Floors Available “For Lease” in New KidHQ Virtual Store
Mattel Inc. and Walmart Inc. have “leased floors” in KidHQ, a new virtual store that allows users to browse toys and merchandise in videos, with various adventure formats from which the users can choose. The format was built by Eko, which received $250 million in funding from Walmart to create a joint venture for interactive programming.
Walmart’s Toy Lab allows users to watch children (portrayed by actors), interact and play with 40 different toys; the selection includes a transforming Batmobile and a Star Wars lightsaber. A “grownup only” floor allows parents to see their children’s wish lists, and buy toys through Walmart.com. Walmart first introduced its Toy Lab in 2018, and recently brought it back. Mattel, in the meantime, has introduced Barbie DreamFloor, in which users can help Barbie create her own video blog, even as they browse Barbie-oriented products.
The KidHQ videos for both Mattel and Walmart were produced by BuzzFeed as part of a content deal between Eko and the publisher. BuzzFeed will also promote KidHQ across its media properties. Eko is in conversation with other toy manufacturers, children’s entertainment programmers and food marketers to lease future “space.” The minimum commitment for a virtual floor is seven figures.
“What we are seeing here is a real hole left by Toys ‘R’ Us leaving the ecosystem,” said Eko’s Ivy Sheibar. “We’re giving kids and parents a place to experience toys, while giving parents the ability to understand what their kids are interested in—but doing it in a way that can be fun for both.”
In experimenting with an initial version of Toy Lab, eight million interactions were generated, according to Eko. Visitors spent an average of 13 minutes, with 13 interactions per visit; 12% of users also added a toy to their wish lists.
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