You’ll soon be able to buy your own official Poro plushies! Expect the store to hit beta in the coming days/weeks, however, if you want your merch by Christmas, you might have to wait longer than that.
Hey everyone!
We’re glad you could stop by to chat with us. We know that many of you have been excited about merch for a while now, which is why we’re excited to finally share our plans to soon launch a beta version of the Riot Games Merch Store.
We spent the past year building a team specifically dedicated to creating merch and developing an experience that we hope resonates with all of you as League of Legends players and fans.
Today I’m joined by Bradmore (our director of merch) and Riot Tocelot (aka JLeezy, our senior manager leading our store efforts), and we’re going to share some info around our plans for the future of merch and also talk about some of the decisions we made when we kicked off this whole journey. This’ll include why we created a new merch store, why we’re launching in beta and what to expect if your region is not part of the initial beta roll-out. We also want to talk about a few of the items we plan to launch with and how some of that merch came to life. So let’s get rolling… ask us anything!
Edit: We are heading back to work to get cranking on getting the store up and running. Will try to check periodically on the post to answer any questions that may be bubbling up. I love you.
~RedBeard
Bradmore and RedBeard also took some time to answer questions regarding the shipping, prices, and merch.
Q: Let me cut to the most important question: Will you be selling figures?
A: yup
Q: Will the actual store and purchases be linked to our accounts? Or will it be a completely different asset?
A: There will be single account sign-on for the store, but can also check out as a guest.
Q: Do you ship the stuff to EU?
A: In 2016 (Was a joke; answer: yes)
Q: Will we be able to buy via PaySafe Cards ? Because if we can, I’d be down to buy some merch!
A: For beta, we are launching with support for credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, AmEx) and PayPal, and will be working to expand this over time.
Q: Will you also sell replicas of ingame items? For example: Talisman of Ascension, Rengars Bonetooth Necklace or Rabadons Deathcap?
A: Not at launch, but it’s a good thought!
Q: For those who have purchased copious amounts of RP, is there a possibility of using these points in the merch store as well as the in-game store?
A: At this time we’re not supporting the use of RP in the Merch store but may consider doing this down the road.
Q: Will Canadians have to deal with massive shipping costs, or will you work to make it as accessible as possible?
A: It’s pretty reasonable shipping costs to Canada. Can’t forget about America’s favorite neighbor.
Q: So on a price scale from Wal-Mart to Gucci (not sure if that is the most expensive, but you get the point), what can we expect? Like, is it going to be $35 for a T-shirt or something that is reasonable?
A: We’ll have a range of price points in the store and have been focused on creating high quality products at reasonable price points. T-shirts and poros for example will both be $25.
Q: Can we get minion shaped pinatas filled with chocolate coins?
Also what’s your distribution network like, are your fulfillment centres only in NA or do you have continent specific ones, if not is this something you’ll look into. I know from other similar projects that very often its just cheaper to ship directly from America to europe rather than to set up a fulfillment center in europe, but the reduced shipping times would be a bonus!
A: This is the best idea I have heard yet!! HA!
We have 3 distribution centers at launch to fulfill the America’s, Europe, and Asia, but may need to open some sub DCs as well depending on volumes and a variety of other factors.
Q: Will you be working with community artists to offer existing products on Etsy or Society6, or will this all be Riot internal art and creations?
A: At launch and throughout beta it will be Riot internal, but we of course are familiar with Etsy and others that do a great job getting the community involved. Our community is talented, creative, and intimately involved with League, so it’s definitely something we are looking forward to figuring out down the road.
Q: When does the store go live? When? WHEN? Will it be up in time for Christmas deliveries?
A: We are looking to launch soon, in the coming days / week. Tying out some final details but want to get the beta store up and running asap. Think the bigger problem will be having sufficient inventories.
Unclear on Christmas deliveries, depends on the volumes of orders but we unfortunately are not guaranteeing delivery for Christmas.
