Joint venture of Flipkart and Ace Turtle get licensing rights for Toys"R"Us brand in India

India’s leading ecommerce marketplace, Flipkart, has secured the licensing rights for toy and baby brands – Toys”R”Us and Babies”R”Us in India, which will be executed through its joint venture with Ace Turtle, an omnichannel enablement platform.

The joint venture of Flipkart and Ace Turtle has secured licensing rights for these two brands through a strategic arrangement with WHP Global, the controlling shareholder of Toys“R”Us. These brands will be available to consumers online through sellers in India.

A statement from Flipkart said its expertise in technology and customer experiences coupled with Ace Turtle’s omnichannel technology enabling buy-online and 'ship from store'/'pick-up from store', and other technological innovations.

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According to Flipkart, the selection of products under the Toys & Games category on its platform Flipkart has grown enormously. In 2020, the platform recorded close to 100 percent growth.

Commenting on this partnership, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Chief Executive Officer, Flipkart Group, said,

“As a homegrown platform, we are constantly striving to build meaningful partnerships that are centred around the needs of our users. We are focused on ensuring that our users across India have access to a wide range of quality products made available by brands and sellers on our platform. With the Toys“R”Us global standard of quality, Indian consumers will now have access to many toys and babycare products.”

According to industry data, India’s toy industry is predominantly unorganised, comprising over 4,000 small and medium enterprises. This strategic arrangement is expected to create new and exciting growth opportunities for local toys’ manufacturers/sellers in India, including MSMEs.

Nitin Chhabra, CEO, Ace Turtle, said, “Toys“R”Us is the world’s leading toy brand and has been bringing joy to millions of children across the globe. Something which the Indian consumers need right now.”

The brands — Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us — generate more than $2 billion in global retail sales annually through nearly 900 branded stores and ecommerce businesses in 25-plus countries.

Yehuda Shmidman, Chairman and CEO at WHP Global and Toys“R”Us, stated, “We are excited by the tremendous potential of this new partnership, as India is one of the fastest-growing consumer markets in the world with real spending power among a rapidly growing population.”