It contracts out the bulk of its fulfillment to Fingerhut, which recently put out a call to executives at parent Federated Department Stores to help get orders into the mail for Christmas. While the image of managers rolling up their sleeves to stuff toys in boxes may alarm consumers, this has been happening at walk-in stores for years. In the facilities we own, corporate employees are put into just about every function in peak periods. But others note that inventory shortages at peak selling times are a problem for traditional retailers, too. The holidays are the most important time of the year for all toy retailers, but even more so for Web toy stores.
Analysts say that e-shopping does so well during the holidays because consumers hate crowded stores.
On an e-commerce site, in fact, the difference between success and failure can boil down to technology. In fact, eToys' increasingly popular brand is in many ways a triumph of technology. Shoppers can screen products by age group. On the increasing strength of its brand, eToys has started to go global. Its British Web site is now in its first Christmas season.