“Licensing has become a much bigger focus for us”

Why licensing is now playing a key role for Groupon as it gears up for Christmas.

Licensing has become a much bigger part of Groupon’s focus, especially as it has ramped up its toy promotional offers.

Speaking to Licensing Source Book as part of the judging of the product categories for this year’s Licensing Awards, category manager for toys, nursery and pet care, Chris Ashton (pictured right) and Ben Hoyle, senior toy buyer explained the dynamic growth its toy business has seen.

“Licensing has become a much bigger part of our focus,” the duo explained. “Two years ago we had 40 toy promotions, this Christmas we are gearing up for in excess of 1,000 different ones and licensing is playing a key role as they chime with so many of our 10 million active users.”

When asked what had been some of the top performers on the site, they continued: “Having lived through the World Cup, this summer a big hit for us was the Panini Stickers – we did a great trade in complete CDUs, each holding 100 packs of stickers. The power of football cannot be underestimated.”

Meanwhile, future trends will have a focus on retro and classic children’s properties.

“We also foresee a resurgence of popular retro programmes, the best of example of which would be Friends.

“In the children’s sphere we predict there will be more latching onto properties that people can trust, such as Elmer, Peter Rabbit and The Gruffalo, with the 20th anniversary celebrations of the latter next year bound to result in an extra boost of interest.”

This feature originally appeared in the autumn 2018 edition of Licensing Source Book. Click here to read the full publication.

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