Toys R Us is the main culprit in its own liquidation

Dive Brief:

A majority of respondents (69%) in a Supply Chain Dive poll says Toys R Us itself is to blame for its liquidation.
About 13% of the respondents say Amazon is the reason the toy retailer is losing business and forced to liquidate its stores in the U.S.
Only 3% of those polled say toy suppliers, such as Mattel or Hasbro, are to blame for the liquidation.

Toys R Us liquidation poll — The majority says the blame falls on Toys R Us.

Supply Chain Dive

Dive Insight:

While many analysts tend to blame e-commerce and Amazon for the retail apocalypse, our poll results indicate a different result. The majority of our poll respondents believe Toys R Us has only itself to blame for its own demise.

The retailer's woes started last year, when it was unable to pay many of its suppliers. The timing of Toys R Us' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing strained the company ahead of the holiday season, which should have been a profitable time for the retailer. This poor operations strategy led to problems with inventory management and fulfillment.

In that sense, it follows logically that most survey respondents thought Toys R Us' demise was largely an internal problem.

While that may be the primary reason, external factors certainly didn't work in the toy retailer's favor. While Toys R Us was a specialty store for toys, many large department stores carry toys as well, serving as a one-stop shop for consumers to buy a diverse array of products.

One reader told Supply Chain Dive in an email he thought Walmart contributed to Toys R Us' decline. A new research study reveals Walmart, along with Target, will absorb sales left behind by Toys R Us.