Ask a Shopkeeper: Baby Concierge

We spoke to Caroline Cosgrove of Baby Concierge, a fantastic online shopping service in the UK.

What inspired you to start your shop? How long have you been in business? How did you come up with your store’s name? Do you have a physical store as well? What categories do you cover?
As with most baby related businesses, the idea for Baby Concierge was born when I was pregnant with my first child, 6 years ago and was shocked by the overwhelming range of products on the market and the lack of good advice available to help me make the right decisions. The gap for a nursery advisory service seemed huge! Baby Concierge has now been going 5 years. It began life in my spare bedroom, progressed to my dining room and garage and when it had pretty much taken over the house, I moved the business to its own premises in London’s Ladbroke Grove. We now have a fabulous showroom for people to visit and we also showcase our most popular products on the Baby Concierge website. Sum up your store’s style and sensibility in one sentence.

Who is your ideal customer? What age range do you cater to?
Baby Concierge helps parents to be select and source everything they need for a newborn baby. The choice of products is unlimited and the emphasis is on expert advice and great service. Any parent to be who wants to make informed choices and avoid mistake purchases is an ideal customer. We can work to any budget and are no more expensive than a John Lewis Store (UK). We cater primarily for 0-2 years.

What are the hot trends this season you’re excited about? Which trends are a hit with your customers? Tell us about your favorite pieces this season.
The new Bugaboo Cameleon colours are fabulous, I love the ‘off white’ and ‘chocolate brown’ fabrics. Maclaren’s coffee brown and pink techno XLR is turning heads and Storksak’s Emily and Jamie bags are hot favourites.

Pick 3 of your favorite brands you carry – How did you decide to offer these 3 brands?
We carry so many brands that it is hard to single out 3 but Bugaboo, Boori and Kidsmill are probably 3 of the best in terms of quality, reliability and style.

What are your top selling brands and products?
Bugaboo, Maxi Cosi, Stokke, Boori, Kidsmill.

What’s next for your store?
We have just started to enable clients to view and amend their shopping lists (post consultation) online and clients can also now create gift lists on line. We have so many products that we are still busy uploading the most popular ones to our site.

What products do you carry that celebrity babies and parents have/use?
Most of the products we carry are used by celebrity babies and parents – we know first hand because, we often supply them!

Exclusively for CBB readers: Enter celebrity babies in the special notes section at the checkout to receive 10% off your order and remove VAT when you are called to confirm your oder. Please note that once your order has been placed you will recieve a call to clarify lead times and confirm payment details.

Please email danielleATcelebrity-babies.com if you have an suggestions for shops you would like to see interviewed or if you, as an owner of a store, would like to participate.