Feature
Wheeled Toys
Free wheelin’
With summer fast approaching and staycations on the cards for many families this year, the wheeled category looks set to enjoy another strong period. Rachael Simpson-Jones considers the trends affecting the market, and the big opportunities for suppliers and retailers.
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his year, skateboarding looks set to be one of the big winners within the wheeled toys category. The popularity of the sport, which is cheap and accessible to get into, as well as easy to pick up yet challenging to master, has soared in recent years, and companies such as HGL are seeing that reflected in their skateboard sales. Some have suggested the official recognition of skateboarding as an Olympic sport is to thank for this, while others believe the likes of Sky Brown, the youngest professional skateboarder in the world, is behind it. Whatever the reason, 2021 seems set to be the year of the skateboard, as Tobar CEO David Mordecai explains. “We’ve noticed a massive uptake in the purchase of skateboards during lockdown across all age ranges,” he enthuses. “It’s too early to say what effect the Olympic connection will have on the market, but we expect that the validation of skateboarding as a legitimate sport will certainly enhance sales. Design and durability are important factors in skateboards, so ours are built to take Olympic-style stunt riding.” Swag Distribution also says sales are ‘booming’ across its skateboarding lines, with Rampage in particular proving popular with fans of the sport. Alongside a comprehensive range of skateboards in a
variety of different deck designs, Rampage also offers ramps, airboxes and grind rails so riders can create their own at-home skate parks – perfect for those who want to practise alone or whose local skate parks haven’t yet reopened. Swag also tells me its scooter selections continue to enjoy high demand. Sales of scooters and bikes soared during lockdown as families sought fun new ways to get out the house and enjoy some fresh air. It’s been suggested that scooters became a leading choice during the pandemic because they are easier to wipe down with sanitiser after use than a bike, as well as helping to promote solo play. The former point seems a fair enough observation - but do scooter manufacturers agree with the latter? “We do agree with this statement, but we also feel that wheeled toys are not just important for solo play, but for time spent as a family too,” said Alison Downie, global Licensing & Brand director at HTI Toys. “The pandemic has highlighted just how much time children spend looking at screens, and so we have found that parents want to encourage more physical activity and promote outdoor play. Shared experiences as a family and evergreen play patterns have emerged as market drivers during the pandemic. Learning and working from home has
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meant consumers have turned back to traditional modes of family engagement, which has put more focus on activities that families can take part in together, both indoors and outdoors.” HTI’s revamped and relaunched wheeled range, Evo Reloaded, includes on-trend, high quality scooters featuring bright colours and geometric deck patterns, all at affordable price points. The line marks a substantial investment in the category for HTI, which has left no stone unturned in its efforts to fill what it perceives as a gap in the market for ‘modern, trend-leading, premium quality scooters at a unique value proposition’. Alison adds: “With our Evo brand relaunch, we are positioned to offer a comprehensive range of products offering compelling and modern styles, which in turn provide a unique value proposition across the wheeled sector. We see ourselves as a complete solution for this category, with the breadth of our clearly segmented range offering products across all age categories from toddlers to adults, from balance bikes to scooters, as well as also battery-operated ride-ons.” In addition to push-powered scooters and bikes suitable for toddlers right up to adults, Evo will move into the lithium scooter category for autumn/ winter, which HTI hopes will open the brand to a