Amazon is mailing out printed holiday catalogs to millions of its customers across the United States. Titled “A Holiday of Play”, it’s packed full of the hottest toys your kids are going to want this Christmas. And Amazon is hoping you’ll buy from them.
A Holiday of Play (and Profits for Amazon)
“A Holiday of Play” is Amazon’s first ever printed holiday catalog. And the timing is no coincidence. Toys R Us went bust and shut all of its U.S. stores in June 2018. And Amazon is clearly hoping to fill the void left behind by the iconic retailer.
The catalog runs to 70 pages, and is packed with glossy photos of toys. There are Amazon products, such as the Echo Dot Kids Edition, plus brands such as LEGO, Marvel, Disney Pixar, Barbie, Fisher-Price, Vtech, Play-Doh, Hasbro, Nerf, and Hot Wheels.
Theo loves snuggling by the fire and thumbing through the latest @amazon catalog.
And who said print was dead? pic.twitter.com/2qt9IoDkcN
— Nick Stagge (@NickStagge) November 6, 2018
“A Holiday of Play” includes actual stickers, unlike the virtual stickers you can now get on WhatsApp. And to actually buy the products listed you just scan the SmileCodes (basically Amazon’s kid-friendly name for QR codes) using the Amazon app.
Interestingly, there are no prices listed in the catalog. The obvious reason for this is fluctuations in price. However, it also makes customers much more likely to visit the actual product page on Amazon to see the price of the item they’re considering purchasing.
Amazon Is Mimicking Bricks-and-Mortar Stores
Amazon really has thought of everything here. So there’s a ready-made “Holiday Wishlist” where kids can make a note of the toys they want. And there’s even a Kindle edition of “A Holiday of Play” for when kids have thumbed the printed copy to shreds.
This is Amazon’s latest attempt to mimic bricks-and-mortar retailers. Which is ironic given that many retailers have gone bust thanks to increased competition from Amazon. Still, expect more Amazon Go stores and Amazon 4-star stores to pop up near you soon.
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