A closer look at our business
Welcome
We’re Natural Baby Shower, an independent, award-winning nursery retailer, proudly stocking over 130+ eco, ethical & premium baby brands. We collaborate with brands that share our values to curate a top-quality product range that prioritizes what's best for baby, best for parent, and best for the environment.
This is an overview of who we are, what we do and how our team of 75+ dedicated professionals work alongside our current brands to achieve retail success.
Our story + values
We collaborate with brands that share our values to curate a top-quality product range that prioritises what's best for baby, best for parent, and best for the environment.
Where it began
Inspired by their time in New Zealand, founders Vics + Clifton wanted to provide parents with natural and sustainable baby products that were the very best for baby, parent and the planet, all under one roof.
We think that each baby is beautiful and so are our brands. We believe that every parent should be able to purchase products that suit their style and lifestyle whilst knowing there are no compromises on quality.
Where we are now
In 17 years, we have grown from a team of 2 at the kitchen table, to 75+ employees at our HQ in Bracknell, with over 130 favourite + trusted brands.
With expert advice from a caring customer service team, informative blogs and our knowledgeable store assistants, we want to help everyone on their parenting journey.
Who we are now
What started as a small business is now a market leading, independent retailer. We still firmly believe that if you "buy well, you’ll buy once" and quality of product, as well as sustainability, remains at our core.
It’s not just our packaging that makes us environmentally friendly, it’s the materials, the manufacturing processes, ethical business operations and absolutely no exploitation in any factories.
2004
Baby Dylan arrives in New Zealand and changes everything.
Back in the UK with two small boys, a homemade website and a kitchen table.
2006
2007
NBS launches and invests in ten eco brands including TotsBots and Wheely Bug.
NBS grows and opens a small boutique store in Chertsey with five employees. They invest in a few more brands and Royal Mail collection is available.
2010
2024
17 years on, NBS has over 75 employees and five agencies. They stock over 130+ eco friendly and ethical brands which they sell both online and in their stunning store in Surrey. They have also opened a 43,000 sq ft state-of-the-art HQ.
- £100 million in sales in the last 5 years
- 1.2 million customer orders
- 80'000 customer accounts
- 20,000 5* reviews
- Employed 206 people
- Collaborated with 370 brands
- Established physical retail presence for 14 years
Distribution brands
Giving back
We are dedicated to collaborating closely with charities and making a meaningful impact towards the work they carry out daily. Our partnerships with charitable organisations serve as a constant source of inspiration, encouraging us to continually improve our efforts and actively contribute to positive change.
Our team have recently taken part in a number of clean up initiatives with Bracknell BID including litter picking to clean up our local community.
Shooting Star Children's Hospices: Shooting Star Children’s Hospices cares for children with life-limiting conditions, and their families, across Surrey, south-west and north-west London.
Stripey Stork: Stripey Stork is one of the UK’s largest baby banks who have been successfully supporting Surrey families experiencing poverty with the practical items needed to raise their children since 2013.
Green Fingers: Creating magical gardens for children in hospices with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions.
2023 Performance
The website welcomed 4,500,000 new visitors, marking a 27% increase year-over-year
35,000 new follower growth across all platforms
1,400,000 social interactions
196,766 customer orders were dispatched
758,135 units of stock were received
583,604 new customer conversations were initiated
1545 warranty cases were successfully resolved
A new website was launched
17 new brands
2342 five star reviews
The July Natural Baby Show emerged as our strongest performing promotion
Meet the team
The entire Natural Baby Shower team work collectively to make our brand a success. We have experts across each department with significant knowledge and experience in their key area.
The last few years haven't been without their challenges, but we’ve been fortunate enough to have seen substantial and continued growth. We've maintained our position as one of the leading independent retailers, invested in new technologies to reach new audiences and attracted the best talent - all from our brand-new HQ and warehouse in Bracknell.
Select a tile to find out more
Marketing
Over the years our marketing team has grown from a team of two to nine with recruits specialising in video content creation, social media, PR, influencer marketing, design and much more. We work closely with several specialised and award-winning digital agencies across paid search, social, discovery and YouTube.
