Mattel and Walmart Canada Revolutionize Window Shopping with Canada's First Virtual Pop-Up Toy Store
Virtual store in Toronto's PATH system creates easy holiday shopping for tech-savvy, time-crunched commuters
TORONTO, Nov. 5, 2012 - To help Torontonians celebrate the holiday season, Mattel and Walmart Canada today launched the first pop-up virtual toy store in Canada, providing a unique QR code-based shopping experience for commuters and gift-givers. Located in the PATH, Toronto's underground walkway, the virtual toy store will run for four weeks and provide the ultimate ease in shopping for the next generation of gift-givers.
"Walmart is a top destination for innovation and for holiday shopping, especially when it comes to toys. We're thrilled to partner with Mattel to bring this exclusive out-of-store experience to our busy customers," said Cheri Anthony, Walmart's director of merchandising for toys. "It's another way we can help Canadian families create holiday magic for less."
The virtual toy store, created by Brandfire Marketing Group in conjunction with IMA Outdoor Inc., features two walls of three-dimensional toy images. Shoppers simply scan a QR code with their smartphone to purchase the hottest Mattel holiday toys from Walmart Canada, who also provides free shipping.
"As Canadians become increasingly comfortable with e-commerce, we see mobile-commerce taking off; in fact, the most recent statistics show that four out of five consumers use smartphones to shop (1)," said Melissa Chau, Brand Manager, Mattel Canada. "As leaders at the forefront of the retail customer experience, together with Walmart we are innovating shopping for our customers this holiday season."
While traditional gift-givers can still purchase toys online or in-store, the virtual toy store aims to revolutionize what it means to window shop. The virtual toy store will be the hottest destination for the must-have toys of the season, with big brand favourites such as Barbie®, Hot Wheels®, Fisher-Price® and Thomas & Friends™.
For more information about hot holiday toys, please visit http://www.mattel.ca/holiday and http://www.walmart.ca
About Mattel
Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) (http://www.mattel.com) is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys and family products. The Mattel family is comprised of such best-selling brands as Barbie®, the most popular fashion doll ever introduced, Hot Wheels®, Matchbox®, American Girl®, Radica® and Tyco® R/C, as well as Fisher-Price® brands, including Little People®, Power Wheels® and a wide array of entertainment-inspired toy lines. In 2011, Mattel was named as one of FORTUNE Magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the fourth year in a row, and also is ranked among Corporate Responsibility Magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens." With worldwide headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., Mattel employs approximately 30,000 people in 43 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 nations. At Mattel, we are "Creating the Future of Play."
About Walmart Canada
Walmart Canada operates a growing chain of discount stores and supercentres with more than 360 locations nationwide serving more than one million customers each day. With 90,000 associates, Walmart Canada is one of Canada's largest employers and is recognized by Waterstone Human Capital as having one of Canada's top 10 corporate cultures. Walmart Canada is focused on helping Canadian families in need. Since 1994, Walmart has donated and raised more than $160 million to Canadian charities and not-for-profit organizations. Additional company information can be found at http://www.walmartcanada.ca and at http://www.twitter.com/@walmartcanada. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.ca.
