ROGERS -- A group of energetic children gathered around closed doors inside the John Q. Hammons Center in late July and eagerly awaited the chance to get to work.
They were among hundreds of boys and girls selected by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and presented with an important task: Help the retailer narrow down which toys would be among the 25 most popular this holiday season by spending a day playing with items that weren't yet on store shelves.
It was clear the children were up for the task when an organizer stood in front of them and asked if they were ready. Her question was met by a resounding yes as the doors opened and they rushed into a tantalizing toy land.
The scene was part of the Top Rated By Kids event, which was organized by Wal-Mart as a tool to help the retailer compile its list for the holiday shopping season. The 2017 list, based this year on recommendations from children and parents who attended the event in Rogers, was unveiled by the company late Tuesday.
"Kids are really the power and the authority on whether the toy is fun or not," Anne Marie Kehoe, vice president of toys for Wal-Mart U.S., said in July during the event. "We could love it and we could have expertise and experience. But it's really rewarding to see the kids give you feedback."
Wal-Mart began holding tested-by-kids events in the U.S. five years ago, building on an idea Kehoe said originated within the company's Canadian unit. She said every retailer puts together top toy lists for the holidays, but Wal-Mart wanted to add some authenticity to its projections by getting kids involved.
Events were held in other U.S. cities the previous four years, but Wal-Mart elected to stay close to home this summer. The retailer advertised the event and held a sign-up period for children between the ages of 1½ and 12 . After being approved, parents were given a specific time to take their children to the Hammons Center to play with toys.
Multiple banquet rooms in the Hammons Center were abuzz on July 22 as waves of children roamed from station to station, taking turns testing hundreds of toys, games and gadgets.
In one room, kids zipped around a makeshift track steering ride-on toys like child-size Grave Digger monster trucks and motorized Disney Frozen sleighs. In another area, children played with a Disney/Pixar Cars 3 racetrack and 2-foot tall Batman Batbots. A special room was reserved for some girls to get an early peek at the newest line of Hatchimals, which will be officially unveiled Oct. 6.
RATE AND REVIEW
After spending time with the toys, parents and children were asked to use tablets placed throughout the event to rate and review items. Five stars was an excellent score. One star was poor.
"I always wondered how they came up with the top toys and what kids actually played with the toys to make them the top toys," said Sarah Rodgers, a Bentonville resident whose three children were testers. "It's pretty cool to be able to have them give their input and it's also kind of neat to get a sneak peek of the holiday season. This is giving me an idea of what's to come."
Bentonville resident Chad Stafford agreed that getting an early look was important as he was waited in line with his son, Grayson, to test a three-wheel ride-on from Huffy called the Electric Green Machine.
New Spider-Man toys were a hit for his son. So was a new version of Hasbro's game Pie Face and interactive monkey toys called Fingerlings, which Kehoe predicts will be a "big hit" this year.
"Having two boys, it's always good to get their thought process, especially since toys run out early," Stafford said. "It allows us to have a little more time to buy it early versus waiting to the last minute because we don't know what they want. We don't have to wait until the last-minute rush."
Wal-Mart's July toy extravaganza didn't just help parents prepare. It also was an important gauge for the retailer and its toy suppliers, whose products were put to the test by the pint-size judges.
Monty Kim, a product designer with New York-based littleBits, was part of a two-person team showcasing a Star Wars Droid Inventor Kit during the event in Rogers.
The kit, which was unveiled in Wal-Mart stores last Friday during a special event promoting Star Wars-related toys, gives children the chance to custom-build a droid and operate it through an app.
"We're able to see this product that we've been working on for so long actually come to life for the kids," Kim said. "We've done a lot of testing, but to be here in the wild, we're kind of at the mercy of the kids, which is a great position to be in. They're just going to tell it to you like it is."
NEXT BIG THINGS
Kehoe said during a media conference call Tuesday that three toy-buying trends are evident this year based on her team's work, which included the Top Rated By Kids showcase. She said interactive and collectible toys, products that help children move like ride-ons, and toys from movies and TV shows will be big.
Wal-Mart used the reviews to determine whether it needed to purchase more of certain products from suppliers to be prepared for the holiday demand.
"A lot of them we won't need to adjust," Kehoe said. "But there's a few we're going to have to go buy more because you can just see the kids, they love it. So we'll assess what we think the demand is going to be. Are we right and are we ready? What can we do to make sure that these toys are still available for the early shopper and for the shopper on Christmas Eve?"
Getting it right -- the items, prices and availability -- is important for Wal-Mart and every other retailer during the holiday shopping as they compete for sales. Wal-Mart doesn't quantify sales by specific categories, but toys make up a sizable chunk of its revenue during the holiday shopping season.
All U.S. toy sales reached $20.4 billion in 2016, according to data from The NPD Group. About two-thirds of sales typically occur the second half of the year. The global information company also said toy sales grew by 3 percent the first half of 2017, but the industry is off to a slower start this year.
Kehoe said Wal-Mart hasn't felt that so far and is confident the toy business is "healthy."
She added Wal-Mart's top-rated toys list shows a broad variety of items and price points this year, which has helped the retailer prepare to meet customers' expectations in the holiday rush.
"This is very energizing because we've been working hard," Kehoe said during a few quiet moments at July's event. "This creates this halo of energy that gets us ready to execute a really big season."
Business on 09/06/2017