Feature
Plush
On the plush side…
With many children needing the reassurance of a ‘best friend’ to comfort them, plush has never been so popular. Sam Giltrow speaks to suppliers and retailers about the soft toy category.
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fter a year of uncertainty and missing contact with loved ones, the comfort, companionship and cuddle factor that a soft toy can bring has never been more important. “It’s a product that offers consumers more than just a toy, as plush toys often give someone an emotional or sentimental attachment that you don’t necessarily get with some other toy categories,” says Lauren Shipman, group brand & marketing director at Posh Paws. “Children can play with a soft toy by themselves and with other toys, but will also cuddle up and sleep with it, as well as carrying it around with them everywhere they go. Soft toys are very comforting for children, and you’ll often see that they are a child’s first best friend.” However, with the very nature of plush being so tactile, promoting soft toys during periods of lockdown when bricks and mortar stores had to shut their doors presented retailers with a big challenge. “Consumers being able to physically pick up and feel the quality of plush products will always be important and something we rely greatly on,” Lauren explained. “However, we’ve also been seeing strong growth in online sales since stores were forced to close for so long.” Indeed, in some ways, this was a plus for the
category. “During the lockdowns, we have been able to open new retail channels and promote our products to new audiences because of the shift to online sales, although it’s great that physical stores are driving plush sales once again.” One of Posh Paws’ current best-selling lines is its new Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous dinosaur soft toy range. The company expects the popularity of this collection to continue to grow, as the Netflix animated series continues to be a top-rated kids and family series on the streaming platform. For 2022, with the release of big blockbuster movies like Jurassic World: Dominion, Minions 2: Rise of Gru, Sesame Street and Sing 2, Posh Paws will be partnering with licensors on high profile activations to ensure its product is at the heart of their consumer and retail marketing. Zara Grindrod, director of sales and marketing for Rainbow Designs, agrees that despite the past year being challenging for retailers, it has presented opportunities for the plush category. “Plush can sometimes prove difficult to sell online. However, we have worked hard on our online assets and content, and we are definitely seeing this translating into sales. That said, it is important to be able to touch and feel tactile products; now that retail has opened up, it is great to see customers back in stores, experiencing our
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collections as we would want them to.” Rainbow Designs has seen particularly strong sales across its classic characters range, which includes Paddington Bear, Peter Rabbit and Winnie the Pooh, while other strong nostalgic licences include Guess How Much I Love You, Snoopy and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “These characters really have stood the test of time and are as loved today as much as they were when they first arrived,” says Zara. “They bring a sense of familiarity and reassurance, which is very welcome in today’s uncertain world.” Despite the penchant for familiar characters, Rainbow Designs is continuously introducing more contemporary takes on its heritage products, to ensure they remain fresh and appealing to the current marketplace. One of the new additions joining the company’s successful Adventures of Paddington range this autumn is a Talking Paddington Soft Toy, while another launch planned for later this year is the new collection for Disney’s Winnie the Pooh; Always and Forever, which marks Pooh’s 95th year. The collection focuses on sustainable materials – something which Rainbow Designs is extremely passionate about. The company is working towards ensuring the stuffing within all of its soft toys is made from recycled plastic bottles, that packaging is all FSC
