Question Selling carseats from a store

Not sure where this belongs so please move if needed

A friend & I are looking to buy a baby boutique - we would be buying the name/products & rights to the products they currently sell.

As of right now they sell Diono the RXT & R100. There is another baby store about 3 blocks up that also sells the RXT. They are the only places besides Walmart & CT that sell carseats in my town

My friend & I would love to carry Britax & Clek instead & maybe Peg...I think having the Diono is great too but it's hard with the price point & another store selling them

I asked the current store owner about it & she said she would love to carry Britax but her attempt to carry them didn't work out

I am a tech if that helps at all.

I haven't looked into it too much but is there a trick to becoming able to sell? Would I just contact the companies & ask ( once we own the business of course) & would there still be a tech discount on store orders or only personal? ( doesn't matter just curious)

If I can figure this out before we buy that would be great - I'd like to get the business plan going ASAP & having that info would be helpful

I was thinking of carrying the MA & BLVD & then likely the Foonf when/ if it comes out & Oobr...the peg convertible would be a good one too! The only other seat I would love to have that we can't get in my area is the MR but I don't think Graco would do great in this high end type boutique

Any pros/cons to those seats? Another one I haven't thought of?

I don't know the business end of retail, but I think you will find it very difficult to sell the same lines as nearby big box stores. Britax used to be a staple of independent baby stores, then they started to sell in BRU, Target and other big retailers and the small shops could not compete.

Diono isn't yet carried by a lot of major chains, BuyBuyBaby being one that is in my area. That may be a reason they are still sold in smaller shops. Orbit and Clek might be good ones, also, depending what the big stores carry in your area.

I would expect that the prices given to even lower volume retailers would be lower than the tech discount, otherwise you'd probably find it impossible to make a profit after all the expenses you have as a brick and mortar.

The very few remaining baby boutiques here haven't sold carseats in ages. There just wasn't enough margin apparently to compete with big boxes, Amazons, Diapers.coms, Wayfairs, etc. They mostly specialize in higher end furniture and accessories than you find in those stores.

Maybe things are different in Canada, but I'd be very wary of selling identical commodity items like carseats that are easily found online with free shipping or at big discounts by high volume stores. Even stores like BRU/TRU are finding it hard to compete with online retailers these days, thus the increasing numbers of "exclusive" products, fashions, re-named products and other arrangements to make sure you can't find the exact same item online. As a small shop, you obviously don't have the leverage to get your own products or fashions, making it even tougher.

I would choose an infant seat also.

Well, basically all you can get at Walmart & CT is the low end Dorel and Evenflo seats so I'd say it's worth your while to try to bring in Britax anyway, especially if the other boutique doesn't carry them. I live in a small city where a couple places carry Britax and I know the independent boutique does well with them, even though BRU carries them as well. We don't have the wide variety of online places to get seats either, especially at a discount. Yes, Amazon.ca is carrying some now, but nothing high end that I've noticed recently...mostly Graco, etc. Nothing comparable to Wayfair or NBD here that I'm aware of.

CPSDarren said:

I don't know the business end of retail, but I think you will find it very difficult to sell the same lines as nearby big box stores. Britax used to be a staple of independent baby stores, then they started to sell in BRU, Target and other big retailers and the small shops could not compete.

Diono isn't yet carried by a lot of major chains, BuyBuyBaby being one that is in my area. That may be a reason they are still sold in smaller shops. Orbit and Clek might be good ones, also, depending what the big stores carry in your area.

I would expect that the prices given to even lower volume retailers would be lower than the tech discount, otherwise you'd probably find it impossible to make a profit after all the expenses you have as a brick and mortar.

The very few remaining baby boutiques here haven't sold carseats in ages. There just wasn't enough margin apparently to compete with big boxes, Amazons, Diapers.coms, Wayfairs, etc. They mostly specialize in higher end furniture and accessories than you find in those stores.

Maybe things are different in Canada, but I'd be very wary of selling identical commodity items like carseats that are easily found online with free shipping or at big discounts by high volume stores. Even stores like BRU/TRU are finding it hard to compete with online retailers these days, thus the increasing numbers of "exclusive" products, fashions, re-named products and other arrangements to make sure you can't find the exact same item online. As a small shop, you obviously don't have the leverage to get your own products or fashions, making it even tougher.

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I live on an island & there are only 2 TRU - one an hour away & one 3 hours away - our TRU only offers free shipping to $20 which usually doesn't cover the cost of shipping.

We don't have any other stores on our island to my knowledge that sell Britax - TRU & Sears both sell Diono though.

I find Diono easier to buy in our area than Britax & Clek for sure!

