Connect to Lark: Toys "R" Us Asia Launches Acceleration Program

In today's retail industry, most brands that have achieved continuous growth have done one thing right: making their organizations as fast as consumers.

Consumers have become more "fast" - they expect brands to update as frequently as the information flow on social media. At the same time, they have become more "detailed" - their demands are no longer concentrated on standardized products but have extended to personalization, cultural resonance, and even value expression. The design that is popular today may become outdated tomorrow, and the category that sold well yesterday may be replaced by new trends today.

The market, which could once be judged by experience, has become increasingly uncertain. In such an era, simply relying on scale, advertising, or channels to win is no longer sufficient. The new solution is speed. Those who can capture trends faster, make decisions faster, and adjust faster will be closer to consumers.

This may sound like the game rule of Internet companies, but it has also become crucial in the retail industry.

In this transformation, established giants are often the most worthy samples to observe. Toys "R" Us Asia, with a history of over 40 years, is one of them. At the end of the last century, Toys "R" Us brought the "giant store + full - category shelves" model to Asia. Since then, this toy retailer has been known as "the paradise for children."

Today, Toys "R" Us Asia has a presence in ten markets, including China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. It operates over 450 stores and has built a multi - market collaborative retail network centered around its headquarters in Hong Kong, China.

As a traditional industry giant, in the wave of rapid change, it has not only stabilized its position but also been injected with new vitality. The new vitality comes from lighter and faster stores, a flatter organization, and real - time decision - making. Behind these changes is not just the upgrade of tools but also the reconstruction of the corporate structure and management logic.

When Lark appeared in their vision, Toys "R" Us quickly realized that this might be the key to "speeding up" the organization. From inventory checks in stores and employee recruitment to regional product selection at the headquarters and personnel insights, these changes have ultimately affected the consumer experience. A brand with a 40 - year history is redefining the speed of retail at an Internet pace.

Find the Right Tools and Try to Resist Inertia

Any giant will improve itself at different stages. Every time it improves, it should remind itself that its biggest enemy is not the competitor but inertia.

First of all, consumers' behavior has completely changed. In the past, they would enter the store to "look, select, and buy," but now they first browse, compare prices, and place orders on their mobile phones, and only enter the store for confirmation and experience. Mobile and socialization have almost eliminated the time difference between "wanting to buy" and "being able to buy." If retailers still summarize data on a daily or weekly basis before making decisions, they will be left behind.

Secondly, online channels have made "shelves" no longer scarce. E - commerce and mobile shopping have made it easy to obtain goods. Physical retail must win customers through "experience" - not only selling products but also selling interactions, trials, and atmospheres. As a result, stores have become more complex: they are not only display spaces but also social scenarios and brand touchpoints.

Finally, the underlying logic of retail is being reconstructed. The product life cycle has shortened, and demand fluctuates more frequently. The supply chain and management system must be real - time and data - driven. Retail organizations need to shift from "having goods first and then selling them" to "perceiving demand first and then restocking." Those who can respond faster and make synchronized decisions will gain an advantage in the new cycle.

For a long time in the past, the operating system of this multinational retail giant still followed the old logic: store inventory checks were still recorded manually, and inventory summaries relied on paper forms and email transmissions. Data synchronization between the headquarters and markets in different countries was often delayed, and only periodic reviews could be carried out.

A few years ago, when customers asked about inventory, clerks often had to "run to the warehouse to check" and then come back to answer. This whole process not only consumed the clerks' time but also damaged the consumers' shopping experience. The headquarters also faced similar difficulties - stores in different countries used different versions of Excel forms, with inconsistent data calibers and update rhythms. Manual comparison was required every time the reports were summarized, which was time - consuming and error - prone.

This rhythm might have worked in the past, but today, any lag in efficiency will quickly turn into information distortion: if a toy sells out in a store, the replenishment may arrive after the sales peak; inventory backlogs in a region are often not discovered until the quarterly inventory check; the lack of structured analysis support for the sales differences of products in different regions means that decisions can only rely on experience and intuition.

These seemingly minor delays, when accumulated in the daily operations of nearly 500 stores, are enough to make the enterprise react slowly to industry changes. The efficiency issue has become a structural change that Toys "R" Us must face.

In the Chinese mainland market, the efficiency of retail digitization far exceeds that of other regions in the world.

