Mid-year Toy Sales to buck retail trends

Retailers are expecting the mid-year Toy Sales will draw big crowds as savvy mums and dads, eager to grab a bargain, hit the stores. It is looking like Toy Sales this year will buck the trend of a lack-lustre sales season as Australian consumers head online to research what to buy and where to shop in a growing consumer trend called pre-shopping.

Online pre-shopping portal, Lasoo.com.au, is experiencing significant increases in traffic volumes and expects over 2 million unique visitors to the site during the Toy Sales in July, representing roughly 1 in 4 Australian households.

50 per cent of all in-store purchases are now influenced online[1] and the trend of using technology in the purchasing decision continues to grow rapidly[2].

During the Christmas period last year, 2.29 million Australians were driven in-store after first researching an item on Lasoo, with 75 per cent going on to buy. The mid-year Toy Sales represent the second busiest retail season after Christmas and Lasoo expects around 1.5 million people to purchase in-store after visiting Lasoo.

Paul Marshall, CEO of Lasoo, said the rising cost of living means that Australians are looking for a bargain and pre-shopping saves time and money as well as reducing shopping stress.

“Pre-shopping on Lasoo empowers shoppers by giving them all the information they need to make an informed decision about when, where and what to buy,” said Marshall.

“Smart shoppers who go online to pre-shop are able to compare prices across retailers to make sure they get the best deals, as well as check the availability of hard-to-find toys before they sell out.

“We are also seeing a significant increase in the use of mobile devices to research products and locations. Lasoo has responded by launching a variety of Apps across different platforms to giving our millions of users the added convenience of accessing the site when on the move. Currently, the Lasoo mobile App is in the Top 5 Apps within the Lifestyle section in the iTunes Store,” he said.

While early predictions pointed to a lack-lustre sales season, the hugely popular Toy Sales season is set to buck the trend and bring customers back to stores.

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[1] ACRS Research
[2] According to Lasoo statistics

About Lasoo.com.au

Lasoo.com.au is a website that allows consumers to search and browse the latest advertised products from leading retailers including K Mart, Big W & Target, to help them find what to buy and where to buy it, before going in store.

Lasoo is a Pre-shopping™ tool that extends the reach and influence of any retail marketing message onto the mobile phone (m.lasoo.com.au), and into iPhone, iPad, Windows7 and Android applications, search engine marketing, social networks, user-generated social shopping and display ad networks.

The Lasoo mobile App has featured in the Top 5 Apps within the Lifestyle section in the iTunes Store, with more than 160,000 Australians now having downloaded the app since it was first launched in September 2009.

Lasoo is a division of Salmat Ltd (SLM), a top 300 ASX-listed business with over 30 years of experience in distributing retailers' promotional material directly to consumers. Salmat has an long-standing relationships with both retailers and shoppers.

Lasoo is part of a wider range of digital services that Salmat offers designed to allow retailers to harness the advertising power of the internet. This includes Dynamic Catalogue, a fully managed and hosted catalogue solution for retailers websites, making it searchable, browsable, fast loading, discoverable and actionable. Dynamic Catalogue is the leading catalogue viewing technology in Australia.