In the latest in a series of interviews, Preschoolnews.net checks in with Michelle Probert, sales and marketing manager for Juratoys, to see. how they are tackling the Coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.
Firstly, how are you and your colleagues? Safe and well we hope?
We are all well thank you and thankfully the Juratoys team have all stayed healthy and safe along with our families.
What is the current state of play with the business? Are you able to function still to a certain degree?
Our colleagues in France, Italy and Germany are a few weeks ahead of us in terms of the issues created by Covid 19, so we have taken a lead from them. We shut our UK office when things started to unfold in the UK and took the advice from the government to stay at home. Luckily we are able to work from home and are still able to fulfil orders quickly and efficiently for customers still trading. We have had to take a decision to reduce the team slightly due to so many shops being closed, but we are still operating a full service.
How are you finding your retailers are coping with the current situation?
Many of our online accounts are still seeing a demand for toys at this time. We have seen sales increase across a few of our key customers and even opened some new accounts, which is really positive.
Is there any particular line that you have found has a had a spike in sales since the country has been in lockdown?
Consumers are placing orders for a wide range of products, however educational lines are definitely a favourite, along with puzzles and games. .
Are you offering and extra support to your customers during this time?
A few of our smaller shops who don’t trade online are offering a delivery service for their local customers, which is great and shows a real drive to make the best out of a bad situation – we wish all the best to these people who are trying everything they can to keep a positive attitude and to serve their regular shop visitors. It’s important to keep going, keep busy and motivated at a time like this and to stay in touch with our customers. At Juratoys we pride ourselves on exceptional customer service and one of us is on hand at all times to answer questions and place orders.
What is your outlook for the future once things get back to some kind of ‘normality’?
When this is all over and we can return to normality, we will definitely be having a team night out!! We all look forward to seeing each other again. We will continue to stay focused on the future and to build on the success we had at the start of the year, off of the back of some great trade shows.
