LEGO is rolling out an update to its online ordering systems for individual bricks in February. The current Bricks & Pieces system is being merged into an overhauled Pick a Brick platform. The current systems are fragmented and difficult to use. While most fans are familiar with online Pick a Brick, many are completely unaware of the Bricks & Pieces platform, which is an offshoot of the replacement parts system and is only accessible via a small link in the footer of LEGO’s website. Screenshots we’ve viewed of the new platform indicate that it will retain Pick a Brick’s more robust search features rather than Bricks & Pieces’ limited search capabilities. The new platform will allow users to search the full catalog of available elements in a single location, and prices will be standardized across the selection so elements will now have the same price regardless of color. The company says that some specialized parts may see price increases, while some elements will become more inexpensive. We cannot confirm how significant or widespread these prices changes may be. The update is planned to be available to the Netherlands, France, Germany, and the UK in early February, followed by Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the US in late February. Other markets will follow later.

Under the new, merged system, LEGO will select 1,600 of its top-selling elements to be clearly labeled as “Bestseller” and will be warehousing those elements in the United States and Poland. The company says that orders of Bestseller elements should be fulfilled within 5 working days, down from the 13-18 days with the old system. Orders of standard, non-bestsellers will still ship from Billund, Denmark, using the current, slower fulfillment process, but customers should be able to split their orders within a single purchase, so adding non-bestseller items to your cart won’t delay the whole order. All orders under the new system will now be eligible for promotions (currently Bricks & Pieces orders are not). Orders must meet a minimum threshold of €12 to waive an order fee of €3 for Bestsellers and €6 for non-bestsellers. Fees in other regions have not yet been disclosed.

LEGO will also be making the in-store Build a Mini experience available online, including elements that have been exclusive to it. However, this system will be separate from the merged Pick a Brick and Bricks & Pieces platform. Read the full press release from LEGO below.

Here’s the full press release from LEGO:

Pick a Brick Announcement

Background 

Our current Pick a Brick and Bricks & Pieces setup means that consumers aren’t aware of the two different experiences. During 2021 we’ve been running tests and meeting with different consumer groups to better understand the current consumer experience. 

Based on these learnings our next step will be to create a new merged experience on LEGO.com. We’ll merge Bricks and Pieces and Pick a Brick into one front-end experience where consumers can browse our portfolio of elements in one place more easily.

Additionally, we’ll improve the shipping time in the US and Canada by implementing a new fulfillment area in our US warehouse. This will reduce shipping time for our top 1,600 elements from 13-18 working days to up to 5 working days. There will likely be some shipping delays for a short time after we launch this experience. 

What’s happening  

We’re merging Bricks and Pieces into Pick a Brick. With the new Pick a Brick setup, you’ll be able to shop across one merged portfolio, with clear visibility between Standard and Bestseller elements. You’ll also have the option to choose what elements you want from which warehouse. Items that are listed as Bestseller are our most popular elements and will ship from Poland or the US, and your order will be trackable. Standard elements will ship from our Billund warehouse and will not be trackable. It’ll be easy to tell which items are Bestsellers by the yellow tag.

We’ve worked hard to align prices between the two different experiences and keep the prices as low as we can, but there will probably be higher prices on some of our more specialized parts. However, you’ll also see some parts are now at a lower price! 

In the past some parts in different colours had different prices, but now all parts of the same design will cost the same. 

With this new experience we’ll be introducing a split basket with a threshold for each basket. The split basket view will give you visibility between Bestseller and Standard elements and where your chosen elements are coming from (either Billund, Poland, or the US). If your basket meets the minimum threshold amount, then you won’t have to pay any handling fees. We’ll continuously optimize our supply chain processes to reduce and simplify these handling fees in the future. 

This new experience means all parts orders, including those previously made in Bricks and Pieces can be applied to promotions (such as gifts with purchase) on LEGO.com.

Why we’re making this change  

Analysis has indicated that our current setup isn’t always the best experience. Differentiation between our Pick a Brick and Bricks and Pieces experiences isn’t always clear. This new merged experience will bring our portfolio into one place, with clear visibility on Standard versus Bestseller elements.

Customers who place larger orders currently need to split their order between Pick a Brick and Bricks and Pieces. The new merged experience will mean larger orders can be placed in one spot, with greater visibility on delivery times. 

When is it happening and in which markets? 

The first change happens for the United States and Canada when we implement a new fulfillment area in our US-based warehouse in January and start fulfilling Pick a Brick orders there. 

After that we’ll roll out the new merged experience as a soft launch. This will allow us to understand what’s working and identify improvement opportunities early.   

We’re planning to roll out the new merged experience to the Netherlands, France, Germany, and the UK early February. This will be followed by Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the US in late February. We’ll then look to roll out to all other countries globally. 

During the soft launch, we’ll use a number of metrics and insights available to us to understand if the new experience is working as it should. We’ll take any learnings from this soft launch and use them to help us deliver the best experience possible for our customers. 

New features and functionalities 

We’re also creating a new location called the ‘Pick and Build hub’ for Pick a Brick and similar future experiences. With the new ‘Pick and Build hub’, we’ll test and launch new experiences that enable creativity and fun. 

As a first trial we’ll introduce Build a Mini to our shoppers in Europe and Asia. With this tool, you can combine different minifigure parts and create your own minifigure. The Build a Mini selection of bricks will only be available for this experience. They won’t be available as part of the Pick a Brick assortment.