Overview
Email and social are two of our strongest organic channels. Throughout the year we send an average of 2-3 emails a week to over 160k+ of our most active and engaged email subscribers. Our open rate averages at an impressive 40%, significantly higher than the industry average. We post twice a day on our main social media channels to a combined following of 140k+ followers.
Our key marketing functions are:
• Social media • Video – reels and TikToks • Email features • Blog content • Journal content • Homepage + collection website banners • Paid prospecting and re-marketing activity
eCommerce Products
Our eCommerce Products team are a specialist team dedicated to ensuring the Natural Baby Shower website runs smoothly, and all new brands or products are launched to time with the relevant key information.
Keeping up with the demands and feedback of our customers, this team also develops our eComm technologies to enable an optimal user experience; including site navigation, search function, content management, checkout funnel, and visibility of promotional campaigns.
Purchasing
Each brand within our portfolio has a dedicated purchasing manager, who is responsible for managing brand and product performance, maintaining communication both internally and externally, keeping an eye on the market, identifying key opportunities, sharing promotional comms and ultimately increasing sales.
The team work very closely with Marketing and eComm to ensure newness is well promoted and quarterly focuses align.
Warehouse + Logistics
We are fortunate enough to host a 43,000 square ft warehouse, and our large team of skilled warehouse operatives work everyday to carefully pick and pack orders. Goods received are managed and stored with care, ensuring all products are organised safely and continue their journey to customer in perfect condition.
With sustainability at the core of all operations at Natural Baby Shower, we ensure our packaging is premium but fully recyclable and we also offer a popular gift wrap service. Our warehouse team take responsibility of disposing of all plastic, with over 99.78% of plastic waste recycled.
Customer Service
Customer Service is incredibly important to us and our team work late weekday hours and at weekends, to effectively communicate with our customers in a helpful, positive way.
The CS team are an extension of our website + store, offering product recommendations and advice, solving specific product queries and converting on orders. They also handle any delivery queries, manage our brands warranty claims and keep our customers up to date with restock dates or lead times.
We are thrilled to have a Trustpilot score of 4.7 compared to category average (Baby Shop) of 4.0, with vast majority 5* reviews.
Store
Our two-storey Surrey showroom is home to an array of our baby + parenting essentials, from pushchairs and car seats to clothes and nursery furniture.
Our store is the perfect hub to showcase and demo products, create engaging displays and offer the premium shopping experience that we are known for. Our team of experienced, knowledgeable nursery specialists are always on hand to give customers bespoke and impartial advice.
In 2020 we launched our Video Call service, offering customers free video call appointments so that they can access the advice they need from the comfort of home, at a time that suits them.
Accounts
Comprised of dedicated professionals with a keen eye for detail, our accounts team manages our financial transactions, ensuring accuracy and compliance every step of the way. From invoicing clients and processing payments to reconciling accounts and generating financial reports, their expertise keeps our financial engine running smoothly.
Beyond crunching numbers, they serve as trusted advisors, offering insights to help guide important business decisions.
"Best Online Retailer" in the 2024 Absolutely Mama Awards
In 2024, Natural Baby Shower won the Absolutely Mama Award for "Best Online Retailer". These awards are judged by parents and the expert parenting panel at Absolutely Mama, so we're thrilled to be awarded this accolade. The award is a testament to all the hard work behind the scenes at NBS as well as our family of brands.
"Best Online Retailer Of The Year 2023" + "Best Independant Retailer Of The Year 2023" in the LovedbyParents Awards
Natural Baby Shower were proud to win Platinum in the Loved By Parents Awards for "Best Online Retailer Of The Year 2023" and "Best Independent Retailer Of The Year 2023". The Lovedbyparents Awards are a mark of outstanding quality and design. This year’s awards once again reflect brands and products that are truly Loved By Parents.
The future of NBS
- Own brand label
- More high street presence
- B-Corp
- Investor in people
- ISO