Sears Baby Registry

A post I wrote titled Cute Ways to Announce a Pregnancy has been receiving a lot of visits over the last month. I’m assuming many of you made an exciting announcement over the holiday season. If so – CONGRATULATIONS! Having a baby is such a wonderful experience! I miss those hiccups in my belly, feeling those little kicks and the excitement of being able to see my child for the first time. I remember being pregnant and having cravings for odd food combinations that I just couldn’t resist. While I was still working, I’d go to the mall each morning and order a breakfast sandwich on an english muffin with egg, extra pickles and chipotle dressing (seriously…it was delicious). For some strange reason I always felt the need to tell people I was pregnant almost like an excuse for placing odd food orders. Somehow in my mind I always thought that people wouldn’t be able to tell that I was pregnant by looking at me. I look at my pregnancy photos now and I get a good laugh at that! Really, who wouldn’t know I was pregnant when I looked like this and I was eating pickles on eggs?

As part of The Baby’s Room Ambassador program with Sears Canada, I’m here to tell you all about the easy to follow Sears Baby Registry process and how you can win BIG! It’s true – the last winner of The Waiting Game Club won over $3000 to spend back in the Baby’s Room! Sears also has a fun “Spot the Seal” contest where you could win one of 3 weekly $100 gift cards or a grand prize valued over $900! I’ll tell you all about these fun promotions in a moment plus the Baby Days sale running from January 11th-24th, 2013.

For my monthly assignment, I made a trip to our local Sears store to set up a “pretend” registry. Since my bundle of joy has already arrived, I went through the process with the new mom in mind. Now that I have a little guy of my own, I have a much better idea of all the things that a new parent actually needs. In order to write a proper guide of the Sears Baby Registry process, I wanted to go through the entire process as a new parent would.

Creating a Sears Baby Registry:

We’re early birds here so we arrived at the store when it opened this morning. One thing I would recommend is that you call your local Sears to set up an appointment to go through your registry with a sales associate. Although the associate who usually takes care of the registrations wasn’t in yet, the store was more than accommodating to help me out with the help of another store associate.

To start our registry I simply used the touch screen registry kiosk. It asks you for basic information like your name, mailing address, partner’s name, phone number and a password. It then takes you through the process of getting your little one set up by asking you your due date, if you know the gender of the baby, if you have a colour scheme in mind for the nursery and a chosen theme. The whole process of getting set up on the kiosk took me less than 5 minutes. I was then given a handheld scanner to use in The Baby’s Room department.

A sales associate accompanied me through the department and it was a huge help. He taught me how to use the scanner and how to clear items when I made an error. He could show me where to find the UPC code on each item and how to type them in manually if the code wasn’t working. He was also really knowledgeable about their products and was able to offer suggestions for items I hadn’t considered.

The new layout of The Baby’s Room is really helpful when setting up the registry or shopping for your little one. Everything flows in a logical order from nursery sets to carriers, feeding supplies, clothing, etc. Having everything organized into sections really helps during the registry process.

Once you are done your scanning, simply return the scanner to the sales associate and print off a copy of your registry. The printed registry is organized into sections which can be really helpful to see what areas you may have missed or areas that you may have duplicates. Your registry number will be in the top right hand side of the printed registry.

Updating Your Sears Baby Registry:

So after I came home from my “pretend” baby registry process, I threw myself a “pretend” baby shower! Any excuse for cake, right? Okay…I didn’t really throw myself a baby shower but I did log in to my new Sears Baby Registry online to check out the process of making changes to it.

To view your Sears Baby Registry, simply visit Sears.ca and click on Gift Registry and Lists and then on Gift Registry. You’ll then place your mouse over Manage My Registry and then click on Baby. This is where you’ll enter your Sears Baby Registry number (the top right side of your printed registry) and the password you created during the registration process at the store.

Here is where you can update the basic information in your profile like nursery themes and your due date. Let’s say you set up your registry as soon as you find out your pregnant (don’t worry – we all go shopping as soon as we hear the exciting news!) and now you’re 5 months pregnant and just came home from an ultrasound where you found out that you’re having a little boy. Now you may want to add in a nursery theme and update some of the items you chose to more gender specific.

