Timing might be the most underrated advantage in retail.
Not timing in the sense of promotions or campaigns, but timing in the customer’s life.
Because some retail moments matter more than others.
That was my biggest takeaway after sitting down with Sarah Ashby, Interim CEO and COO of Mamas & Papas, live from Retail Technology Show 2026 in London.
Mamas & Papas is built around one of those moments.
Becoming a parent.
And as Sarah explained, that moment is not just emotional. It is highly structured, highly predictable, and incredibly valuable if you understand how to show up at the right time.
The First-Time Parent Is Everything
In many retail categories, loyalty builds over time.
In baby retail, it starts almost instantly.
Sarah made it clear that the most valuable customer is the first-time parent, and the most valuable window is before the third trimester.
That is when decisions are being made. That is when trust is formed. That is when brands either become part of the journey or get left out of it entirely.
Miss that window, and it is very hard to recover.
Win that window, and you can build a relationship that carries through the entire early parenting journey.
That level of clarity is rare in retail.
Service Is the Strategy
What stood out in this conversation is how much Mamas & Papas leans into service as a core differentiator.
Not as a support function, but as the product itself.
Because when you are a first-time parent, you do not just want choice. You want reassurance.
You want someone to help you understand what you actually need versus what you are being told you need.
That is where Mamas & Papas invests heavily.
Store teams are trained not just to sell, but to guide. To listen. To emotionally connect. To help customers navigate what can be an overwhelming experience.
It is retail as advice.
And that is much harder to replicate than product alone.
Predictable Journey, Complex Execution
One of the more interesting dynamics Sarah outlined is that the parenting journey is both predictable and complex.
Predictable because the stages are known.
Pregnancy. Birth. Newborn. Toddler.
Complex because customer needs shift quickly within that timeline, and the cost of acquiring each new customer is high.
Every year, you are essentially starting over.
That creates a very specific operating challenge.
You have to acquire customers efficiently, capture them early, and guide them through each stage with precision.
Mamas & Papas approaches this almost like a timeline.
Understanding not just who the customer is, but where they are in their journey and what they need at that exact moment.
That level of specificity is what turns a transaction into a relationship.
Blending Brand and Curation
Another smart piece of the model is how Mamas & Papas balances its own products with third-party brands.
Roughly 70 percent of the assortment is owned brand, with the remaining 30 percent coming from other leading names in the category.
That matters.
Because in a category like baby, trust is everything.
Customers want choice, but they also want confidence that what they are buying is the best option available.
By curating alongside its own products, Mamas & Papas positions itself not just as a brand, but as an authority.
That is a subtle but important distinction.
Global Expansion Requires Local Thinking
As the company expands internationally, one thing becomes clear quickly.
Customer preferences are not universal.
Brands that perform well in one market may be irrelevant in another. Shopping behaviors shift. Go-to-market models change.
What works in the UK does not automatically translate elsewhere.
But the core insight holds.
The parenting journey is emotional, overwhelming, and in need of guidance.
That is the throughline.
Execution just looks different depending on where you are.
The Real Opportunity Is Lifetime Value
While much of the focus is on the early stages of parenting, Sarah also pointed to a bigger opportunity.
Extending the relationship beyond the core baby categories.
Gifting is one area of focus. Expanding how the brand shows up across more of the parenting lifecycle is another.
Because while the initial window is short, the potential relationship is much longer.
The challenge is staying relevant as the customer’s needs evolve.
The Bottom Line
Retail often talks about personalization, loyalty, and customer experience in abstract terms.
Mamas & Papas brings those ideas into a very real, very human context.
Know the moment. Show up early. Guide the customer. Earn trust.
Then build from there.
It is a simple framework.
But executing it well is anything but easy.
To catch more conversations from Retail Technology Show 2026 in London, follow Omni Talk Retail on LinkedIn or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Thank you to Vusion for supporting Omni Talk Retail’s live coverage, and thank you to our listeners for joining us during the event.
Be careful out there,
Chris Walton and the Omni Talk team
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Omni Talk® is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton founded Omni Talk® in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail.