Rentoys is one of the earliest companies in India with a pioneering effort towards enabling an efficiently managed operation of renting out quality toys. It is encouraging to see many Toy Rental start ups today, which certainly unburdens the environment effectively leveraging the principle of "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle". Where Rentoys stand-out though, is in how through an unflinching customer mind-set, keen eye on quality and hygiene and an eco-friendly positioning they have really been effective in managing the hesitation of parents in renting toys for their toddlers and establish it as a concept. Certainly founder Neeta Verma being a mother of a 2 year toddler has helped. Other co-founders, Shilpa Prasad and Manoj Kumar, have brought their expertise in ensuring an operation where top quality creative and eco-friendly toys are made available at your door-step.
Also encouraging is the fact that as a start up, they have deeply embraced the social and environmental goodwill as a key mission of theirs. When we caught up with him, Manoj informed us that as part of their responsibility towards society, they have enabled a channel for Rentoys members/non-members to donate old toys for underprivileged kids in association with a Kids NGO. The donor gets benefited both in terms of reducing clutter & being eco-friendly in their home. It also helps kids learn the important lessons about sharing while getting exposed to the importance and benefits of philanthropy from a young age. They also donate toys from their own inventory. Their missions are:
1. Partner with parents to provide hassle free, quality family playtime through educational & sensory toys
2. Present best in class safe & clean toys to little ones for unlimited fun & learning
3. Encourage contribution to eco-friendly concepts in early stage of the kid
4. Help members/parents donate unused toys to underprivileged kids
Excerpts from a small discussion:
1. How did you come up with this idea? When did you decide to take the definitive step in setting this up?
We started the business as a pilot in Sep 2009 and as a full fledged operation in Jan 2010. Kids outgrow toys very fast. We, ourselves being a parent
had this problem at hand that led to an Idea of setting up “Rentoys” that probably will change the way parents provide early childhood learning/development to their kids. As a parent, we keep buying toys for kids which not only increases clutter at home but also lead to land fill by unused toys which is not
environment friendly. Though, the concept of libraries (books and a combination of books and puzzles) has existed in the Indian market for quite a few years now, however, based on our market research, we saw a gap in the market specifically where branded toys were concerned.
2. What is the business model-- how do you operate?
Rentoys is a Subscription based model where parents can choose subscription plans (Silver – Rs 250 per month, Gold – Rs. 350 per month & Platinum = Rs 500 per month) and duration of the subscription (3 months, 6 months or 12 months) depending on their need. We also offer a trial package for those, who want to test the concept before becoming permanent members.
The parents can avail Rentoys services by signing up membership at our website http://www.rentoys.in and can pay the rental fee through multiple payment options like online payment through credit card, Debit card, net banking OR pay by cash or cheque at time of delivery.
So, 4 steps process –
- Choose your membership plan (Silver, Gold and Platinum) as per your need
- Browse through Toys Catalogue and build your toys wish list
- Receive the toys at your doorstep
- Play as long as you want, return and get new one from your wish list
3. Who are your target audience? How has been the response so far?
Any parent with a kid can avail Rentoys services. Currently we are present in Bangalore & Hyderabad and would be expanding soon to Delhi & Mumbai. In couple of months only, we have seen a total of 200 customers in Bangalore city itself and the numbers are growing.
The increasing Rentoys member base indicates that our continued effort of delivering values to our members and providing them hassle free, cost-effective & eco-friendly experience is helping us taking Rentoys to next level.
4. Have you observed other social and environmental impact of your organization?
- We see many ways Rentoys is bringing social and environmental impact – Rentoys provides a service where parents can rent toys without compromising on quality, safety & brand of toys. This helps them reducing clutter at their home and no dumping of unused toys in backyard i.e. environment friendly.
- We bring Rentoys to our customer’s doorstep i.e. place your toys request online and receive toys at doorstep. This helps parents to not burn their car fuel and waste time in traffic but spend quality time with their kid.
- Sense of accountability – We hear feedbacks from our members that their kid has become more responsible and open to share easily once they started getting toys from Rentoys
- Toys donation – the parents get benefited in both in terms of reducing clutter & being eco-friendly in their home as well as making their children also learn important lessons about sharing and will be exposed to the importance and benefits of philanthropy from a young age.
5. How do you envisage the future for Rentoys? How do you foresee this scaling up and expand geographically?
Our vision is to build India’s best in class high-tech high-touch Toy Rental Company. Currently Rentoys is available in Bangalore & Hyderabad and would be expanding soon to Mumbai & Delhi.
6. You are one of the earliest pioneers of this model? How do you foresee this model shaping up in India?
Rentoys being the pioneer in setting up first exclusive online toy library has been trend setter in India and we have vision of taking this concept to every corner of India by offering online/offline model.
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Tuesday, 02 November 2010
