Gradual profit taking, page-29

As a parent of a child in the 0-3 age bracket (kill me) and with another on the way, I'll share some insight on why my wife likes BB and why I don't mind it either, and why it's popular.

1) Sometimes parents needs an item that very same day and cannot wait for it to arrive next week after ordering it online, even if it's cheaper. With a BB, you walk in, buy what you need, walk out and you're back home. Some parents in the 0-3 age bracket are time poor and cannot always spend the time required to sit and research a product and look for the best deal. Plus, if you go to BB, you can be pretty sure they will have what you want, that's not always the case with places like Coles or Woolworths. For example, BB was the only place we could find glass bottles for my wife to put her breast milk in as we don't want our kids drinking from plastic containers.

2) The rewards program whereby you get 5% off encourages people to become return customers even if it ends up costing them more over all.

3) New mums will often go for a shop at BB as part of a social activity, that's something they can't do with online shopping. Sometimes the mums go just for a look, an outing, they don't always buy something, but they'll see other mums and things like that.

4) I'm happy to buy a lot of things online without seeing it in person, but when it comes to baby stuff, some parents prefer to see it in person before putting down the money. My wife bought a city mini gt stroller on special at BB for that very reason.

Is it a good investment? I don't know. I would guess a lot of the mums who shop at BB aren't exactly on struggle street and have a bit more disposable income to spend on the things they want for the little one. I'd guess many of them are a bit older too, probably 30's mums who have previously worked or continue to work and don't mind spending the extra on an impulse buy. Women love internet shopping, but they also love retail shopping and baby stuff would have to be near the top of the list for in person shopping.

I'm watching from the sidelines before taking a position.