Q: So how does one do a ‘beta’ for a merchandise store? Is it something as vague as an opening sale to grind out a price baseline or is it simply a matter of testing the site’s traffic capacity? Or something else entirely?
A: We want to launch with an initial set of products that allow us to both test demand, our global supply chain (getting the products shipped) and our ecommerce platform. Getting the store in front of players now will allow us to iterate and make the overall merch experience in 2015 even stronger.
A: (Tacelot) We are launching in a phased beta with the goal of being fully open to the public within a few days. We’re aware that there might be heavy traffic out of the gate so please be patient if you experience any hiccups on launch day as we are fully committed to improving the experience.
Q: I just.. all I want is a Tibbers plushie. Will you be selling the ones that were at Worlds? :3
A: Yes! Hope volumes last, may sell out quickly, who knows.
Q: Will you be selling similar merch as the S4 Worlds event? Like Yasuo t-shirts and such?
A: Yup, believe almost all of our Worlds inventory will now be available online.
FAQ
We know that many of you have been excited about merch for a while now, which is why we’re thrilled to share our plans to soon launch a beta version of the Riot Games Merch Store.
If you want to ask any questions of your own, the Boards AMA is live here.
We spent the past year building up a team specifically dedicated to creating merch and developing a site that we hope resonates with all of you as League of Legends players and fans. Today we’ll share some info around our plans for the future of merch and some of the decisions we’ve made along the way. This includes why we created a new merch store and why we’re launching it in beta. We’ll also cover a few of the items we plan to launch with.
Why is Riot building a merch store?
We love League and realize that creating a store full of high-quality items that resonate with League of Legends helps all of us deepen our connection with the game and its universe. The store will hopefully provide players with another outlet to engage with League but with physical products.
Why is the store launching as a beta?
Launching in beta gives us the opportunity to interact with players faster as they experience an initial version of the store and the merch within. This will allow us to learn, adapt, and evolve in order to deliver a more comprehensive merch experience that players deserve. Initial feedback is critically important as we work to build the right catalogue and make the store an unforgettable experience.
What can you expect out of the beta?
Like any beta, the store will be a work in progress. The site is still under development, and while you can dive in and shop around right now, there are tons of things we plan to do in order to make the merch experience better. Expect to see real-time changes along the way as we evolve the site and product catalogue.
Will there be Czech and Hungarian localization and support for the Merch Store?
Czech and Hungarian players will be able to order from the store but will need to use an alternative language initially, but be reassured that this will have no impact on merch delivery. As we continue to iterate during the beta we will keep players updated as we expand the number of languages that the store experience services.
Now that we covered a few items surrounding the beta, let’s talk about some of the merch that’ll be available and what the initial experience will be like when the Store Beta launches.
What product categories will be available during beta?
We’ll have a variety of merch including clothing, collectibles, art, and accessories. Over time we’ll be explore new products within these categories and potentially even some spiffy new categories.
Will all players have access to the same products?
Making sure that at launch players can pick up the same merch is important to us, so we’re rolling out every region’s store with the same initial items
What happens if an item sells out, will it be refreshed?
One of the major benefits of beta is that it helps us learn which items you really love. This ultimately helps us create merch that raises the bar on awesome. We can’t promise that every item will be available in unlimited amounts, but we’ll continue to bring in new merch as often as possible over the coming months.
If my region’s store sells out of an item can I buy the same item from another region?
At this time, each website only delivers to a players dedicated geographical region.
What countries will you deliver to in Europe?
You can find below a list of all countries we are planning on deliver to for the beta launch of our merch store. As we continue to develop the store, we will keep players regularly updated as we expand this list and deliver to new locations:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom
Right now we don’t have a concrete timeline for how long beta will last, but we’re going to remain in beta as it takes to build a merch store experience that hopefully gives League players around the world the experience they’ve been waiting for. We’ll continually make changes as the site grows, both in-store and behind the curtain, so keep an eye out as the experience evolves.
We can’t wait to see what you think of the Riot Games Merch Store as we all take this first step in a journey towards levelling up League and Riot merch worldwide.
