grew at an annual rate of 7%” with retail sales booming with a 94% growth rate. This boom afforded the children of this era to be beneficiaries of such wealth and prosperity (Spar 1995). This put the retail category of the toy market in prime positioning for growth and expansion. Toys “R” Us wanted to take part in this booming economy and expand its growth into this lucrative Japanese market.
Issues within the Toys “R” Us Japan case are primarily focused on the infrastructure of the retail industry in Japan. Japanese customers were accustomed to small retail shops, and a more personal shopping experience. Having a giant retail discount store was not the custom in Japan. The customer service aspect of Toys “R” Us was lacking in its profile for entering the marketplace, as it served more as a “self-service” discount warehouse. Coinciding with this small shop experience was the problem of the sheer size of a typical Toys “R” Us store, compared to a typical Japanese retail shop. The disparaging difference equated to a Japanese retail store taking up 3,200 square feet, with 1-2,000 SKUs verses a typical Toys “R” Us store at 54,000 square feet, with 8-15,000 SKUs of toys. Beyond sheer size, the Japanese small mom and pop stores, were at the heart of Japanese culture, and were an integral part of the Japanese way of life.
Another huge barrier Toys “R” Us faced was breaking into the working relationships within Japanese distribution system. The multilayered distribution system relied on close, long term, personal relationships. The business style of Toys “R” Us, was not accustomed to such a tightly knit network of distribution. Many manufactures (such as Nintendo) refused to deal with Toys “R” Us directly; for fear that it would disrupt and disenfranchise these already established relationships.