Ying Chen, CTO of Toys "R" Us Asia

Ying Chen, CTO of Toys "R" Us Asia, said that they had long used the system from Toys "R" Us in the United States, "with almost no major changes in more than a decade." That system was born two or three decades ago, and the processes almost revolved around paper documents: inventory checks, procurement approvals, and transfer requests all relied on paper files.

During his six - year work in China, he strongly felt that "mobile" and "paperless" had become trends. From mobile payments to scanning codes for ordering, from paperless inventory checks to online transfer requests, consumers have long been used to "completing all actions with one mobile phone." The scanners, mobile terminals, and real - time inventory systems in the hands of store employees have also increased the operating efficiency of the retail industry by an order of magnitude. This experience inspired him to bring such experience overseas and promote the change of Toys "R" Us.

After perceiving the industry changes, as a leading enterprise in the industry, they had successively tried various solutions to improve efficiency. Although these products performed well on the desktop, they were difficult to support front - line operations on mobile devices. "The logic in the retail industry has always been that it's better to be slow than to make mistakes." In such a framework, Toys "R" Us will encounter another problem when trying to implement change management: the company needs the stores and the operating team to actively cooperate with the new processes, but they don't have more time to try and provide feedback.

In 2024, when the team came into contact with Lark, they saw an opportunity to accelerate.

Start from the Front - line Stores that Have a Far - reaching Impact

Actually, the digital transformation of Toys "R" Us did not start from scratch. However, for a long time, the data remained in the background and was difficult to reach the front - line. It was not until Lark was used as the mobile front - end that real changes occurred - store employees no longer need to go to the back - office to operate the computer but can directly access the system data at any location. This seemingly minor change became the starting point for a series of subsequent efficiency improvements.

The front - line stores are the part that most needs efficiency improvement in the retail system, but they are also the most difficult part to optimize. With frequent personnel turnover, a wide variety of products, and intensive customer interactions, any change may have far - reaching consequences.

But precisely because of this, real change often starts here.

For a retailer with hundreds of stores, inventory checks used to be the most labor - consuming and error - prone part.

In the past, Toys "R" Us stores still used paper inventory forms, and all data needed to be manually entered into the system: employees had to check the SKU codes on the same shelves at the same time and manually record the quantities; there might be multiple similar SKUs on the same shelf, and the team needed to repeatedly verify, making the whole process time - consuming and cumbersome.

By the time the headquarters summarized the data, the information was often delayed by two days or even longer.

After introducing Lark's multi - dimensional table, this process was completely reconstructed: employees only need to use mobile devices to scan the product barcodes, and the system can automatically identify the SKUs, record the quantities, and summarize them in real - time in the background; if the same product is scanned multiple times, the system will automatically merge and count the total. That is to say, the inventory process has changed from "synchronous manual verification" to "asynchronous barcode scanning and uploading," and the time consumption has been reduced by more than half.

At the same time, data entry has changed from manual to automatic. After scanning is completed, the quantity and progress will be immediately synchronized to the Lark dashboard at the headquarters, and the inventory progress of stores in different regions can be clearly seen on the same interface. Stores no longer need to prepare reports, and the headquarters can also track abnormal data in real - time and issue adjustment instructions.

Lark automatically generates data graphs

More importantly, the reliability and transparency of the data have been significantly improved. The system can automatically detect mismatches in the SKU quantities and notify the stores for re - verification in real - time; all data can be tracked and sorted by region, time, SKU category, and other dimensions, truly realizing the transformation from "paper records" to "visual dashboards."

These data can now be immediately reflected in business decisions. For example, when a store fails to meet its daily target by evening, the headquarters can immediately notice and adjust the strategy or promotion plan on the spot - "For example, send Mario out to 'catch' kids during dinner," Ying Chen said with a smile, "This was almost impossible in the past."

However, Ying Chen also admitted that the implementation standards of stores in different regions are still being adjusted. How to keep the new system consistent in more language and cultural environments is still a continuous adjustment process.

In the retail industry, recruiting front - line employees is a time - consuming and trivial task. In the past, the process of Toys "R" Us was almost completely paper - based - candidates filled out handwritten application forms, store managers checked them item by item, and then sent the scanned copies to the headquarters. Seemingly just a few pieces of paper, but in a system of hundreds of stores, scribbled handwriting, missing documents, and delays in cross - regional transmission would be infinitely magnified.