To make changes, simply click on Add/Update Items and then Add/Update Catalogue and Retail Items (Manual). This is where you’ll find a copy of your Sears Baby Registry and where you can delete items or change quantities. At the bottom of this page, you’ll also find a link where you can add items from Sears.ca. You can then do some online registry building. Simply look through their online departments and add items easily by clicking on add to registry.

Tips for Creating a Sears Baby Registry:

• Call ahead to make an appointment or at least to find out when the least busy time of day is (this will help ensure that someone is readily available to help you through the process).
• Don’t forget to use the “quantity” feature on the scanning device. There are certain items you only need one of (like a crib unless you are expecting multiples) but other items like receiving blankets, bottles and other items that you’ll always need more than one of.
• Don’t be afraid to put larger items on your registry list. There will be some people who will want to pool together as a group to buy you a larger gift.
• Don’t forget the little items! It’s easy to get caught up in all the large gadgets that you’ll need but don’t forget to register for the small items as well like soothers, cute little socks, feeding supplies, etc.
• If you register for an item and then you end up buying it yourself, be sure to update your registry to show that you no longer need that item. Your guests will appreciate an updated registry and you won’t have to worry about doing returns after your baby shower.
• Take your time and don’t be shy to make a few visits to complete your registry. The great thing about a registry is that you can change it at any time. Did you get home and realize you forget to add something? No problem! You can use your registry number and password to log in online and update your registry. A pregnant mom’s back and feet can get sore after a lot of shopping so feel free to break up your registry into a few different trips to the store. They’d be happy to set you up with another scanner to complete your registry process.
• Want to make sure you don’t miss anything? Check out this free printable registry checklist from Sears.

The Waiting Game Club:

While setting up your registry, be sure to inquire about The Waiting Game Club as it’s a fantastic opportunity to win BIG! If you correctly guess your baby’s arrival date, you will be awarded coupons equivalent to the net amount of items purchased off the registry. You can change your guess on the baby’s arrival up to 2 times at least 60 days prior to the “guesstimated” original date.

Spot the Seal Contest:

Did you know that The Baby’s Room at Sears has been certified by PTPA (Parent Tested Parent Approved)? It’s a fabulous accomplishment that Sears is very proud of. To celebrate this accomplishment, Sears Canada is sponsoring an exciting “Spot the Seal” contest with PTPA.

The contest will run from January 11th to January 31st, 2013. Shoppers can win by simply taking a picture of themselves in the store with the seal and then sharing the photo on Twitter or PTPA’s Facebook Page. You’ll need to tag @PTPA and use the #SpotTheSeal hashtag to be entered into the contest.

Hint – The PTPA Seal of Approval will be found on every cash desk in the Baby’s Room at all Sears stores.

There will be 3 weekly prizes of $100 gift cards plus a Grand Prize valued at $929.95!

Grand Prize (winner to be selected on Feb 1st):

• Stork Craft Carrara nursery (a crib, dresser and change table)
• Tfal Steamer & Blender
• Angel Care Movement & Sound monitor
• Crane Animal Shaped humidifier

Baby Days Sale:

From January 11th – 24th, 2013, almost all baby merchandise will be on sale at Sears. This is a great time to get started on shopping for your new baby. If you set up your registry soon, your guests can also save big while doing their baby shower shopping!

During the sale, you’ll find 15% off all cribs, strollers, travel systems, travel accessories, nursery furniture, high chairs, boosters, playards, bouncers and swings, and 20% off all humidifiers, monitors, carriers, gates and Halo sleepsacks. Please note that Boon, Peg Perego, Baby Bjorn and items ending in $0.97 are excluded from the Baby Days offers. Be sure to check sale prices in the store and ask a sales associate for help if you have any questions about sale items.

Check your local flyers because there will be selected items with even bigger discounts than those listed above!

I hope this post has helped you to better understand the Sears Baby Registry process!

I’m curious to hear from the parents who have already went through the process, how many months along were you when you set up your baby registry?

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Disclosure: I am part of the Sears – The Baby’s Room Ambassador program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.