UK toy retailer The Entertainer has selected THG Commerce as its digital commerce partner under a multi-year contract to update its online and in-store customer experience.
As part of the agreement, THG Commerce, part of THG Ingenuity, will design, build and power The Entertainer’s next-generation digital platform.
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The arrangement forms part of The Entertainer’s wider effort to build an omnichannel offer combining its in-store curation with digital convenience and personalisation.
The Entertainer digital and marketing director Malcolm Carter 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.”
The new platform will include AI-driven shopping support, conversational discovery and intent-based search tools intended to assist customers browsing thousands of products across buying occasions, including gifting, seasonal shopping and personal purchases.
According to the statement, these features come from THG Ingenuity’s partnership with Google Cloud, which uses Vertex AI Commerce Search and Gemini to create AI-driven commerce solutions.
THG Commerce said its AI capabilities are based on a modular framework, allowing separate functions to work independently from the core storefront as standalone, platform-agnostic services.
The partnership will also bring a redesigned web and mobile experience, as well as an upgraded Click & Collect process, with the intention of creating closer links between online browsing and The Entertainer’s store estate.
The updated platform is scheduled to go live in early 2027 and has been built with future expansion in mind, covering areas such as loyalty programmes, retail media and social commerce.
THG Ingenuity chief revenue officer Darren Rajanah said: “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.”
Earlier this year, fast-fashion retailer Shein teamed up with THG Fulfil, another arm of THG Ingenuity, to introduce fulfilment and logistics support for sellers on its UK marketplace.
