The Entertainer, the UK’s leading independent toy retailer, has appointed THG Commerce, part of THG Ingenuity, as its new digital commerce partner, accelerating its transformation and opening up new ways for customers to discover and shop for toys online and in-store.
The multi-year partnership will see THG Commerce design, build and power The Entertainer’s next-generation digital experience, creating a more intuitive, inspiring and personalised journey for families, gift buyers and the growing number of adult toy and collectible enthusiasts.
The investment is a further step in The Entertainer’s journey to build a world-class omnichannel customer experience, combining the expertise, curation and sense of discovery customers value in its stores with the convenience and personalisation of modern digital retail.
Toy shopping is a uniquely varied and discovery-led experience. Customers may be buying for their own children, choosing gifts for family or friends, shopping for birthdays or seasonal occasions, or increasingly buying toys and collectibles for themselves. They may know the relevant age, interest, occasion or budget they are aiming for without having a clear idea of the specific product they are looking for.
The new experience will be designed around those different customer missions. THG Commerce will deploy AI-enabled shopping assistance, conversational discovery and intent-led search capabilities to help customers explore thousands of products and find the right choice more intuitively.
These capabilities draw on the wider THG Ingenuity collaboration with Google Cloud, which harnesses Vertex AI Commerce Search and Gemini to develop next-generation AI-powered commerce services. THG Commerce’s AI solutions are built on its modular architecture, enabling individual capabilities to operate independently of the underlying storefront, be deployed as standalone, platform-agnostic services.
Alongside smarter search and discovery, the new experience will bring together richer content, curated product journeys and personalised recommendations to inspire customers throughout the purchasing journey. THG Commerce will deliver a new web and mobile experience, together with an enhanced Click & Collect journey designed to create a more seamless connection between digital discovery and The Entertainer’s nationwide store network.
The new platform is expected to launch in Spring 2027 and has been designed to provide a foundation for future innovation, including future opportunities across loyalty, retail media and social commerce as The Entertainer continues to develop its omnichannel customer proposition.
Malcolm Carter, digital & marketing Director, The Entertainer, said: “Our ambition is to redefine the experience for anyone looking to discover and buy toys, whether they are shopping for their children, choosing a gift for someone else or buying for themselves. Toy shopping should be joyful and inspiring, but the sheet breadth of choice means customers increasingly need help navigating it. We have a real opportunity to combine the expertise, trusted brands and passion for play people associate with The Entertainer with intelligent technology that helps customers find something they’ll love. Partnering with THG Commerce gives us the technology, capability and ambition to reimagine that experience across digital, stores and wherever our customers choose to shop in an increasing AI-centric landscape. This is an important investment in the next generation of The Entertainer and in how we serve our customers.”
Darren Rajanah, chief revenue officer, THG Ingenuity, said: “The Entertainer is one of the most recognisable names in UK toy retail. Toy retail is a particularly rich discovery environment. Customers arrive with very different missions, from gifting and family purchases to collecting, and technology can play a powerful role in helping them navigate choice and discover the right products. The Entertainer get AI-enabled shopping assistance and CRM-integrated enhanced personalisation at launch, then a roadmap into loyalty, retail media and social commerce, backed by our wider THG Studios capabilities which can bring a new range to life on site quickly. We have built our AI capabilities to work anywhere, as standalone services that integrate with any commerce platform, so brands can benefit from them whether or not they replatform with us. We look forward to working closely with The Entertainer team to support their long-term growth ambitions.”
