Subject:
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Re: is lego at its best in years???
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Tue, 25 Dec 2001 15:25:18 GMT
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Viewed:
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492 times
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> In lugnet.general, Kerry Raymond writes:
> > > Who knows what the rest of the year holds....we might see further • "classic"
> > > re-releases, "legend" re-releases, or "my own creation" releases....
> > > that should be good....maybe a diner or two, a market place....
> > > these should be good,
> >
> > But almost certainly, these sets will be S@H exclusive.
>
> In the long run, I think we will find that "S@H exclusive" works in favour
> of AFOLs.
But will it work in favor of the young LEGO fans who outnumber the adult
fans by an unknown, but significant factor?
> Selling only through S@H means Lego can do a minimum production run, bung up
> a WWW page and distribute out of a couple of warehouses. If they have to put
> a set out into every retail store worldwide, that's a lot bigger production
> run and a lot more risk and hence it's a lot more important that it appeals
> to the whole Lego market including the kids.
I do hope "bung up" has a different meaning where you come from. Around
here that means you haven't had enough fiber in your diet. :)
One way that the mothership may want to try putting some of these Shop At
Home Exclusives into brick and mortor stores. Not all the retail stores,
but a selected cross-section that represents various sales regions. A group
of Toys R Us in large metropolitan centers, a few Zellers stores in
mid-sized cities, a bunch of rural Wal-Marts, and maybe some mom & pop shops
throughout the world. This then limits the risk and potentially showcases
the need for some of these higher quality sets to be released to retail.
Selling your best stuff ONLY through the internet is creating a void for
shoppers who won't (for whatever reason) buy online. End result? They may
switch brands, or simply stop buying altogether.
> So if AFOLs want stuff that Lego fear might not have the same appeal to
> kids, then S@H makes it a more viable way for Lego to sell it.
See above comments. This presumes that kids and adults always want
different types of sets.
> And presumably if something sells like hotcakes from S@H, then Lego might
> consider selling it through normal retail as well.
Or test market it to retail, as noted above.
> If "S@H exclusive" didn't exist, then I don't think we'd have some of the
> re-releases, bulk bricks, my-own-train, my-own-creation, simply because the
> risk of trialling these ideas through worldwide retailing would be too
> great.
Flip the coin over. Take a look at the other side. If the LEGO mothership
doesn't get herself back on course, there will be no Shop at Home to fuss
and discuss about. Remember, Shop at Home isn't a port in the storm, it's
an escort ship in the convoy. No aircraft carrier.... no need for a carrier
battle group.
> A large corporation is rather like a large ship at sea;
They are very much like this. I've hinted at this analogy before.
> they have a lot of
> momentum and they don't turn easily to a new direction.
Currently they are sailing without rudder or map. Any direction other than
the present course might be a good thing.
> For all the
> criticism that Lego receive here at LUGnet, I'm actually amazed at how
> quickly Lego has noticed LUGnet and has tried to respond to the desires of
> the adult market it represents.
They have responded. How quickly is a matter of debate. Ask some of the
'old timers' and I suspect you'll hear that this sort of debate and these
kinds of requests were made publicly long before LUGNET ever existed.
> I suspect there are people internal to Lego
> who are quite opposed to selling through the WWW etc and do everything in
> their power to frustrate it, simply because their job has always been
> focussed on selling to kids via retail and they don't like the change
> because it erodes their position within the company.
I agree with you here. Many many companies are fearful of change and find
it risky to try new things. My question to this issue is:
Why then has the company changed so much?
Take a look at the current product line. The fact that so *many* things are
"Not Available in Stores" suggests that someone within the company has
allowed Shop At Home sales to become fairly important. They rely on it now
(apparently) to exclusively service the adult market. Forgetting that not
all adults shop over the phone or online.
> A lot of people worry
> about their corporations moving to offering goods/services via Internet
> because they don't think they have the skills to make the transition and
> hence fear that they will be stuck in the stagnant end of the business.
Then I ask the question again. If this is truly what the problem is (and I
don't think it is) then why is the company allowing this to happen?
If you are afraid that you've rented too much office space, then you rent a
smaller office. If you're afraid that online sales may be somehow hurting
or disrupting your retail sales... you make changes.
Regards,
Allan B.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: is lego at its best in years???
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| (...) favour (...) Many kids have Lego, but how many of them are "fans" in the way adults are? While many kids like Lego a lot, you could probably find another kind of toy that would interest them just as much. However, I suspect most AFOLs are (...) (23 years ago, 26-Dec-01, to lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: is lego at its best in years???
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| (...) "classic" (...) In the long run, I think we will find that "S@H exclusive" works in favour of AFOLs. Selling only through S@H means Lego can do a minimum production run, bung up a WWW page and distribute out of a couple of warehouses. If they (...) (23 years ago, 24-Dec-01, to lugnet.general)
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