NPD Insight
Toys in lockdown: a consumer favourite Moneeba looks at the latest data for toy sales in the early part of 2021 and finds, so far, a continuation of the trends the industry experienced in 2020.
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by a quarter, accounting for 15% of toys share this ith the UK toy market performing month. Last year we saw consumers buy classic games better than expected and growing and items they were familiar with; this is a trend that by +5% in 2020, the industry is has carried on this month. Family Board/Action Games now eager to know how this year is has added over £1m so far this year and we’ve seen going to pan out. While there is no classic games continue to perform well. Monopoly, crystal ball, we do have the first month’s 2021 data, Scrabble and Uno have all grown YOY this month. which shows that the market continues to perform Adult Puzzles also makes the top 10, adding just under well with the month of January up +3%. Consumers £290k this year. have bought fewer toys this month - 1.4m units down versus 2020 - but crucially they have spent more, with Interestingly, despite the snow and really cold the market valued over £95m for January. Currently, weather, January has seen another lockdown we’re in a third national lockdown, with children being favourite, Outdoor Toys, add value to the toy market. home-schooled and non-essentials stores closed. At Trampolines and Playsets have grown by triple digits in the time of writing, there are still a couple of weeks to go before we find out the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, but one thing Millions we do know for certain £0.0 £0.5 £1.0 £1.5 £2.0 £2.5 £3.0 £3.5 £4.0 £4.5 £5.0 Millions is that consumers spend £0.0 £0.5 £1.0 £1.5 £2.0 £2.5 £3.0 £3.5 £4.0 £4.5 £5.0 Standard Building Sets money on toys during Standard Family Board/Action GamesBuilding Sets lockdown. We saw a similar Family Board/Action Games trend last year in lockdown Playground Equipment Playground Equipment No.1; toy sales grew by Fashion Dolls Fashion Dolls +22%. So far, the January Fashion Accessories results indicate that 2021 Fashion Accessories Craft Kits Craft Kits seems to be a continuation of what we saw last year. Family Dice/Word/Ot her Games her Games Family Dice/Word/Ot After a year of market Kit chen & Food PS Kit chen &PSFood growth, what toys are Children's Games Children's Games consumers buying and how Adult Puzzles has the beginning of this Adult Puzzles year played out? Source: The NPD Group | Retail Tracking Service | Jan 2021
Moneeba Baloch
Account Manager, UK Toys, Euro Toys
less than £5 lost almost £30m in terms of value in 2020. With early shopping happening in October and November as part of the Government’s message to shop early to reduce the spread of the virus, impulse purchasing suffered in December with fewer stocking filler items being bought. 75% of total December loss came from the £0-£15 price point, and with many stores closed, the lower price point has inevitably continued to decline so far in 2021. Toys at less than £5 are showing a decline of -22%, with 1.2m fewer units being sold. The market growth we saw in 2020 came from higher price points, with all Source: The NPD Group | Retail Tracking Service | Jan 2021 The first week of 2021 The NPD Group, Inc. | Proprietary and confidential 1 price points over £20 showing The NPD Group, Inc. | Proprietary and confidential 1 showed the market down growth. The £20 to £50 price range added £73m to the January, and Play Houses/Bouncy Houses and Sand & -8% YOY. However, since schools closed abruptly on market and items over £100 added nearly £34m. These Water Boxes by double digits. These higher priced point January 4th, the market has grown every week versus trends continue with all £20+ price points growing for items have driven value growth, with the subclass 2020. Week 2 was up +11% despite non-essential store January. increasing its average price point by over two thirds. closures, week 3 up +8% and the last week in January
Fastest growing subclasses - Jan 2021 Fastest growing subclasses - Jan 2021
was up +6%, bringing the total figure for January 2021 to +3%. Purchasing trends are similar to what we saw in 2020, with consumers buying more Standard Building Sets this month versus January 2020; the subclass has gained over £4m in just one month alone. Strong licensing partnerships such as Lego Star Wars and Lego Harry Potter mean this category has been a consumer favourite whilst in lockdown. The category also continues to innovate; one of the top new launches of 2020 continues to perform well this year, with Lego Super Mario Brothers adding over £673k for January. Another consumer favourite during this pandemic has been Games & Puzzles. With more free time and less spend on experiences and holidays, consumer spend across the Games & Puzzles supercategory has grown
The uplift in Outdoor & Sports Toys could be down to parents purchasing these items ahead of the summer and especially having these items to keep children occupied whilst being in lockdown. It is worth noting however, that the Outdoor & Sports toys growth will be a challenge to match later in the year, given how well this category performed in the summer months of 2020. One of the main trends we saw in 2020 was that consumers replaced impulse purchasing with considered purchasing. There was a move to higher priced toys, as impulse occasions were lost due to non-essential store closures, and the same trends are unsurprisingly evident so far this year. Toys priced at
Toy World 30
Early reads on the first week of February saw another extraordinary growth week, up +18% YOY. Fewer toys are still being bought with unit downs -4%, but the total market for the week is valued at over £26m. Key players and properties continue to show double digit growth as we head into February. With plans to exit lockdown shortly after this article has been published and over 15m people already vaccinated in the UK, the second half of this year will be an interesting period for the toy market. It is reasonable to conclude that the toy market has benefitted from adults and children being at home and having the free time to learn, play and explore with toys, so how will the potential return of experiences and travel opportunities affect this pattern?
