Amazon Canada sets its sights on the toy business

When it entered Canada to do battle with Indigo over books, Amazon.ca was decried as a threat to our country’s cultural heritage and smaller book retailers.

But as the Internet giant now moves into toys — one of its stronger categories in the U.S. — after introducing entertainment, electronics, tools and beauty items here, it stands to become a potent force in Canada’s slow-to-blossom online commerce business.

“Customers in Canada showed us that they wanted and were looking for toys on Amazon.ca,” said Andrea Leigh, head of toys and games at Amazon.ca, adding Canadians are looking for a wide selection and want convenient shipping options.

The new Canadian toysand-games division will offer one of the largest selections of toys in the country, Amazon said, including many it says are not available at retail stores. It features 300,000 toys, and includes board games, action figures, dolls and doll houses and learning and education toys. It also carries large items such as outdoor swing sets.

“We want Amazon.ca to be the destination where customers can discover and purchase toys of all kinds,” she said.

More critically, perhaps, Amazon.ca’s entry into toys means the online retail giant now will be competing far beyond the boundaries of Indigo Books & Music, which itself has added toys and a growing assortment of non-book categories at its stores as online and digital book buying gains momentum with its customers.

“Amazon is changing the face of retail,” said David Ian Gray, retail consultant at Vancouverbased DIG360 Consulting Ltd. “Sometimes people really need the inspiration of the store, but at some point in the future we are going to be so comfortable buying online, (many consumers will) shift,” Gray said.