Nuby experiences record month for online sales with Santa Surprises
13 Dec 2022
Leading baby brand Nuby is experiencing such high demand for its Santa Surprise bundles that November has proved a record month for orders.
The Christmas boxes are one of the company’s long-standing success stories but last year their rise in popularity brought the realisation that it was running out of capacity to prepare them in-house at its Boldon Business Park headquarters.
Further boosted by an online boom during the pandemic, Nuby this year handed a three-month contract to pick-and-pack specialists MCR Services in Cramlington.
It involves placing a range of surprise gifts into age- appropriate boxes, one from birth upwards and the other 12 months and over. They are then wrapped and transferred to pallets ready for distribution.
One of the major selling points for parents, relatives, and friends of babies and toddlers is that the presents in each Santa Surprises box, which retails for £24, are valued at £52.
Helen Curran, Nuby’s marketing director, said: “We have been producing our Santa Surprises range for several years, but experienced a sharp upswing in sales during the pandemic as more people turned to shopping online.
“That popularity has continued to the point that this November proved a record month for online orders. Last Christmas we realised we were running out of capacity in-house to perform the packing functions and took the decision to outsource to MCR Services.
“The success of the boxes is two-fold; they represent value for money and people love the surprise element, as it’s the next best thing to actually visiting Santa’s grotto!”
MCR Services, which specialises in contract packing, quality inspection, reworking, labelling and preparing items for distribution, has previously worked with Nuby on other contracts during the past four years.
Production manager, Matthew Fretwell, said: “As a business, I hope we have shown Nuby that we are a trusted and dependable partner, and are absolutely delighted to have been entrusted with the preparation of one of their leading lines.
“It’s particularly satisfying at this time of year knowing they are being bought as Christmas presents and they are something that will bring real delight!”
Helen added: “We are pleased to be working with MCR Services, something that allows greater production flexibility and capacity, whilst continuing to benefit the North-East economy.”