Based in Leicestershire and proudly managed by a female-led team, The Kid Collective has been an exciting player in the ecommerce sector since 2009, operating through various successful brands. Following the recent sale of The Nappy Gurus brand to Cheeky Baby Products, the company is currently focused on its flagship brand, The Kid Collective, which offers a diverse range of high-quality toys and gifts, and also Scandibørn, the home of Scandinavian-inspired interiors, following its recent acquisition.
Laura Turner: What’s the story behind The Kid Collective?
Laura Davies: The company was originally founded in 2009 specialising in eco-friendly baby products, including reusable nappies, baby wipes and natural baby products. Over the years the business evolved, and we added www.thekidcollective.co.uk to the portfolio in 2018 to diversify our product base and open up opportunities for a broader customer demographic. Since then, we’ve driven the business forward in a sustainable way, laying solid foundations for a growth drive we are actioning in 2024.
LT: How would you describe the company’s mission and ethos?
LD: Our mission has always been to provide families with quality products and services that add genuine value to their lives. The core values of the business are to be responsive, be ambitious, be bold, be playful and be learning, and these values drive everything that we do. By undertaking meaningful work and embracing continuous learning, we have been able to move and evolve with the ever-changing retail landscape and the economic challenges our industry has faced in recent years.
LT: What does your offer comprise?
LD: When we established The Kid Collective brand, we tested a broad product collection in order to find what really worked for us. By 2022, we implemented these learnings and launched a rebranded, revitalised The Kid Collective, featuring a well-defined product catalogue and a clear strategy for moving forward. Our main focus is on toys and gifts for children aged three years upwards, emphasising the various types of play and categorising our products accordingly. We love collaborating with brands that offer toys that inspire purposeful play, and we provide visual information to customers highlighting the play benefits of each toy.
LT: As champions of play and its importance to children, what would you highlight as some of the key benefits?
LD: Play is absolutely critical to early years learning. Not only is play fun and exciting, but it offers a way for children to learn and make sense of the world around them. Play enables children to develop social and cognitive skills, mature emotionally, and gain self-confidence. We categorise our on-site Benefits of Play as follows: Understanding the World; Physical Development; Cognitive; Creative; and Personal, Social & Emotional learning. The latter is one that we are particularly fond of highlighting to promote the discussion around emotions and encouraging empathy for those around us.
LT: How many brands do you work with?
LD: Currently, over 50 brands, which we refresh continuously to ensure there is always something new and exciting on offer to our regular customer base.
LT: You recently acquired Scandibørn. What opportunities does the acquisition present?
LD: We are thrilled about our latest acquisition, and can’t wait to get stuck in. We’ve long admired Scandibørn, a brand we’ve shared the space with for many years. When this opportunity arose, we knew we had to seize it. Our vision for Scandibørn is to return to its roots of embracing the essence of Scandinavian design philosophies. We’ll review the product collection to ensure everything fits the criteria of simplicity, beauty and purpose-led design. With a focus on gifting and products for newborn through to three years, we believe that Scandibørn will align perfectly in our portfolio alongside The Kid Collective.
LT: How important is sustainability to The Kid Collective?
LD: With our company roots firmly in the sustainability sector, this is an area that is always at the forefront of our minds. Our Buying team makes carefully considered decisions when it comes to onboarding new brands and product lines, and the importance of product longevity is a key factor for us.
LT: What is your vision for The Kid Collective?
LD: With the recent acquisition of Scandibørn, we’re obviously super busy for the foreseeable future in actioning our plans and vision for the brand, and this is our primary focus at present. However, having had planning permission approved in 2023 for the build of a showroom on our Leicester-based site, this is also something that we will continue to consider. We’d love a physical space to showcase our beautiful product collections in an engaging and immersive environment, so I hope that one day soon we can put those plans into action. For now, we will be focusing our energy on the continuous improvement of the ecommerce offerings and driving growth in a sustainable and profitable way.
For further information on The Kid Collective, please click here.