I think Amazon online is the only other competitor & I haven't seen a Britax on there - Amazon.ca is mostly Graco & Dorel

I do know that this boutique & the other do sell the Diono's quite well & we also are fortunate to get alot of business from communities up north of us who have little to no retail stores which helps! They are much more willing to come & spend a fair amount of money in boutique stores because shipping to their small towns is expensive & usually not applicable

If I lived in the US I would agree with you & it likely wouldn't be worth it at all but I think being in Canada & living on a smaller island works in our favor of having a few higher end carseats available without traveling or paying shipping.

Thank you for your input! It's alot to think about in general but you gave me more to look into

Jessica61624 said:

I would choose an infant seat also.

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Good call!!!!

Thank you

Now to choose between the chaperone of peg....I personally choose chaperone but I will have to do more research on the peg to see which might be more beneficial to carry & of course sell better!

Keeks64 said:

I live on an island & there are only 2 TRU - one an hour away & one 3 hours away - our TRU only offers free shipping to $20 which usually doesn't cover the cost of shipping.

We don't have any other stores on our island to my knowledge that sell Britax - TRU & Sears both sell Diono though.

I find Diono easier to buy in our area than Britax & Clek for sure!

I think Amazon online is the only other competitor & I haven't seen a Britax on there - Amazon.ca is mostly Graco & Dorel

I do know that this boutique & the other do sell the Diono's quite well & we also are fortunate to get alot of business from communities up north of us who have little to no retail stores which helps! They are much more willing to come & spend a fair amount of money in boutique stores because shipping to their small towns is expensive & usually not applicable

If I lived in the US I would agree with you & it likely wouldn't be worth it at all but I think being in Canada & living on a smaller island works in our favor of having a few higher end carseats available without traveling or paying shipping.

Thank you for your input! It's alot to think about in general but you gave me more to look into

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There is a store here in Duncan that sells Britax seats. The whole line. Maybe ask them how they started? They are a consignment store and they are always needing to order more stock since they seem to sell quickly. I'm not sure if I can post the name here so you can pm me if you want the name.

Or I will see you Saturday at the clinic.

I was going to mention the Duncan place selling Britax as well. And there are a few in Victoria - JamTots and TJs. What does Kidlets in Campbell River carry - just Diono or nothing anymore?

I think you would do very well with Britax - perhaps the Marathon alone, or maybe Frontier too. It would be terrific to pick and choose which seats from which manufacturers but I think that if you carry Britax you have to carry all of their seats Not sure if the Oobr would fly here, but the Foonf might. KeyFit? And the Peg 30/30 perhaps. There's the B-Safe too by Britax. I'm not sure it hits all the marks for the price but you'll always have people wanting the Britax name.

Based on the number of Radians I see in this town I think there is a market for higher end seats. But Amazon.ca does have Radians and Britax seats - especially good prices on the Radians. I am excited for you and I hope this works out

You would need to contact the Canadian Britax and set up a merchant account. You buy seats at cost plus shipping and sell them for MSRP.
Britax dictates sales and promos. You can set up net 30 terms or leave a CC on file. You issue a PO at store level and send it to you Britax rep, or call and put together a PO. For me I receive seats aprox. 14 days after sending in my PO. You do not have to carry all the seats, we do not sell the RA in our store.

I find that infant seat sales really depend on what stroller is popular in your area. I do the purchasing of all the car seats for my company and our infant seat sales would sky rocket if we carried the Mico or Peg, since thats what is most popular to go with the strollers parents buy. We carry Britax, Diono, Clek with a few Graco and First Years products.

LMK if you would like anymore info.

Pixelated said:

I was going to mention the Duncan place selling Britax as well. And there are a few in Victoria - JamTots and TJs. What does Kidlets in Campbell River carry - just Diono or nothing anymore?

I think you would do very well with Britax - perhaps the Marathon alone, or maybe Frontier too. It would be terrific to pick and choose which seats from which manufacturers but I think that if you carry Britax you have to carry all of their seats Not sure if the Oobr would fly here, but the Foonf might. KeyFit? And the Peg 30/30 perhaps. There's the B-Safe too by Britax. I'm not sure it hits all the marks for the price but you'll always have people wanting the Britax name.

Based on the number of Radians I see in this town I think there is a market for higher end seats. But Amazon.ca does have Radians and Britax seats - especially good prices on the Radians. I am excited for you and I hope this works out

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Kidlets doesn't sell seats anymore.

The store in Duncan is Kinderbeez and they also sell BOB strollers and have the matching bsafe combo I believe.

This sounds very exciting. I'm going to give you some advice as someone who has worked in a retail store that sells carseats and competes very closely with a boutique store. Note that I'm taking off my tech hat here.