Now, all of this has been taken over by Lark. Just generate a QR code, and candidates only need to scan the code at the store to fill out the electronic form. The system will automatically identify the ID card, check the required fields, generate a PDF, and archive it in the cloud. The process that used to take several days can now be completed in a few minutes. The form filling, review, signing, and archiving form a closed loop, and the human resources department can see the progress of each application in real - time.

A deeper change is that the data starts to leave traces. All recruitment information no longer disappears after the process is completed but is precipitated into a store - level talent database. It records every application, every interest tag, and job matching. When the peak season is approaching, managers can find suitable part - time or temporary employees within a few minutes, without having to post recruitment notices repeatedly.

Digitization not only brings convenience but also a sense of order - the work that used to rely on experience and memory can now be tracked, reused, and extended in the system.

"Two years ago, there was a stack of papers on my desk. Now, I can't see a single piece of paper on my desk," Ying Chen described the visible change.

The efficiency of the stores has been revitalized, but greater changes are yet to come.

Cross - border Collaboration: From Periodic Reviews to Real - time Decisions

In a system like Toys "R" Us, which spans eight markets and has thousands of employees, any decision depends on two things - whether the information can be synchronized and whether the organization can collaborate.

"Our previous problem was that the data was not fast enough, which made many actions impossible," Ying Chen said. After the data flow has accelerated, many things that used to take a day to decide can now be advanced within a few hours.

For Toys "R" Us, a collection brand retailer, the key to regional product selection is "local adaptation" - the differences in language, culture, and consumption habits in different countries and regions directly determine the significant differences in the best - selling SKUs in each place.

In the past, Toys "R" Us still relied on manual communication and email exchanges for regional product selection, ordering, and information summarization. A product selection meeting often required multiple rounds of translation and confirmation, with a long cycle and low efficiency.

After introducing Lark, the collaboration model between the headquarters and regions has been completely changed.

First of all, in terms of communication, the multi - language simultaneous interpretation and real - time meeting functions have made cross - border communication efficient and smooth. Whether it is the store managers in Japan, Malaysia, or the Chinese region, they can use the real - time translation function to discuss in the same online meeting, ensuring information synchronization and consistent understanding, eliminating the need for repeated confirmation and post - meeting collation.

Secondly, in terms of data, the headquarters has established a unified information summarization mechanism through the multi - dimensional table. In the past, teams in different regions needed to send Excel templates via email to report store product selection and sales data, and the human resources department or operations personnel also had to manually summarize the formats and organize the data. Now, the system can automatically count the product selection situations and ordering quantities in each region and generate real - time dashboards for regional managers to analyze and adjust strategies. All data is updated on the same platform, reducing human - induced delays and repetitive labor.

Finally, in terms of management, Lark enables the headquarters to keep track of the product selection progress and approval nodes in real - time. In the past, due to the inconsistent reporting rhythms of teams in different regions, it was difficult for the headquarters to confirm the product selection submission and approval times in a timely manner, and often had to urge through emails. Now, all progress and permissions are concentrated in the real - time table, and the headquarters can monitor the submission status of each region in a timely manner, clarifying responsibilities and time nodes: regional managers fill in product selection feedback and confirm the time in the system, which automatically triggers the approval of superiors, and the whole process can be completed within a few hours.

Lark mobile app for real - time follow - up

The cross - border team is no longer slowed down by language and time differences but works in parallel with a unified system and dashboard, making the entire Asia - Pacific network operate on the same timeline from top to bottom.

If regional product selection makes the "goods" flow faster, then personnel insights make the "people" clearer.

In the past, the human resources systems in seven regions were independent of each other, and the data was like a fragmented jigsaw puzzle. When the headquarters wanted to understand the overall human resources situation, it often had to rely on manually summarized reports. This fragmented information structure always made the organization's vision one step behind.

After Lark was connected, the global personnel data was integrated into a multi - dimensional table. The system automatically links the data sources of HR departments in different regions and summarizes them in real - time. As long as the headquarters opens the BI dashboard, it can see the personnel structure, flow trends, and job distribution in each market, and senior management no longer has to wait for periodic reports.

"Let the data speak." Ying Chen repeatedly mentioned that numbers can tell more information.

This change has a deeper impact: the management logic has been reversed. The enterprise has shifted from relying on reports to relying on insights, and from periodic reviews to real - time decisions. Enterprise management no longer relies on experience judgment but on real - time data for decision