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Pushing baby online
16 July 2006
Baby Travel Shop
Whilst preparing for a trip to Australia last September with her then three-and-a-half month old son, Aisling O’Donoghue realised how difficult it was to source products that make it easier to travel with a baby. This difficult travel experience was the inspiration for her online company, Baby Travel Shop (www.babytravelshop.com), a one-stop shop which claims to have everything needed for travelling with children.
Having worked as the online product manager with eBookers and armed with plenty of experience in online marketing, O’Donoghue was able to make a relatively smooth transition into self-employment.
She says her previous experience working in a travel agency has also proved invaluable for her new venture.
The aim of Baby Travel Shop is to provide ‘‘innovative, safe and functional products that will make travelling with children easier and fun’’.
O’Donoghue has sourced baby bags and accessories, feeding and skincare products, sun protection, beach clothes, swim essentials and sleep solutions.
Some of the best-selling items are popup cots (‘‘a good change from the cumbersome play pens,” says O’Donoghue), towelling tops, sunglasses with velcro head straps, Keflon swimsuits which offer full UV protection and play shades – little tents for the beach or garden.
Other products include a hands-free feeding bottle, insect nets, ID wrist bands, baby carriers for wearing at the front or the back and baby sleeping bags.
Products purchased through Baby Travel Shop can be delivered worldwide. O’Donoghue also offers travel tips and a packing checklist on the site. Her suppliers are based in the US, Finland and Britain.
The site has had over 600,000 hits since it launched in May. O’Donoghue is targeting 80,000 ‘unique visitors’ per month by December.
If you type the words ‘baby’ plus ‘travel’ into Google, Baby Travel Shop is the first item to pop up.
‘‘I hope to expand the business in Britain,” she says. ‘‘With 64 million people over there with the same buying demographic as here, I want to tap into that market.” By March 2007, she hopes to have a separate distribution house to allow her to focus more on the marketing and managerial end of the business.
– Helen Boylan