I would still carry the Diono seats - even if the other store carries it, if people come in to your store looking at the Britax, or the Peg, or whatever to compare to the Diono they saw at another store, and then decide they prefer the Diono, they're going to buy it at the store they're currently at. You don't want customers to walk away with nothing and go to the other store to buy the Diono.

Bringing in more brands makes great sense - people will come in to your store because you have the selection, and then they'll buy what they want because they're already there. When prices are the same - which Diono and Britax prices are pretty identical most of the time, then convenience is going to be the deciding factor. Unless there is huge loyalty involved, most customers are going to buy the seat at the store that they're currently in - assuming the store has it in stock.

So all this to say - you're going to benefit from continuing to carry the Diono - don't discontinue it just because other stories carry it, because customers who come to check out other seats may still choose the Diono seat and you want to be able to provide them that option.

As a boutique, you'll want to carry all 4 infant/child seats that Britax has. You don't have to carry all the colors - I'm sure that there must be some flexibility in regards to that, but you don't want to "cap" what your customers are going to spend. For example, people look at Britax because "it's the safest." At that point, they don't know the differences between the models, and if you can't explain the differences, chances are they're going to go with the least expensive. However, explain the differences, and most people move up to at least the boulevard, and in some cases they jump all the way up to the advocate - I don't know mark-up off the top of my head, but in retail dollars, that is a $100 jump from the Marathon to the Advocate - that's a lot, especially if a family is buying for more than one child or more than one vehicle.

As for seats, there are many infant seats I prefer over the Peg, but the Peg infant seats are very popular and have a very good reputation. People seem to gravitate towards them due to them being made in Italy and having the side impact protection. On the down side, they are a heavy carrier - and they *feel* heavy to parents - that is the biggest complaint I hear about Peg infant seats. They also are not easy to install with just a seatbelt - UAS is simple, no problem - but seatbelt installs and the Peg infant seat often don't get along well.

I don't know what floor space is like at the store that you're looking at, or what storage room space is like, but I'd probably suggest Britax, Peg, Diono, and Clek if you think there's the market for it.

One thing to keep in mind about infant seats, is that when you introduce infant seats in to the mix, you are also going to be getting people looking for strollers. So if the store doesn't already carry strollers, that is something else to consider. If it already carries strollers, then you'll want to carry an infant seat that is compatible with most of the strollers carried.

As for how to sell car seats, people have to use a carseat, and people are always having babies. But what will keep people coming back to your store, is honest employees who give good and accurate information. People will drive past other stores, and would probably willingly pay an extra $10 or $20 to have someone help them buy a carseat who knows what they're talking about. Parents find carseats confusing, and while selection is necessary for parents to have choice, selection also makes things harder for them.

So you need employees who are personable, reliable, well trained, accurate with their information, and can develop and maintain customer relationships over time. The baby business is very much a long term relationship - people repeatedly shop at a store during different stages - pregnancy, moving from on carseat stage to the next, etc. So you need to keep the customers happy in a way that a) makes them have a truly good experience in your store, b) reassures them that they've been given the information to make the decision that is best for them, and C) leaves them feeling like a valued customer who wants to return to your store in the future.

One additional point - employees who are well trained on car seats (and other things too for that matter,) tend to increase sales. For example, Mr Smith comes in shopping for a carseat. He goes in to store a) where he gets an employee who helps him choose a seat that is appropriate for his child, but doesn't discuss anything else. Mrs. Smith goes shopping across town at store b) where she gets an employee who listens to her when she talks about how her and her husband both drive their child regularly. The employee at store b) helps the mom choose 2 seats for the child, knowing that it is best for the family to have a seat in each vehicle.

Obviously, selling 2 seats to one family is going to increase profit by a lot... And that's where the value of well trained employees come from. My BRU sells a lot of carseats. We are one of the higher volume stores in Canada, but we also just sell a lot of seats, and part of that is because people come in looking for 1 seat and leave with 2. The other part is that we get people who drive across the city to come to my store because they know that they can get information at our store that they can't get at other stores. All of these things add up to increased sales.

I guess this got kind of long winded, but I hope that something in here helps.

Thanks for all the great advice!!

I'm not sure what's going to happen now though we just found out in January our new chamber of commerce is increasing the rent for the building by alot :O & we aren't sure moving locations is ideal

Suddenly what seats to carry are on the bottom of my list I was so flippin' excited too!!

I have written down all the suggestions & information everyone gave! Thanks a million!

