Noodoll

What was the challenge?

Noodoll – an independent, female-founded company – designs, manufactures and distributes gender neutral toys and accessories to retailers and consumers across Europe, Asia and USA.

Noodoll’s ethos has always been to offer an alternative to the traditionally wasteful and polluting toy industry. The toy industry is one of the sectors that uses the most plastic in product per unit of revenue (UNEP, 2014) and according to the British Heart Foundation more than a quarter (28%) of UK parents admitted to discarding toys in perfect working order which ultimately ends up in landfill. To limit this, Noodoll is focused on producing good design and quality items.

Noodoll had already launched a “toy surgery” repair service in 2015 to extend the life of their toys and now wanted to take the next step in improving the circularity of their business. They also wanted a new initiative to fuel their growth and decided to launch a resale service for pre-loved Noodoll toys.

What was the response?

The main challenge when creating a marketplace is to match supply and demand; Noodoll needed to understand if people wanted to buy pre-loved toys, and whether enough toys would be returned to match that demand – and design the right user experience to make this possible.

Noodoll focused the 6-month pilot on really understanding their customer base through surveys – they explored incentives that would encourage customers to return old toys, as well as what styles and price points would make them want to buy the pre-loved toys and tested people’s willingness-to-pay to make the scheme profitable.

Noodoll found that their customers were enthusiastic about the second-hand shop concept but discovered that the biggest interest came from those interested in buying used toys, rather than returning their old toys. Therefore, Noodoll decided to trial the pre-loved shop by upcycling their own personal toys and unused stock, until they received returns.

What were the outcomes?

‘Pre-loved’ launched in May 2022, with plush toys upcycled by hand with decorative band-aids and sold at a premium. This led to increased online traffic, with visits to Noodoll’s website up 14% in the month following the launch compared to the same period last year. The company markets the pre-loved range as unique works of art (taking inspiration from Kintsugi concept of embracing flaws and imperfections to create an even more beautiful item) and highlights the lower environmental impact of these toys.

By upcycling their own personal toys, photoshoot samples and ex-display items, Noodoll have decreased the amount of new material needed per toy sale by 67%, whilst finding a new solution for unused stock.

Lessons learned & next steps

Through this pilot, Noodoll confirmed that their audience is keen to see the business minimise their impact on the planet. The response to the idea of pre-loved has been overwhelmingly positive. On social media, posts about Noodoll Pre-loved perform consistently high in terms of engagement, comments, followers, and website visits.

Noodoll also confirmed that this circular initiative can potentially reduce their cost of goods sold and offer a viable solution for unused or damaged stock.

The main challenge Noodoll now faces is finding or convincing people to donate their toys back, in order to fulfil their circular vision. In a survey of 161 customers, 88% of people said they wouldn’t return their toys because they aren’t yet ready to part with them. Noodoll markets their toys as “friends for life” and takes pride in their quality and durability; as such, Noodoll are still learning about the ‘use lifetime’ of their toys, which may be longer than the time current customers have had their toys for. Equally, some customers may be more likely to hold on to the toys than others; so, understanding when and how to reach out for returns and to whom, will be part of Noodoll’s next phase of learning.

Learn more

To learn more about Noodoll’s Pre-loved range, visit their website.