I will update with any progress & if/when we get the building stuff sorted I will be back to discuss options

As a buyer, let me add another point:

If your store configuration/number of employees/etc. allows it, let parents put the convertible seats in the car to see how it fits, especially for smaller cars. I have friends with a 16-month old who's been FF since 8 months because dad bought a seat that was so big that mom had her knees in the dash in their Honda Fit.

After seeing that, I wanted to try the seat in the car before buying it. TRU will not let you do that here. However, there is a small store (unlisted in Diono's list of retailers) that sells Radians in town that let me try the seat. By try, I mean just put the seat on the back seat and see the fit without trying to attach it with UAS or seatbelt. They didn't have the Angle Adjuster (and do carry those, please, most stores had no idea what I was talking about when I was looking for one) but I made allowances for another inch, inch and a half beneath the seat (and a more upright installation).

Good luck in your endeavours!

badaza said:

As a buyer, let me add another point:

If your store configuration/number of employees/etc. allows it, let parents put the convertible seats in the car to see how it fits, especially for smaller cars. I have friends with a 16-month old who's been FF since 8 months because dad bought a seat that was so big that mom had her knees in the dash in their Honda Fit.

After seeing that, I wanted to try the seat in the car before buying it. TRU will not let you do that here. However, there is a small store (unlisted in Diono's list of retailers) that sells Radians in town that let me try the seat. By try, I mean just put the seat on the back seat and see the fit without trying to attach it with UAS or seatbelt. They didn't have the Angle Adjuster (and do carry those, please, most stores had no idea what I was talking about when I was looking for one) but I made allowances for another inch, inch and a half beneath the seat (and a more upright installation).

Good luck in your endeavours!

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Just a quick note here: If your TRU store won't let you try the seat in the car before buying, I would complain to the store director - and if that fails, call the toll free toys r us number and complain to corporate. Carseats are non-returnable once they've been used, and employees absolutely should be allowing parents to try the seats in their vehicles.

Also - when trying seats in vehicles, absolutely install the seat, even if the store employee is seeming impatient. How a seat fits sitting on the seat and how it fits once installed can be totally different. I recently helped a family after one of my co-workers had returned inside from testing seats and parent thinking neither of the seats she was looking at would fit. I knew the vehicle and the seats and knew they should both fit - so went back outside with the mom and installed them properly. (My previous co-worker doesn't have training and can't assist with test installs in vehicles - and the mom wasn't familiar enough with the seats to install them on her own.) Both seats fit just fine in the vehicle, with the one seat leaving a lot of extra room for the front seats, despite previous thoughts that neither one would fit.

Thanks for posting the reminder though, it's something that a lot of people don't consider when shopping for a seat. (And sorry about your friend ff'ing her 8 month old baby. The honda fit is a small car, and it can be challenging to find something that fits rf'ing in there. It's too bad that they didn't search out another seat and instead chose to put their baby in the seat illegally and in a direction that could have killed her had they been in a crash. )

Can an installed seat take more space than an uninstalled one? I assumed that, once installed, my Radian will take less space than not installed. As it is, uninstalled, the Radian takes almost as much space as my Maxi-Cosi Mico, which was my bare minimum, if it will take less space, all the better.

badaza said:

Can an installed seat take more space than an uninstalled one? I assumed that, once installed, my Radian will take less space than not installed. As it is, uninstalled, the Radian takes almost as much space as my Maxi-Cosi Mico, which was my bare minimum, if it will take less space, all the better.

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Hmmm, it's really hard to say. The Radian is the seat that is perhaps the most unpredictable because the angle it sits at once installed is really dependent on how far forward the "boot" slides in to the seat bite. (The point where the back of the seat and bottom of the seat meet.)

In the vast majority of cases a seat will take up less room once it's installed. I would say it's theoretically possible for it to take up more room once installed - but it would just really depend on how a seat is being placed and whether it's properly adjusted for recline etc before placing it in the vehicle.

The other thing to take in to consideration, is that just because a seat fits by space, doesn't mean that it will fit tightly in a vehicle. Not all seats are compatible with all vehicles - so there being enough room for the seat to sit there doesn't guarantee that it will properly install there. That is probably actually the biggest reason that seats should be fully installed when testing fit - physical space is only part of the equation. :thumbsup:

As someone who's bought two Britaxes and a Diono in the last 3 years, I have to second what a previous poster said about knowledgeable floor staff. We live in a city with several boutique and big box stores, and after figuring out that the big box employee we spoke to really knew less than us (and we knew next to nothing), and the 1st boutique store employee told us we were "spoiled" for wanting a Britax, we went to another boutique store where they were knowledgeable and took the time to listen. We've bought not only all of our carseats from them, they're also our first stop for all kinds of other products. We trust their advice on products because they really didn't try to snow us with the most important safety product. Good luck with your new adventure!